Macaroni1234

Misssy2

Hey..one of my therapists said that to me.....she said to think of "reasons" not to drink....instead of "reasons" to drink.

I liked that she used "reasons" vs. "excuses" .....cause a person can only take so much and normal people can have a drink when they are stressed.....we just take it SO far...that we end up sick.....

But we all have plenty of "reasons" we want to take the edge off....I had about 10 reasons today....hard life stuff.....BUT I didn't drink....

Because I had reasons NOT to.....

nez

My reason for drinking was because I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. Recovery resolved that for me. I am finally comfortable in my own skin, which is all I wanted in the first place. I am good with just being me, and I am becoming a better me as time goes on.

least

I drank to forget I existed. So it took a leap of faith for me to stay sober long enough to start feeling better. It took a few months for the alcohol-induced depression to lift but once it did, I felt so much better.

DriGuy

My reasons for drinking were mostly contrived. There was no problem in my life that was big enough to drink over. The big problem in my life was my drinking. I drank because I was addicted, not because my life sucked. I'm not saying it's like that for everyone, although I think it's true for many.

August252015

This is a great topic Lila - and, truthfully, figuring out "reasons" (ie the "why") I drank kept me drinking for a loooong time. I was so set on having to "get that" before I could quit - which I found was exactly backwards.

In the beginning, I had to set aside "reasons." Because indeed, there were some- for me, I believe most of all, I'm just an alcoholic; yes, I do have a genetic component and I believe in the disease model...and I believe things like anxiety, coping mechanisms, and so on certainly contributed to my drinking.

BUT. I believe we always, always have a choice to drink, so truthfully once we get sober, ANY "reason" is indeed an excuse. I agree with DriGuy that once we get sober in particular, there is no good reason to drink. Not a divorce, not a job loss, not a bad day, not Tuesday, not......nothin'.

Glad you are here.

doggonecarl

Before I got sober, I had reasons to drink and excuses for why I didn't want quit.

Now that I'm sober the paradigm has shifted...I had excuses for my drinking and have reasons to stay sober.

Macaroni1234

SoberCAH

I had plenty of reasons, excuses, explanations, rationalizations, justifications, etc. for my drinking and behaviour when I drank.

Since I have become sober, I fear them, because any one of them, because my believing them or relying on them can lead me back to the bottle.

Today, there are no reasons or excuses for aberrant conduct on my part (including, of course, drinking) that I can safely entertain.

Very good topic.

Dee74

How are you going Lila?

D