Think I've Made A Breakthrough
 

So I've finished my second reading of Allen Carr's Easy Way To Control Alcohol and I've decided to take my last drink on the 12th July (national holiday here). I think I will make it tequila. I will probably also spit it out. Or vomit.

I've realized that the main reason I drink in bars is to try to pluck up the courage to talk to people.

My low self-esteem can be improved by throwing myself into my running. Training for Dublin begins on the same day I have my last drink.

I feel really excited by all of this. In fact I'm thinking about running over the bar across the road, ordering a large orange juice, downing it in one and punching the tender and running for the hills.

Actually I'm not THAT bad. But I am excited by this for the first time ever.

Just the idea that the new me can and will exist is really exciting.

Thanks for reading my nonsense and good day to you all.

Is that book still available? I tried that book about 10 years ago, I got somewhere into the first chapter and it said it is pointless to read the book while drinking...

I had a can of strong cider in my hand and at this point the book got chucked!

Did it work for you?

Also I love NI; I spent many years there!

Is it just me, or is "The Easy Way To Control Alcohol" the exact same book as "The Easy Way to Stop Drinking?" I just downloaded a sample of the latter to the Kindle, and the first two chapters are identical, and the Table of Contents is the same. The only discernible difference I can see is a changed title, and the availability on Kindle.

I'm reading this book now. I have to say, I'm not impressed yet :) But... like he asks in the book, I'm keeping an open mind.

That book didn't quite cut it for me, the cravings were just too much, and I didn't even need a reason to drink, but once I had knocked it off, it did provide a different take on drinking culture. For me, it was a nice adjunct, but it wouldn't be my primary choice. That said, some people do seem to have taken to it, though.

Yes it is the same book...I wish it didn't have the title "control" a lot of people read it when they don't want to quit even if they should.

The book was instrumental to me in getting sober..it took a couple of reads because I would often drink and read at the same time...but I now have 12+months sober.

Caveat...I still had to do work on myself...by the time I quit I was so filled with self loathing there was a part of me that didn't want to get well...for that I needed therapy:).

Having read both Rational Recovery and the Alan Carr book I have to say both are excellent.

Carr's book is great for reducing the power of 'the Beast' without totally killing it. Rational Recovery is better for maintenance.

Elvis when you said you drank to get the courage to talk to people I could so relate. When I got sober I began to take risks against my fears. Little by little I began pushing myself and I know that this might sound trite but the "smaller" things made the biggest impact. In my head I was like..."look at me, I'm talking to this person w/o feeling self concious" "look at me I'm driving my kids to get ice cream...at NIGHT" "look at me I'm speaking at a school board meeting" "look at me I'm bowling....sober...wow the ball CAN stay out of the gutter" "look at me I'm dating" "look at me I'm dancing...woohoo" "look at me I'm not scared of life anymore" Really honestly I felt like Sally Fields at the Oscars...."you like me...you really like me!" LOL I was "shi**ing rainbows out my ass" (lifted that from an article I just read) I was told I was on a "pink cloud"...hahaaa so what??? life is not easy by any stretch, but much of the time I still walk around as one friend put it "like I have a fu**ing bluebird on my shoulder" almost 5 years later. I have been known to say things like "I'm high on life" and people roll their eyes LOL i'm a dork....what can I say?

sorry if this is OT, as it's not related to the books you mentioned...but your feelings of low self esteem just really resonated with me...
peace

I know what you mean. This is very well put.

The most hilarious thing is that yesterday I was almost ready to TALK TO A GIRL I DIDN'T KNOW in the corridor. The feeling of rebellion and freedom was amazing as I knew I wouldn't have done that with even a bottle of vodka in me.

Something within me feels like it's expanding (and not just my waist band for once with all the Toblerone I've been fiending on).

that feeling of "something within me expanding" is so cool...love that! thanks for sharing that elvis...very empowering!

have you tried looking into alexander technique for your confidence? it improves your posture and that can boost your confidence because your body is sending back big expansive 'walk tall' signals from every nerve.

naturally happy confident people carry themselves in a certain way, and if you take that on board for yourself it can really change how you feel inside.

debs

This is odd, but I have found that I talk more now while sober. I suppose part of me is a bit shy, but in the main, I am very intellectual, though extroverted, so that this over-rides my shyness. Many people have commented that I seem happier and chattier now that I am 40 days sober...I think alcohol had me in this depressive state, so much so, that it failed to act as the social lubricant that it used to. I still do go out, (and have sodas and like as opposed to alcohol) to talk to certain of my friends who happen to drink, and a lot of people have said, wow, you seem so much more outgoing. Which is odd, because there was a point I did drink to loosen up, but now I am finding that part of my self was there all along; drinking was masking it.

Then again, I love to talk, as anyone who knows me will testify to.

LOL...I am that way now too Huskypup. It took me a while to gain my confidence, but everyone who knows me (even my friends that drink) much prefers the sober me. I am usually the life of the party LOL I never shut up, but it took a series of attempts at facing my fears in little ways to get there. At the risk of getting sappy, it really is such a beautiful thing to feel confident and serene. Getting courage from a bottle is so...well, so lame.

I don't know how it happened but since I've been sober, my life has not been cluttered and ruled by what others think. it's lovely.

Debs, I have not heard of the alexander technique, but am going to look it up. That's great advice.

They are almost the same. The Control Alcohol is the original British version but the Stop Drinking is the American version. I haven't read the latter but it is slightly modified for the American market.

Once you read the British version he does explain that he makes no apologies for making out you can control alcohol: the only way to control it is to not drink it at all!

It worked on me: I bought it to try and stop for a month yet it made me realise I should not drink at all.

I'm not quite sure why he felt he should change the semantics for Americans.

There is also a shortened version called No More Hangovers. I have this on my iPhone. It's good as a reference point but the lengthier versions are much better, in my opinion.

EasyWay allows you to improve many aspects of your life. Allen shows you that the popular perception of something can be totally wrong.

I bought his book on worrying. It's not up to his other work but it has helped me a bit.

Alcohol never gave you courage. It took a lot of it away and gave some of it back when you took a drink. I can think of a couple of very successful British comedians who started their career after stopping drinking.

I love Allen's words in The Incredible Machine chapter. We are capable of many great things. You only need alcohol if you tell yourself you do. :)