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I'm close to thinking I can have a drink and it won't be a problem.



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I'm close to thinking I can have a drink and it won't be a problem.

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Old 04-30-2016, 06:56 PM
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I'm close to thinking I can have a drink and it won't be a problem.

Saturday night, had a productive week and feel like I've kind of gotten back into a groove "with life". Thus, I think unwinding with a drink or two would be just fine. Maybe it would be fine...tonight. But I'm pretty sure based on research of this forum, it would be 1-3 months and I'd be right back to bad habits. Hanging in there.
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Old 04-30-2016, 07:07 PM
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go back and read some old threads Jeff.

I assure you sooner or later things won't be any different this time, except maybe worse.

I reckon a lot sooner than 1-3 months too.

What is it you miss about drinking Jeff?

D
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Old 04-30-2016, 07:10 PM
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Close to thinking ?

This ain't horse shoes.

Mountainmanbob
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Old 04-30-2016, 07:30 PM
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I was sober for 17 years...drank a wine cooler and there was no going back. Drank for 17 years, am old now, what a waste. Sober 9 months and now there's no going back to drinking..... ever. I would swim out into that deep dark ocean and never make it back. Please don't take that drink...it's not worth it!
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Old 04-30-2016, 07:42 PM
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I know how you are feeling. You might be able to just have one drink and be okay. You might be able to have one drink tomorrow and be okay. You might be able to do that a couple nights in May and then go out to happy hour and have a few with your friends, not do anything stupid, have a blast that you will remember for the rest of your life, take a cab home, wake up not hungover and have a productive day and not drink for another week or month or so.

But in my experience, it might go down the opposite way. The obsession of every alcoholic is someway, someday, somehow he will learn to control his drinking. I had to admit to myself that I never could control it. I tried every way possible. I was successful sometimes, but most of the time, I failed. In the end it was the same--misery.

Remember that you just don't have to drink tonight. You can drink tomorrow. And then when you wake up, you tell yourself that you don't have to drink today. One day at a time sounds so cheesy but it's a fact. Sometimes for me, it was one hour at a time. I'm telling you, sometimes I would have to sit on my hands. Watching Law and Order always helped--it totally distracts you. Seriously it sounds stupid, but it's the little things that you learn can work and then you share them with others. Think about how may people you have helped tonight and RIGHT THIS SECOND by posting that you want to take a drink. You admitted you needed advice instead of slamming something down your throat and you have other people-including myself-talking to you about your options. You have helped me stay sober tonight. Thank you and I hope I have done the same for you.

Keep fighting<3
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Dee74 View Post
go back and read some old threads Jeff.

I assure you sooner or later things won't be any different this time, except maybe worse.

I reckon a lot sooner than 1-3 months too.

What is it you miss about drinking Jeff?

D
Dee, I miss being able to check out now and then.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:05 PM
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Then thats your starting point.

Whats making you feel like you need to check out?
too much stress, worry, no respite, people not doing what you want?

there are other ways of maintaining a healthy balance in your life and dealing with stress.

If you're simply looking at other people enviously thinking why can't you check out like that, the answers back in your old threads.

D
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:07 PM
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A lot of us get those thoughts, Thomas11. Just this morning, I woke up to a beautiful Saturday, first day I've felt really healthy in a while, and thought this would be the perfect day to sit in a park and enjoy a couple of shots. Maybe take a nap in the sun. Clean up, go home, no consequences.

I've learned to look at those thoughts hard. What's behind it? In my case, someone had been mad at me, and I resented it & thought, I'll give that someone something to really be mad about! But I'll keep it a secret -- so I can nurse my revenge and get away with it too. I wanted a drink to help me revert to a sick alcoholic way of managing emotions.

What are *you* still looking for in a drink?

Edit: I just read your response to Dee. So what do you want to check out from? In my experience, avoidance isn't an effective way of building longterm sobriety.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:11 PM
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Doesn't the song go "you can check out but you can never leave"?
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:14 PM
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Jeff, we can't do what others do when it comes to drinking, including checking out. The price we pay is too high. It might not seem fair, but that's the way it is.

