Posted on 06/02/2019 3:58:14 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
"If you're trying to stop drinking, you need something better than alcohol.
He said that after you stop drinking (about 90 days in his comment), you realize that you have done something really big, something really important for yourself.
I would say that for me, I am as proud of stopping drinking as I am anything else in my life.
It is a much bigger deal than say graduate school or great grades or making a lot of money.
Those things are even silly in comparison to the pride and sense of accomplishment that comes from stopping drinking.
Congrats!
Thx much.
I agree. Drinking is an escape from discomfort and fills a void when something even better that creates Love in your life is missing.
There is a reason alcohol is called “spirits.” It hides the obstacles to Love hiding in our souls and takes away life.
“Evil” is “live” spelled backwards.
In order for one to stop drinking, one must love something or someone else more than one hates oneself.
For many, alcohol is not the problem, it is the solution to our problems.
Makes sense. Even AA begins with a prayer. You need to fill that void.
Congratulations. As one who has never drank at all in his life (maybe in the late 70s a few glasses of wine spread across months), I can’t imagine how difficult this was.
It is relatively easy to quit drinking in my experience. All you need is a good reason. I liked drinking... a lot as in about a 12 pack a day for 30 years. Physical withdrawal is a bitch for a few days but not drinking is easy.
No AA, no groups, no nothing. Just quit. “Alcoholism” having power over you is just a crutch for weak willed/selfish people IMHO.
Quitting is as simple as finding a reason to quit and deciding to do it. If you can stick to a boycott you can quit drinking by just doing the same thing.
Congratulations
I have had a different experience. I don’t think it was a big deal, at least for me.
That’s true, in the end it’s just a simple matter of willpower.
However, if one is a miserable old bastard with no love in his life, it can become a difficult struggle.
Love is that thing that makes you feel good without having to consume a substance. I don’t just mean romantic love, but rather any kind of love. It just has to be genuine.
If a person is fortunate enough to have that kind of love in their life, then they can choose to go with that instead of drinking, because it is also worth noting that in many cases, drinking actually works to eliminate whatever love exists in a person life.
The two things compete, and alcohol, or even addiction in general, destroys love.
Never drank to dull my feelings. Drank because I enjoyed it. No more nor less love in my life post quitting but I am a bit odd. Extremely rational. Never make emotional decisions... NEVER. On top of that I was extremely functional inebriated. You couldn’t tell if I had had 1 beer or 12 and I liked the high alcohol stuff. 7% ABV or higher. My eyes didn’t even get red. I could code as well drunk as sober. Could support customers the same. Coordination, speech, personality, etc. the same either way. Did not impact me personally or professionally.
There just came a point when I decided to quit. I think I realized on several levels (conscious and otherwise) that I could do better--live life better--without alcohol.
After I got use to not being a drinker (I normally just had cocktails at night, but it was still too much), I was astonished at how different life was than how I perceived it.
For one thing, the days are REALLY long when you don't drink. There's a huge opportunity for getting stuff done (both in terms of hobbies, chores, and work).
I was already an exercise nut so I had a chance to double down. I experienced a major jump upward in terms of cardio and lifting fitness. Surprisingly, I get a lot of comments from friends on how much more fit I appear.
In general, the future is significantly brighter.
I will tell anyone who is thinking about quitting, don't be surprised at the mentally grogginess and drowsiness at first.
Wow.
I had naps that were truly dreamlike. Frankly, I thought they would never end...until one day the overwhelming urge to nap was gone. I still nap, particularly after a hard cardio workout, but I am no longer drowsy.
Also, the mental grogginess departed (took a few months) and in place of it was a knife-like clarity of mind.
Something else I would say to those who drink but are thinking about quitting.
You have an opportunity to think sort of positively about your drinking past. It's not time wasted so much as it is a reminder of how you used to have a handicap...and now you don't.
If you can look at it positively, you see quitting alcohol not so much as a reminder of your past mistakes but as a promise of what you can now achieve.
It's like having sailed through a storm and now the sky is blue. The sea is calm and there's a steady breeze at your back.
Funny that you post this today... I just watched the video yesterday. Excellent.
It will be two years on June 9th that I stopped drinking.
I agree a hundred percent you must have something greater to replace it. For me, it was healthy habits, eating a whole food plant based diet and jogging. I am now up to 5 miles a day. The runner’s high is so much better than any alcohol buzz I experienced.
The truth is when you numb your reality, you kill your dreams. Judi Bonello
I know this one guy whose entire life has been completely wrecked by alcoholism.
He’s 73 now, still battling it, and last I heard, it sounds like he may have fell off the wagon, but I’m not 100% sure on that, I’ll have to find out when I can.
But that has been the main feature of his life above all else in almost every decade of his life. Alcohol consumption. He’s a mean, obnoxious drunk too. Brings out the absolute worst of his personality every time, and there’s so much to choose from.
I’m glad to know that you have self control to the degree that you do. I’d say that’s fairly rare. But the person I described is what I would call a hardcore alcoholic.
Me, I don’t drink. I might have 2 Margaritas per year if I’m lucky, and I only need one to catch an enjoyable buzz.
But I don’t like to get drunk, because it makes me ill, and I also grew up with the person I have been describing, so that really turned me away from ever enjoying alcohol. It was not a good time.
I don't jog but get a lot of cardio (usually biking, either HIIT class at gym or on the local trail) and get the runner's high from that...and from healthy eating.
When I see people drinking on TV or in movies, I notice that I actually feel sorry for them.
ping
Ugh! I can't stand to see characters drink hard alcohol in movies! I thank God that I shed that after college. For me, IPA beer is my vice. I'm listening very carefully to the posts here. Congratulations to all of you who are sharing a sober life!
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