serious

It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I still remember the day, when I seriously decided to quit.

June, 13 the day I ended up in the hospital, because I thought I would be dead if I did not.

12 years later and it's kinda crazy to think that I've been sober for longer or about just as long as I've been an alcoholic.

Am I still "in recovery"? Yeah. The devil is still there. But the distance between us is a lot greater. I did relapse here and there, especially early on, but the important thing is to get back on track.

Right now I'm just a different person, different priorities, desires and my health is really not the same. Even the thought of a cold beer is just not appealing anymore.
Can't say that I'll never drink again, but at this point alcohol doesn't have that crazy control over me.

I guess the main point is that it is possible. I was a daily drinker, who could easily down a litre of vodka and then chase it with beer. I've lost jobs, relationships, wrecked my car, got mugged and injured all due to alcohol. And still I couldn't quit.

Tried and failed many times. This forum was the place that got me to understand that I had to quit forever. After much trial and error, I somehow managed. The journey is never over, but at least now I remember most of it.

Good luck to everyone who might be early and still struggling. It's possible and it's definitely worth it.

Hevyn

Hi serious - it's wonderful to hear from you. Congratulations on your 12 yrs. off the poison.

I was the same type of drinker - on a very dangerous path - and still trying to moderate, rather than quit. When I found SR I was able to face reality & find the strength to stop.

I appreciate your encouraging post - thank you.

AL48

Congratulations Serious.

brighterday1234

Congratulations on your sober time! 🙏

Steely

Well done serious.

Dee74

Good to hear from you Serious - congrats on your sober time.

D

Anna

Serious, I'm glad to hear from you and that you're doing so well.

Offthemast

You can't be Serious! Great job!

FreeOwl

Thank you serious. Inspiring!

Zencat

Great post Serious. Congrats 12 years sober

least

Congrats on twelve years sober!!

Britbird80

Congratulations on 12 years and sharing you story, always so helpful to hear these.

aasharon90

Congratulations..!!

DriGuy

I was reluctant to make that commitment too. I knew I didn't want to drink again, but I was making allowances for bizarre situations, like developing Tourette's Syndrome, or demonic possession, which I didn't believe in, but, you know, just in case... When I got my head out of the clouds and my feet back on the ground, I decided to stop being unrealistic. There is nothing outside myself that has that kind of power to make me drink if I don't want to drink... NOTHING! The only reasonable motivation would be that I simply wanted to drink. But that motivation is not reasonable or logical when you know where it is going to end. I've got the ultimate defense against relapses based on flawed logic, which all relapses are by the way; I can choose not to drink. Why not commit to never choosing alcohol again? Are you expecting an unforeseen emergency, where drinking will be necessary? Reality check: There is no such emergency.

Congratulations on 12 years. You're doing well, but you can still commit to never drinking. Just do it and see what happens. You might be surprised. I was, but of course we are all different. I probably should not preach to a person with 12 years under their belt. But after all my sober time, I'm still figuring things out. It never ends. Every once in a while some newcomer will give me a bit of insight that I had missed before. But congratulations again.

FiveTries

Great post, serious.
12 years is amazing!

Zebra1275

Congratulations on 12 years!

KTB5000

Congrats Serious 12 years is fantastic ❤️

b0glerd69

Great post, serious. I totally understand. I have coming on 6 years. Huge congratulations to you!!

Free2bme888

Wonderful!

january161992