daveglass1

You may come here thinking that the problem is you. Youve succumbed to the dreaded poison ( for that's what it is - whats your poison? ) and youve reached some point that has made you visit us here.
Alcohol is the problem! - seen as a lesser evil than other poisons for a variety of reasons - wrongly in my opinion - it kills and causes other life problems.
My health is such that its now or never - my advice - dont let it get to the now or never stage - the destruction in my wake you would not wish for.
Take the advice of your medical practitioner and literature , local groups , words of wisdom from these corridors, and armed with advice and your own committment to enjoying a wonderful life of health and colour , come with us. Im only six days in to my final but first successful attempt on Sober Road - lets all share the forthcoming wonder.!
Dave 🤠

johnnyt53

Well said. One day at a time, one moment at a time, whatever it takes.

Andante

On the other hand, I found that my addiction to alcohol was merely the symptom of a greater problem, and that problem was indeed me. Stopping drinking was merely the beginning of recovery -- I had to retrain my brain and turn upside down the way I approached life and stress and relationships, etc., so that alcohol no longer looked like a solution.

Congrats on 6 days -- keep on keepin' on!

Berrybean

I'm with Adante on this one.

The first step is removing the alcohol though, so well done Dave. Thing is sobriety on it's own, with no recovery or change can be a white-knuckle ride. Many find this unsustainable in the longer term, me included. Recovery is the work we do to find new and better ways of dealing with life and relationships and ourselves. It is this which can make sobriety, bearable; sustainable; comfortable; and one day preferable to drinking.

Dee's thread is a great place to start for anyone considering making their plan for recovery... https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...y-plans-1.html (Psst...wanna know why I'm always recommending recovery plans?)

Wishing you all the best for your sobriety and recovery.

BB

Dee74

Yeah my experience sees me leaning the other way too I'm afraid Dave.

Back in the beginning I used to think alcohol was evil and it turned this good man bad - but over the years I have found another perspective.

For me, alcohol was not my problem, anymore than pot was or cigarettes - they were all just symptoms of a greater malady.

They were the things, the stuff I used to try and fill the bottomless void inside me.

That doesn't mean that I see myself as sick, diseased or evil - or that I think alcohol pot and cigarettes are necessarily good things.

It just means I had to look holistically to get anywhere on my journey. Without that I was just bouncing from addiction to addiction...

Good luck with your journey Dave

D

Snowydelrico

I found that too
Like the poles had flipped and everything was opposite to how I thought and lived.

Keep going Dave, you’re the man.

Nonsensical

Congrats on 6 days, Dave! That's awesome, Man!

tomsteve

alcohol was a problem. i spent many years blaming how much i drank on a lot
i realized when i got sober that it never got into me without my assistance. so the real problem was me.
removed the alcohol and i found a wealth of problems within me- problems there were(and still are) solutions for.

shortstop81

Awesome work Dave!

Removing alcohol was always my first step, but I constantly ended up going back to the bottle. My problem was that I was still engaging in thinking patterns and behaviours that were self-sabotaging.

It wasn't until I genuinely began working a program of recovery that I began to treat some of my underlying 'isms' that had kept me in a holding pattern for so long.

I don't mean to sound preachy, but this has been my experience.

entropy1964

I could say "I'm Frickaflip and alcohol is my problem" of I could say "I'm an alcoholic and Frickaflip is my problem". I would say for me the latter is true. Alcohol was actually my solution for a long time....until it stopped being one. Take away the alcohol and the journey to lasting change begins....with me.

August252015

^^^Every word.

Indeed, I have found the AA maxim "if I'm not the problem, there is no solution" to be precisely true.

Best to you.

daveglass1

Thats a good reason to be here , to share views and thoughts. Tools to help on our way. I see that theres more thinking its them and not the alcohol. Lets take it away. What would you being doing now in an alcohol free world. Lets call it mind altering by any poison- free world. Its a Panacea - but Im thinking that this group might not exist. But it is there and you might believe that the problem is you. Ok then - Ill join you on your road anyway , regardless of your view , lets all push together Team Life FC and beat it. Last day today for the week and the mere fact I feel lucid enough to string words together on here means Im winning. Look Ma' - no shakes - no smell - no errors of judgement - no stress - hang on !!, is that
blue sky up there ( in the UK????). Catch you all soon folks - Im going to smile in the mirror.
Dave 🤠

Stephan2018

While I concur with others that blaming something external (however damaging alcohol may be) without also dealing with our own issues is fraught with risk... I very much applaud the progress you've already made, and believe you when you say this is the last time you'll need to quit. Good for you!!! Alcohol will never take responsibility for the choices we make... we'll have to do that ourselves. I know you can do, Dave. Hang in there, and now that your UK snow has passed enjoy some of that sunshine.

Forward12

Another vote for having a solid recovery plan in place. Alcohol actually isn't the problem. It's just a liquid in a bottle sitting on the shelf. Once it enters my system, then there is a serious issue.
The problem is that we can not handle alcohol in a responsible way.

Hevyn

Great to have you with us, Dave. Appreciate the interesting thoughts & your perspective. 6 days is wonderful. Life will be better than ever.

tomsteve

thats wasnt something i just believed. i knew it for a fact.
still today, im my biggest problem.