It's not a drinking thing, it is a thinking thing!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Washington DC
Posts: 83
It's not a drinking thing, it is a thinking thing!
I read a response to a post yesterday which concluded with the above statement and I thought, wow, that makes so much sense ( sorry I don't recall who said it).
Just think about those words, they really are true. It's not that we want to pick up the drink because it tastes so good, it's that our minds are telling us to pick up the drink. We think we need alcohol to get us through the day, through the party, through dinner, through any social event, otherwise it will be weird. We don't. None of us need alcohol. What we (I) need to develop is the courage or strength to say no to alcohol, and develop my social skills which have disappeared since I disappeared into a bottle of alcohol.
I feel inadequate when I'm in a social situation sober. I have nothing to say of interest to anyone unless of course I'm drinking then I'm the star of the show. I've relied on alcohol all my life to get me through social situations and without it I feel like I have to avoid them. I avoided one yesterday because I wanted to stay sober. I'm going to have to start researching things to say, questions to ask at parties/events, otherwise I'll never go out again......
It's a thinking thing, not a drinking thing.... Thank you to whomever wrote this!
Just think about those words, they really are true. It's not that we want to pick up the drink because it tastes so good, it's that our minds are telling us to pick up the drink. We think we need alcohol to get us through the day, through the party, through dinner, through any social event, otherwise it will be weird. We don't. None of us need alcohol. What we (I) need to develop is the courage or strength to say no to alcohol, and develop my social skills which have disappeared since I disappeared into a bottle of alcohol.
I feel inadequate when I'm in a social situation sober. I have nothing to say of interest to anyone unless of course I'm drinking then I'm the star of the show. I've relied on alcohol all my life to get me through social situations and without it I feel like I have to avoid them. I avoided one yesterday because I wanted to stay sober. I'm going to have to start researching things to say, questions to ask at parties/events, otherwise I'll never go out again......
It's a thinking thing, not a drinking thing.... Thank you to whomever wrote this!
12 Step Recovered Alcoholic
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 6,613
Thinking and not thinking all at the same time. The alcoholic obsessional thought comes, "this time it will be ok, I can handle it" but the thought of the consequences of the last time, and the time before that, does not come.
The thoughts that should save us mysteriously vanish. My most common thought was "I only want to have a good time" and I meant it, but I nearly always lost control. The only way to avoid that was to not take the first drink.
That might work for a day or even three but sooner or later someone would ask the wrong question and I would give the wrong answer, and in a second all my resolve was gone. So easily, without any thought at all. How to defend against that?
The thoughts that should save us mysteriously vanish. My most common thought was "I only want to have a good time" and I meant it, but I nearly always lost control. The only way to avoid that was to not take the first drink.
That might work for a day or even three but sooner or later someone would ask the wrong question and I would give the wrong answer, and in a second all my resolve was gone. So easily, without any thought at all. How to defend against that?
Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: London, England
Posts: 123
You just have to tolerate it like that annoying kid you couldn't stand at school or co worker at work. Alcohol is always going to be around you everyday ,that's just the way it is, just don't react to it and let it wind you up, that's exactly what it wants, to get a reaction out of you !
Canine Welfare Advocate
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 10,962
Originally Posted by Wtbaf16 
I'm going to have to start researching things to say, questions to ask at parties/events, otherwise I'll never go out again......
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