RogerD

Hi,

I was talking to a person that had 20 years sober and that kept telling me I need to commit to this. They kept telling me this, and I'm not sure what they meant. Basically, I've just tried stopping in June and I usually go for 6 to 13 days and then slip up. Get drunk one night. This Saturday and Sunday I plan to go to aa meetings because that will be my day 6 and 7, but I'm trying to figure out how I can stay sober forever. I get lulled into, I can have a few beers. Just wondering what worked for others

LBrain

what worked for me was realizing I could not possibly have a few beers. Ever. End of story. Take the possibility of ever drinking away, and accept it and believe it is really all you have to do as long as your desire not to drink is greater than you desire to have a few.

NestWasEmpty

Hi RogerD , For me the only way I could for at least these 2 years . I had to stop hanging around with my old party friends . Told them they could visit (((sober))) . You know your true friends that way ( I didn't have any) . Maybe a stray now & then to see if I started again
Don't go around your triggers , until you have a good handle on sobriety for awhile . " Never" think you can have just one . Fight that AV it's Lying !!
Could be harder for some when they have family that drinks socially . Still I wouldn't go to any family get togethers , if I knew there would be drinking.
More SR people should be in to give you more ideas . Hang in there !!

RogerD

I guess my av lulls me into a false belief that it's ok. Hey, you have a job, you own a house, what's one night getting drunk going to hurt? Well, it doesn't help. It's pretty much a pointless waste. Maybe I should reread this in a few days to remind myself

2muchpain

For me, it comes down to honesty and acceptance. I know for a fact that one drink = another binge. No doubt about it. I know for a fact that if I have one beer tonight, I will definitely be throwing away at least the next two weeks along with the usual horrors of yet another nasty withdrawal. So, I ask myself, is that one beer tonight really worth all that? I don't really spend much time trying to figure out the whys. Doesn't matter. I drink, I get drunk. I don't drink, I don't get drunk. That simple. John

PurpleKnight

For me having support was a key factor having an acceptance that alcohol was permanently off the table, but the problem with that good intention is after a few weeks it would fade, my addiction would convince me of all the great reasons as to why this time would be different.

So having something outside of myself, something to give me a second opinion on things, something to short circuit my own own thought processes, to keep me focused on the task at hand, that's what was important, whether it's SR, meetings etc.

You can do this!!