You've offered supportive messages to others. Perhaps those are posts to revisit, too, for your own sake.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:17 PM
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Originally Posted by thomas11 View Post
Dee, I miss being able to check out now and then.
There's plenty of ways to relax without drinking. You've given dozens of people that very same advice yourself and you know that this is simply your addiction talking.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:19 PM
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Originally Posted by pandblvr View Post
I know how you are feeling. You might be able to just have one drink and be okay. You might be able to have one drink tomorrow and be okay. You might be able to do that a couple nights in May and then go out to happy hour and have a few with your friends, not do anything stupid, have a blast that you will remember for the rest of your life, take a cab home, wake up not hungover and have a productive day and not drink for another week or month or so.

But in my experience, it might go down the opposite way. The obsession of every alcoholic is someway, someday, somehow he will learn to control his drinking. I had to admit to myself that I never could control it. I tried every way possible. I was successful sometimes, but most of the time, I failed. In the end it was the same--misery.

Remember that you just don't have to drink tonight. You can drink tomorrow. And then when you wake up, you tell yourself that you don't have to drink today. One day at a time sounds so cheesy but it's a fact. Sometimes for me, it was one hour at a time. I'm telling you, sometimes I would have to sit on my hands. Watching Law and Order always helped--it totally distracts you. Seriously it sounds stupid, but it's the little things that you learn can work and then you share them with others. Think about how may people you have helped tonight and RIGHT THIS SECOND by posting that you want to take a drink. You admitted you needed advice instead of slamming something down your throat and you have other people-including myself-talking to you about your options. You have helped me stay sober tonight. Thank you and I hope I have done the same for you.

Keep fighting<3
I got through a portion of that post and did not think much of it, then I read it to completion, and I thank you. Glad you are hanging in there. I guess it is a team effort.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:22 PM
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What made you stop drinking? Go back to that day and remember how that felt..remember the withdrawals ....the self hatred and regret..it won't be any different this time around except its progressive so it will be even worse...are you willing to lose your dreams/goals and possibly your life?
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Dee74 View Post
Then thats your starting point.

Whats making you feel like you need to check out?
too much stress, worry, no respite, people not doing what you want?

there are other ways of maintaining a healthy balance in your life and dealing with stress.

If you're simply looking at other people enviously thinking why can't you check out like that, the answers back in your old threads.

D
Sorry Dee, not liking that anwer. At the moment, I'm taking that as "read your old posts, so you can see what a loser you were" Not helping.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:24 PM
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I hope you do recognize the AV in all of this Jeff. . .

As someone else said, there are plenty of ways to relax without drinking.
You've been flirting with this for awhile again. . . the "food for thought" thread
for example.

It just doesn't stop reliably with one or two with people like us.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:25 PM
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Originally Posted by courage2 View Post
What are *you* still looking for in a drink?

Edit: I just read your response to Dee. So what do you want to check out from? In my experience, avoidance isn't an effective way of building longterm sobriety.
It was something that happened between my mother and my wife at my wife's job today. My Mom is sick, but she's my Mom. Its really sad,
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:25 PM
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I don't think he means "what a loser"
more like "here's the pattern of craving / justification / relapse"

That's what I see anyway.
Hope you don't drink Jeff.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Venecia View Post
The price we pay is too high. It might not seem fair, but that's the way it is.
What if I don't agree with that? Do I have to go with flow because that's the way it is? I can do that most of the time, but there are times when I don't agree with that and I throw a fit. Just being honest.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:29 PM
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Originally Posted by thomas11 View Post
It was something that happened between my mother and my wife at my wife's job today. My Mom is sick, but she's my Mom. Its really sad,
Drinking at it won't make it better. In fact, it will reliably make everything worse.

Sometimes you just have to ride it out, Jeff. In the light of a new day, things don't feel as bad.
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Old 04-30-2016, 08:36 PM
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Originally Posted by thomas11 View Post
What if I don't agree with that? Do I have to go with flow because that's the way it is? I can do that most of the time, but there are times when I don't agree with that and I throw a fit. Just being honest.
Then you'll drink and regret it. The only question is how much. It could be another "fall down the stairs and break your legs" bender. Or the last straw that makes your wife leave bender. Or some other new low you haven't yet reached. It's only your life that you are gambling with by not "going with the flow"
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