At Last A Reason To Stop

[473geo]

A question I have to ask myself too: what's stopping you from just enjoying a couple of/ few beers three or four times a week? I think that's the key.

It's known as the "phenomenon of craving" once you have one drink you find yourself unable to stop at that unfortunately.

However if you abstain completely the problem does not arise

I used to drink until I dropped......I know there are some who feel once in that mode that will always be the case

A couple of evenings ago I did as SC suggested above regarding breaking up the evening.........I went bowling......had 1 pint of cider.....during the night on at least 5 occasions I was offered another free drink....I politely refused.....enjoyed the bowling then left when the group moved to the bar area (as did 50% of the participants who were not there for an evening of alcohol.) So I guess the choice to be made is which group do you prefer to be in? Years ago I would have been in the group that stayed at the bar.......so can you educate yourself to drink less and remain in control?......I believe this is possible........all the time on every occasion? I think an honest self appraisal will say probably not.....if the risk of a very occasional lapse is not acceptable to you, then stopping is the only option I guess.

Also, I came second by only 4 points in the bowling, no way I would have achieved that if I'd drank more...

Edited October 3, 2010 by 473geo

[chargers2011]

Hey, where are you Newstart2010? Are you drinking again? Did your wife have the baby yet?

[newstart2010]

I'm still here. Its now been around 7 months, although to tell the truth , I stopped counting a long time ago. If someone asks , I just say ' I stopped drinking last year'.

I feel so good, and dread going back to the days of acting like an idiot, and suffering horrendous hangovers.

I set a small account for our son, and put a little away every month. He now has 40,000 baht and rising. My goal is to stay off the drink, and save enough so he has a nice lump sum in 18 yrs or so. Maybe getting ahead of myself there !!

There are so many things that are better ;

mornings being the best part of the day.

Great sleep ( without a sweat soaked pillow when I wake up )

More money

Lost weight

My head/face no longer looks like a beet-root

Eating better food

No need to make endless apologies

I could go on and on, but I'm sure you've read them all on previous posts.

On a downside, I do sometimes miss the social side, but then again, my drinking friends have disappeared. And that wasn't my decision !!

Thanks for the book recommendations, and to Motoyen. Sorry I just read your post and am looking to order your Paul Garrigan book.

Good luck to everyone trying to stop, because if your life is a mess, its well worth it.

[ThaiPauly]

I'm still here. Its now been around 7 months, although to tell the truth , I stopped counting a long time ago. If someone asks , I just say ' I stopped drinking last year'.

I feel so good, and dread going back to the days of acting like an idiot, and suffering horrendous hangovers.

I set a small account for our son, and put a little away every month. He now has 40,000 baht and rising. My goal is to stay off the drink, and save enough so he has a nice lump sum in 18 yrs or so. Maybe getting ahead of myself there !!

There are so many things that are better ;

mornings being the best part of the day.

Great sleep ( without a sweat soaked pillow when I wake up )

More money

Lost weight

My head/face no longer looks like a beet-root

Eating better food

No need to make endless apologies

I could go on and on, but I'm sure you've read them all on previous posts.

On a downside, I do sometimes miss the social side, but then again, my drinking friends have disappeared. And that wasn't my decision !!

Thanks for the book recommendations, and to Motoyen. Sorry I just read your post and am looking to order your Paul Garrigan book.

Good luck to everyone trying to stop, because if your life is a mess, its well worth it.

Congratulations, what an achievement, I'm sure you are doing all the right things, keep it up

TP

[GrahamF]

I'm still here. Its now been around 7 months, although to tell the truth , I stopped counting a long time ago. If someone asks , I just say ' I stopped drinking last year'.

I feel so good, and dread going back to the days of acting like an idiot, and suffering horrendous hangovers.

I set a small account for our son, and put a little away every month. He now has 40,000 baht and rising. My goal is to stay off the drink, and save enough so he has a nice lump sum in 18 yrs or so. Maybe getting ahead of myself there !!

There are so many things that are better ;

mornings being the best part of the day.

Great sleep ( without a sweat soaked pillow when I wake up )

More money

Lost weight

My head/face no longer looks like a beet-root

Eating better food

No need to make endless apologies

I could go on and on, but I'm sure you've read them all on previous posts.

On a downside, I do sometimes miss the social side, but then again, my drinking friends have disappeared. And that wasn't my decision !!

Thanks for the book recommendations, and to Motoyen. Sorry I just read your post and am looking to order your Paul Garrigan book.

Good luck to everyone trying to stop, because if your life is a mess, its well worth it.

Great news to hear that you are doing well!

It's not surprising that your drinking friends have disappeared, it seems that this is often the case when one stops drinking. You probably didn't have that much in common with them other than drinking and now that is gone. Look forward to making new friends.

Good luck to you!

[gerryBScot]

Well done Newstart, long may it continue. Come back and talk to us here if you continue to miss the social side and find yourself being drawn into places where you might want to drink. A wise person told me it is much easier to stay stopped than to try and get stopped. If I do the days I'll hit 8 years of sobriety in May. I readily identify with your feelings and I think I can safely say my life continues to get better. All the best to you and your family.

[RickThai]

NewStart:

I too want to add my congratulations. I hope you continue to stay with your conviction to never drink again.

In spite of what Mommysboy said, having a beer every now and then is a good way to fall back into old habits.

The hardest thing about staying off the booze, is that your mind tries to come up with good rationalizations to have a beer or two.

The smarter you are, the better "reasons" you can come up with. Don't give in. Believe me, eventually you will not miss any aspect

of the drinking scene! You can still keep your friends even if they drink, but you'll find you like them a lot better when they are sober.

I've been sober for about 31/2 years and I don't really miss drinking at all. I used to go to bars every now and then with my

old drinking buddies, but I quickly found out that hanging around drunks is not as fun as I remembered when I was a drunk.

Occasionally I will drink a bottle of non-alcoholic beer with a meal, but that is only on rare occasions. I drink a lot of water and enjoy mineral water.

I've also found a few other drinks that really satisfy me on a hot day. One drink is a variation of a Vietnamese "salty lemon" drink.

I chop up a pickled lemon (easy to find in Thailand), add a tablespoon or two of Rose's Lime Juice, add ice and then fill to the top with soda water.

If I want to make it a bit more salty, I'll add a tablespoon or so of the juice from the pickled lemon jar. A really refreshing drink.

Best of luck with your choice to stop drinking.

Rick

[powderpuff]

I stopped counting at about 15 years sober. But I never thought that taking a drink would make things better. When you get comfortable going out again just order soda with a twist. People won't care what you are drinking & will assume it gin & tonic. It really is not a subject of conversation.

If it ever gets to be then you'll need to remember that important phone call from overseas & excuse yourself.

Despite what people on here say - don't go back. For some of us it's poison.

[goldenbow]

I never get to addiction from anything, but many of my friends does and i know that when you realize your mistake, this is the biggest step to stop doing it. Just believe in yourself and you will success in stop drinking! =)