EJ43

I have made it so far (in my very narrow perspective) and I am totally struggling. Went to a nice day down the cape with friends and was actually going to talk to them, but strangers showed up
So I shelved the conversation. It was no big deal that I was drinking grapefruit seltzer. Everyone sat around the fire, laughed and enjoyed the evening, I got home and BOOM triggered!!! Why can't I do that? How on earth am I going to face long term sobriety, what about vacations and nice dinners!?!?!? I am in an all out panic after 6 months! How on earth am I going to do this???? I am afraid and overwhelmed and frankly, SAD!!! Why now? What is this bump? I am trying to convince myself I am fine. I don't know what to do or how to approach this. Help.

PurpleKnight

Our minds are great at causing panic and anxiety, especially when it throws up questions about the future, the reality of the situation is that we can't drink, it doesn't matter about the ins and outs or the whys, drinking is now off the table, we are now "non drinkers"!!

However do none drinkers go for dinner, go on holiday, enjoy life, the answer is yes, I had to reach the perspective that alcohol is not the centre of the universe, people live happy, content and enjoyable lives without alcohol.

A few deep breaths, YOU are doing it, 6 months is fantastic, you are living it with each day that goes by!!

andyroo72

Hey there EJ43,

I'm sorry that things are like that for ya- it's really hard to figure out what's causing what sometimes. Personally, I'm a bit slow with figuring those kinds of things out. It can (and does) take me a couple of days to realise what actually triggered my desire to use/ drink/ most other things.

Maybe a bit of time will help to make it a bit clearer for you?

Soberwolf

There is normally a point some say at 9mnths mine was sort of around 8

There was this guy not that much younger than me when I first started going mtns he had a few months

When I was on 8 months he relapsed and kept on continuing to do so I haven't seen him since and I hope he is well

After that people started relapsing all around me 2 yr 7yr 15yr 25yr 4 if not more died boom just like that

It started getting severely serious after that and I'm still losing ppl some I know some I read about and its horrible

Pls stay in touch this is your life not the bottle's

SparkyMcSparky

Had someone who was 3 months sober express anger at the AA meeting on the weekend - mad that everyone else could enjoy wine and beer at his family's party at the lake.

Except him.

I'm at about 1.5 months, and have done well stomping down the anger reaction. Maybe it's because:
- I know I'm not a person who can moderate, so the first drink is the most dangerous one
- There's lots of things I'm not allowed to do, so I don't do them or give them a second thought (or get mad about them). Why should booze be any different?

Or best of all......

- If I think I feel mad, imagine how mad my boss would feel if I got a DUI and could not get to work? Or how mad my wife would be if I lost our home because of drink. Or, how mad a dad would feel because I killed his daughter in a drunk driving accident

Alcohol is insidious, but tends to shrink away from the light of the truth. And if we face the truth that we cannot control our drinking once we start, then the thought immediately above stands out. If I drink, I will get drunk, and do something stupid where someone (hopefully just myself, but likely someone innocent) gets hurt. Bad.

Nothing to be mad about there, eh? More like something I should be grateful for - that I can choose not to have the first drink, and have made this choice before one of the real bad things happened.