JJ9

Just a thought.

I like alcohol free days but I have trouble committing long term.

It might be a start.

Dee74

I didn't want to discourage you but I promised I'd give it up for Lent and never got very far.

If it helps someone get started thats great - but for myself I needed to think permanent life change, not just 40 days?

D

decchemist

Give up for Ever is a better target.

ReadyAtLast

I'm giving up chocolate and cake for lent. And looking forward to having some on Easter Sunday. Will you be the same with alcohol?

AAPJ

Giving up something I have already given up? I don't think that is the point of Lent. At least not for me.

BUT if it helps someone avoid alcohol who is struggling then it seems like a good thing to do.

JJ9

aasharon90

A good way to start your life alcohol free,
putting your addiction to rest, is to begin
with one day. Take today, remove all alcohol
in your home to avoid temptation, log on to
SR if you want to use this lifeline in helping
you remain sober or head to an AA meeting
nearby.

It doesn't cost anything whether here or
there to begin learning about your addiction
and replacing it with a program of recovery
to incorporate in your every day life continuously
to achieve a healthy, happy, honest alcohol
free way of life.

One day. Today. Do everything you possibly
can do to avoid picking up poison and returning
to the insanity that goes along with it.

After you have complete today, return tomorrow
and begin again, sober, learning something else
that is new to add to your recovery foundation
as you build a strong solid one to live your life
upon for yrs ahead of you.

Grab a hold of those you want what they
have achieved themselves in recovery and
hold on tight as they can lead you day by
day with support, care, understanding and
communication to achieve many amazing
gift in life to enjoy, appreciate and be grateful
for.

One day at a time works if you work it.

FoieGras

August252015

My contribution here is what do you plan to do after the 40 days? Is this a starting point for permanent sobriety (like someone committing to the 90/90 meetings/days in AA so they can learn a plan about living sober, etc)....or is it truly an attempt to say "I did it! I can control this" and return to drinking?

Zebra1275

I changed the title of your post.

Anyone else in to give up alcohol for Life?

Yes.

lessgravity

Sigh. Big sigh. I hope you don't take this in a way that offends or puts you off from trying to quit drinking but your post took me back to my many, many years of drinking/trying to quit/drinking. I too would set up an exterior goal for my leverage to put down the poison - Lent, a race I signed up for, a new fitness/diet routine - always a new plan, always a way out, always a return to the bottle.

It hit me kind of hard, thinking of those days, the hope I would experience at the outset of the New Plan - tomorrow's the day! Lent will give me the boost I need to change my life this year! You can't drink on Whole30! Etc etc. I'm feeling today a sort of pity and sympathy for that guy I was, how long and hard he suffered and struggled. I'm not religious but Lent was always a time that held promise for me, Spring on the way, maybe the chance to get my life straight...just to return, again and again, to the brutality of the bottle.

I hope Lent gives you the start you need to quit for good. I'm free now, and lucky. I don't have to depend on holidays, meal plans or anything else to get me to avoid the poison. Hope you find your way here as well.

MLD51

What Lessgravity said struck me. External forces (Lent, family, health goal) might give us the jumpstart we need. But until you want to do it FOR YOURSELF, you will have trouble staying sober, IMO. I got my jumpstart from getting a 3rd DUI, but at the same time, I surrendered and said NEVER AGAIN and felt it deep down inside. I could have probably (maybe) quit drinking and driving and kept on drinking, but I really wanted better FOR MYSELF, for the rest of my life. Until you want that, it's going to be rough.

tomsteve

i gave up alcohol for me.

Snowydelrico

It has to be all or nothing in my eyes.
Which means I have nothing left to give up for lent. ( not sure I grasp the concept of lent )
Already paid the piper
Hope you can too.

Evoo

For me, every time I’ve set a short-term goal I’ve had little problem hitting it... but at the end of it, much to my dismay, I’m still an alcoholic — even if I figure out how to “moderate” for awhile when I reintroduce.

OtterIsland

Sounds like others have their sights set on forever, for me it's just for today.

My recovery coach said to me that One Day At a Time isn't just a slogan, but can be a way of recovery.....a way to actually live....being mindful and living in the moment. They are not just ideas but actual paths forward for today.....and today is all that counts, for me anyway.

ReadyAtLast

I think there is a difference between looking at a set period of time and looking at forever. I don't intend to drink ever again but, like you, am doing this one day at a time.

I think the problem is looking at say a week/month/Lent/Dry January/training for a race. Once the time period expires then what .I know for me when i did that I just drank at the end of the set period (usually a month)

Sunflower79

Robbie64

Good luck JJ9. Hopefully being sober for 40 days will lead to you being sober for life. The problem with giving up something for Lent is that there's a temptation to return back to doing what it was you gave up once Easter is over.

The only time I ever managed to give anything up for Lent was many years ago when I decided to give up putting sugar in my cup of tea. That was in 1981 and I still don't put sugar in my tea! Like Dee74 I too tried to give up alcohol for Lent (and tried it a number of times) and each time I failed.

NerfThis

I absolutely do not miss those days of giving up for 30 or 40 days because I couldn't commit to long term. celebrating the end of Dry January with a bottomless brunch which would result in three days of non stop drinking. I've committed to a life of not drinking instead.