Al31

Well I relapsed after 10 weeks sober. My AV did it's job and I thought I could control it.

I'm drinking today but gearing up to stop again tomorrow. So it's only a 4 day relapse. Everyone at my work and my friends know I need to stop again so I'll have there support which is great.

Altough the relapse was silly, I think I needed to do it. I needed to be remind, hopefully one last time of what I'm gaining by quitting drinking.

Dee74

It's a common sentiment, and while I don't want to cast aspersions on you, whom I barely know or at others, I eventually decided that thoughts like that were still my AV being ultra-tricky.

If there's some good to relapsing, if it can be a 'growth experience', then then maybe relapsing isn't so bad....

See how persuasive the AV can be when it thinks it can get somewhere?

I never really learned anything new from a relapse.

D

Nonsensical

Do you also need to stick your hand in a fire to remind you what you gain by quitting sticking your hand in a fire?

Or maybe your AV is still doing it's job.

Welcome back.
Drink a lot of water.
Hard work starts tomorrow.

You can do this.

Jennifer7162

I have relapsed in the past and hopefully I've learned drinking doesn't work for me, but I don't think relapsing is a good choice as a teacher. Probably it's really my mind/body seeking the result. Afterwards I'm regretful and most often I have dire consequences.

Hawkeye13

Glad you made it back
Tighten your plan and carry on.

J50

Was there anything in particular or a trigger that led to it, or just the AV wearing you down?

FreedomCA

What my relapses have done is further reinforced my powerlessness over alcohol. Although I don’t want to in any way condone relapsing, I do think you can learn from them.

Outonthetiles

What really scared me is reading here at SR that it gets harder and harder after each relapse. It's like drinking a little bit of poison and not dying, so next time the AV says, well, you didn't die last time, so drinking a little bit more won't hurt. Eventually it just becomes too much. This addiction is nothing to play around with--its deadly serious.

Buckley3

Well, I’m learning from a relapse...one that led to me hitting a telephone pole at 50mph.

I have to believe there’s a healthier way to learn?

Not trying to be that guy, and I don’t claim to know your situation, but for some of us relapse could very well be a life or death thing.

What’s done is done though for sure. Good on you for deciding to get sober.

-B

FreedomCA

It’s true, though, that you can always learn from a relapse as long as you don’t die from it. One just hopes to get sober before something really bad happens.

thomas11

If you feel you needed it and learned from it, then hopefully you can do just that. Learn from it and avoid in the future.

Nonsensical

I hope I win the lottery.
I hope the weather is nice tomorrow.
I work for my sober life.
Drinking never accidentally happened to me.
It was not a passive activity over which I had no control.
I was not a victim. I was a fully engaged participant.

That was a bitter pill for me to swallow, and for a long time. Ultimately, though, I wouldn't have it any other way. If it was within my power to make the mess, it was also within my power to clean it up. The lottery and the weather, not so much.

Best of Luck on Your Journey.

lessgravity

Non,

Love this line = "Drinking never accidentally happened to me"

Indeed!

ScottFromWI

I think it's important to point out that you are indeed still drinking, correct? I planned on quitting "tomorrow" many times over - why not quit now? If you did learn from your relapse you certainly haven't applied what you learned yet, no?

tomsteve

personally i dont believe in relapse, other than they end with a drink.
pre meditated drunk? i do believe in them and it reads like that could have been the case here:
I think I needed to do it. I needed to be remind, hopefully one last time of what I'm gaining by quitting drinking.

or maybe thats rationalizing it to be ok?


or both?
either way, hope ya dump out what ya have and get into recovery.

Buckley3

Probably should be mentioned too - if nothing else but tone - that we aren’t talking like quitting drinking is defeat or a condemnation to a life of misery and struggle.

Getting the booze out of our lives opens the door to great possibility. It’s a victory and a promise to end the cycle of burning down that which we care about most. It should be celebrated as much as we take it seriously!

I mean, seriously, what’s the downside to being sober?

warrens

The question to ask after relapse is, "What do I know now that I didn't before?" If the answer is nothing, then it is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

It took me three times before liberation from alcohol. The third time found me meditating deeply on the errors of my ways and just what recovery is all about. Clue: it's not merely about quitting drinking. The alcohol was but a symptom for me.

Best to you...

warren

DontRemember

My last 'hoorah' was 100% planned. It was 'only' one night but, it could have easily continued.