RainbowBird

It took me a month from when I had that realization to really commit and stay sober.

I would feel better and then say, oh, I can have just one. Nope!

I think of how much better I feel not drinking and I think of the benefits my kids will have with a sober mother, that helps me choose not to pick up that first drink. I also find new, non alcoholic drinks to try. I've also found a night spot that gives free non-alcoholic drinks to the DD , so I try to meet friends who want to drink there. One small added incentive to not drink while out with friends and I'm not limited to water if I don't want to pay for my seltzer and juice.

madgirl

This is most likely an incredibly basic point I am about to make - but just because you WANT to do something does not mean you HAVE to do that thing. Right?

Perhaps we cede our personal power to those cravings when they happen - thinking, oh crap, I WANT to drink, guess I am not ready. Guess I am doomed. Oh well.

The WANT to will happen, guaranteed. But I promise - the more days you string together where you say very simply "no!" to the want to, your "want to" will change.

Ooona

Heres a strange thing that happens to me. When I visit Niagara Falls, I want to jump in. I swear the overwhelming sense of wanting to be in that turbulent beautiful water literally calls to me.....Jump Jump Jump. Its not in a suicidal way either, its just that water has that kind of powerful pull on my psyche.
Obviously, regarding how powerful that pull is, I dont give in to it. Im well aware of those who have felt a similar pull and havent lived to tell about it. I feel it so very strongly and the pull is based on a perceived pleasure I might get from it, but alas, logic sets in and I just DONT!
I liken that experience to my experience with alcohol, I may get a pull or be drawn to the temptation based on my perception that it will be so pleasureable, but logic kicks in and says ahhhh no. Like those who have jumped into Niagara Falls, the end result will not be good.
The want and desire can be there all it wants but in the end, logic wins out.
So I dont deny the want, I just listen to that part of my brain that says, nope, not today. To drink for me would be like jumping into Niagara Falls- certain death.

MLD51

This was my experience also. When I surrendered and accepted that I could not control my drinking, that I was an alcoholic, that was that. I remember the moment, even. But after that moment, I also put a plan into action immediately. Treatment. AA. SR. Change in routine. New habits. These things are all integral to my recovery. I also quickly changed my internal dialog from "I CAN'T drink again" to "I don't WANT to drink again." Call it lucky or whatever you want that I was able to cross that line fairly easily when the time came, but the years of damage I had done to almost every aspect of my life is the same story as almost every other alcoholic's. So I am not special in any way. I was just good and ready to quit throwing away whatever is left of my life.

And truly, as August said, If drinking is never an option, then anything and everything else is.

Fallow

Absolutely! I am the one who ultimately breaks down and makes the decision to drink.

When I begin to want to drink I think a slow burn starts up. It builds and builds from barely noticeable to the point where 'having a few' sounds better and better at a an increasingly growing volume.

Once the justifications start getting thrown in with it its not long between wanting to drink, and drinking for me.

Right now I dont want to drink so its not an issue. But I know that its building up somewhere under the surface.

gaffo

After ninety days I accepted that I could never drink again. Or, maybe, I accepted that I never wanted those ninety days again. The result was the same. It's been over five years now and I have never regretted the decision.

Bunny211

It took working the steps for me to understand what exactly was wrong with me. The first 9 months I thought about drinking fairly regularly. But fear and desperation kept me away. After my 5th step I felt the obsession lift. Around 10 months or so I was neutral to alcohol. I no longer missed it or obsessed about it or was sad that I was no longer able to drink.

Now, at nearly 19 months sober, I rarely - if ever- think about booze. It's just not a part of my life anymore. I have plenty of fun sober. More fun than I had when I was drinking...and I remember everything the next morning.

When I first got sober I thought my life was going to suck forever. I couldn't imagine I would ever have fun again. Many times I thought - if I have to stay sober forever I am going to kill myself. I thought I'd never make friends, be able to date, be content or at peace. But the opposite has proven to be true. I wouldn't go back to my old life for all the money in the world.

This is my experience and I got to this point by working the 12 steps of AA. I followed the directions as outlined in the book - with a sponsor- and everything the book promised has indeed happened - and more! It took a lot of work though - worth it!!!

shauninspain

Took me over a decade of 'trying' to stop, before I realized that I had to stop trying to stop.... and just stop.

ItsViolet

I don't think about never drinking again. I accepted that if I continued to drink, that day and that week, I would be in more pain and agony and misery than I could possibly sustain any longer. And I accepted that if I continued to drink, longer term, I was going to kill myself one way or another. That was motivating enough for me to surrender.

Mklove

My BFF died of cirrhosis on A Friday last July and the Tuesday after a Dr told me I was heading that way so I quit that day. I love reading all of your statements and stories reaffirming that I'm not making it up, it really is better being sober. I NEVER saw this coming.