Pete6256

I justed wanted to share a realisation I've had after 47 days clean if I may. It's not until I stopped drinking that I realized just how much work being an alcoholic really is.

It's not just the enormous effort it takes in time and money, but physically it's a lot of work too. I don't just mean the carrying around of beer crates, but the amount of energy your organs and body must require to consume, process and metabolise the sheer volume of alcoholic liquid for days on end must be considerable.

I never noticed it while I was drinking because it would have been like complaining about how many times I have to breathe in a day. But being an alcoholic was like a having another job, except this job costs instead of pays, offers no benefits, comes with plenty of hazards and is virtually guaranteed to ruin your relationship. Time to tender my resignation I think.

Mattq2

Good for you Pete. It is a terrible cycle when we are actively drinking. Congrats on 47 days

Mizzuno

It was a full time evening job for me. Trying to gauge the amount as to whether or not I would be hungover. Switching from reds to whites. Managing hangovers. Managing my appearance of not being hungover. Money robbing. Its all a ton of work. Its really too much to handle day in and day out. I hear you. Good to see you have a handle on it and you have taken the necessary steps. Bravo!

Hevyn

Yes, Pete - all the wasted time & effort. It steals so much from us, & I let it go on for decades. I'm grateful we don't live that way anymore. Congrats on your 47 days of sobriety.

Boxkidone

so true Pete. In my nutty mind , the appearance of physical issues was when I was going to quit. When the Doc at one of my annual checkups would tell me to pump the brakes, I knew was only a matter of time. Of course ,the gallons of vodka and sugar bowls full of coke monthly weren't an issue ! I started to think about the damage it was doing to me and when I got the results of my last intensive blood work and liver panels ( while hungover in the Drs.office btw ) and they came back nearly perfect, oddly enough that was my sign . The fact I escaped into my mid 40's ,with no major physical damage to my body after 25 years of heavy drinking , was a miracle. I'm not a religious man , but when I left the office I thought about what a lucky SOB I was and vowed not to tempt fate . The work my body did to stay upright and process was a 24/7 job. Its gladly retired from that life now.

Maudcat

Boy, if that isn't the truth. Getting the alcohol, hiding it, drinking it, getting rid of empties, getting more.
It really is a lot of work.
Simpler not to drink, all things considered.

DontRemember

I've heard the pay's bad as well.

nyala

It was crap job - long hours, always on call, especially weekends - the pay was lousy, and I never had more than three days holiday in over thirty years.

I always take time out to remind myself of this each day.

Thanks for posting and well done on your sober time. Heroic !

Best Wishes

Fradley

oakleaf82

Ah yes. An incredibly stressful and time consuming job. Congrats on 46 days!

NewRomanMan

I was in the same boat. I'd be on a bender and by the third day I would literally have to force the alcohol into me because I felt so horrid and it disgusted me. The taste, the smell, everything. But I had to because I couldn't function without it. Total insanity.

Stellar45

I worked like a slave with no benefits! I had to quit that job 46 days ago. Glad I did!

Outonthetiles

It's so true, and the worst part of the "job" was the lying and the double life. I hated all the lying I did to myself and to others. It made me not like myself very much.

FreeOwl

this is sooooooooo on target.

The money I spent.... the time I put in... the toil and the burden of drinking.

The effort expended to hide the truth of it....

The amount of pain and suffering tucked away neatly under a veneer of 'normalcy'...

The sacrifice of so many things in life that I value more and want more and set aside in the name of this miserable taskmaster of a 'drinking career' - indeed, that must be why they invented the term in the first place!!! It's a career to be sure, for those of us who embraced being a booze-hound on a 'professional' level. Hell.... many of us even proudly proclaimed "I'm a PROFESSIONAL" in reference to our drinking.

I'm so grateful I finally got up the courage to quit that awful, thankless, demeaning, degrading, ill-fitting, terrible job.

saoutchik

Congratulations on 47 days Pete. So glad you decided to retire from that job.

Stacey6957

Wow! Great post!! This really makes you think doesn't it!! Day 21 for me and I don't miss the hangover's, humiliation and all that comes with it!!