It's a Great feeling to say no! Not for me. Not today. Today I am Free of alcohol! I'm happy for you just like I'm happy for me.

Best to You! JW

There are other options besides AA, however if you are going to do AA, I recommend trying that meeting in a few more weeks. I know you had an awful experience. But that isn't the norm. You can always call central office, explain your experience and see about having someone make a 12 step call to your home.

Part of the program's power is being around the people who have recovered. It's very hard to see online. When you see people change or you see someone who looks healthy and enriched and know they used to be homeless, that's when the power sets in.

Congrats on your 15 days. Keep coming back!

just do not drink today,and go to another store to get cigs.

Hey, 15 days is great for an alcoholic, but don't get fooled. Your.still an alcoholic, and always will be. Hope that doesn't sound bad or hurtful. It's not meant to be that way. Just a truth that I've learned.
Everything sounds like it's going great, and your on track, but be careful. In A.A, they say that alcohol is cunning, bafling, and powerful. It is
Lots of times in the past I would get so focused on getting my life back on track. I would jump at opportunities for anything that would seem good, and would provide the money needed to make up for all that alcohol had taken away from me. Only to end up drinking again, feeling degraded, humiliated, and discouraged again. I did this same thing over and over. Wondering what the hell was wrong with me.
What was wrong with me was that I was alcoholic, and I hadn't fully given into the fact that I was.
After getting back to any work, sooner or later my mind would start to fool me again. I would start thinking that it really wasn't the alcohol so much that got me into trouble. I still thought I was better than the other alcoholics that I met in A.A. I was going to find a way to do things my way, and then everyone would see how great I was.
Just didn't work. What I'm learning this time, and experience has taught me, that if I put anything before my recovery, I will lose it, because I will sooner or later get drunk again. Soon that insideous thought, that I can drink again like regular people, that the big book describes so well, will come into my mind. That thought that goes against all logical reason, that goes against all the past experiences, and facts of what I know alcohol will do to me, all my past rememberances of the consequences, all that stuff goes right out the window at that time and rendures me totally defenceless against taking that first drink. Not a true thought will come to mind at the moment when this happens.
I'm going through the same thing now. I've only recently come back to recovery, and just last night some guy calls me because of an add I put up for work, and he's offering me great money which could really help me to get the things i think I need to live good again, but I'm thinking a lot about it. I'm scared of putting my recovery 2nd, and i feel this would be doing that perhaps. Mayby I should just focuse totally on recovery. I don't know. i don't want to go through another humiliating experience with a job because of what alcohol will do.
Anyway, just a little thought for you to ponder about. I hope it helps you.
By the way, I owe you an apology. Shortly after I got back on this sight, I seen your post about your 1st A.A, meeting. I thought that it was more likely a prank post of someone to put down A.A. In the past i had a few experiences where people have come on here to play around. I thought that this was one, but I can see that I was wrong, and I am truly sorry for that. Anyway, hope you have a great day. James

My experience has been very different than James. I was an every day drinker, and when I say every day, I mean it. I was drinking about three handles of straight vodka every 8 or 9 days.(40 shots per handle so about 13 shots a day.)

I hit my end point and I quit. I quit on my own, doing the things that made sense to me. This included taking care of myself -- regular exercise, good food, yoga, and meditation.

I do not go to AA -- it is not a good fit for me. I do not believe that alcohol is cunning, bafling, and powerful. it is a beverage -- one that I do not drink because it is poison to my body and messes up my mind. I was the one that chose to drink it, and I am the one who had to put it down.

It has been over 6 years since I stopped drinking. i have not relapsed and I am not going to drink again. I am a non drinker now -- not in recovery -- I am recovered. it has taken time and effort to get here, all worth it and all for the better.

JW -- I am glad you are still sober. Do this for your daughter, and your girlfriend, but most importantly, for yourself.

"Alcoholism" is largely a self diagnosis. Which is fine, but in the end only you can decide if you've crossed a line that you cannot "uncross". For me, removing it as a choice worked well. I am a non-drinker. Once I stopped entertaining the thought that it would be nice to have a drink, it became much easier. After removing it as a choice, I did not miss it at all.

Good job on your 15 days......focus on the things that are important to your life, such as your daughter. If you focus on the right things, you won't miss the useless things, such as getting drunk.

15 days is a magic number. You are over the phyical effects. From now on it is mental, that is will power.

You have it good with you ex wife. So many couples argue over what days each can have the child. Enjoy every moment with your daughter. A sober Daddy can be so much fun for the child.

Thanks for the apology, James, but it wasn't necessary. The area where I live - well, I think you would have to see it for yourself to be able to understand it. Almost everyone is a little redneck. Its not always a bad thing - in my girlfriend's case, it means she can fix things around her house on her own, change her own tires, butcher a deer, and rarely wears shoes in the summer unless she doesn't have a choice. In other cases, it means people are a bunch of beer drinking hillbillies who think you're a pansy if you can't keep up in a drinking contest. How much you can drink is a mark of how manly you are. So, AA is a big joke around here.
My daughter is my whole world. I want to be the best father I can be and I want to someday expand my family with my girlfriend. None of that is going to happen if I don't stop drinking. My girl isn't one to take any crap from anyone so if I don't shape up, she's gonna walk no matter how much she loves me. She's already been through enough - I won't put her through more.
I am quitting for me. I want to be happy. My daughter, my girlfriend, and the life I have with them make me happy. Once I realized that alcohol could take all that away from me, it wasn't a difficult decision to make.