Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
Hi Everyone --
I've not been on the message boards here in a while, partly because I was not doing well with my efforts to stop drinking and with the holidays I basically gave up and decided it would be my New Years resolution.
That lasted all of two days. However, I had, for the most part, been better about moderating my consumption but last night I had a typical bad night. I drank a whole bottle of wine and then opened some new expensive Whiskey that was given to us as a present.
I then apparently made some kind of "shake" with eggnog and maraschino cherries plus vanilla ice cream. However, I have no memory of doing this. I made a total mess and not surprisingly my wife was quite mad with me.
And of course, I stayed up too late, woke up hung over, had a crappy day at work and still feel terrible and anxious.
So I've promised my wife (again) that I would stop drinking. This time I"ve reached out to some friends I know who don't drink - one who went to AA and others who just made the choice to live healthier lives - and asked them for advice as well as to be my support group.
I also made this list which I'm planning to print out and leave by my bed to read every day when I wake up and before I go to sleep.
I thought I'd share this list with you all in case anyone else wanted to use the list themselves or add items to it.
I choose not to drink because
I cannot moderate the amount I consume
I make bad decisions
I forget things Ive done or said
I feel bad the next day for the things Ive done or said
I physically feel bad the next day
I feel more anxious the next day
The combination of alcohol and anxiety medication is dangerous
I want to live a healthier life
I want to have control of myself and not let alcohol control me
I felt it was important to begin with "I CHOOSE" to remind myself that it is a choice and I can make the choice to not drink.
Rich
I've not been on the message boards here in a while, partly because I was not doing well with my efforts to stop drinking and with the holidays I basically gave up and decided it would be my New Years resolution.
That lasted all of two days. However, I had, for the most part, been better about moderating my consumption but last night I had a typical bad night. I drank a whole bottle of wine and then opened some new expensive Whiskey that was given to us as a present.
I then apparently made some kind of "shake" with eggnog and maraschino cherries plus vanilla ice cream. However, I have no memory of doing this. I made a total mess and not surprisingly my wife was quite mad with me.
And of course, I stayed up too late, woke up hung over, had a crappy day at work and still feel terrible and anxious.
So I've promised my wife (again) that I would stop drinking. This time I"ve reached out to some friends I know who don't drink - one who went to AA and others who just made the choice to live healthier lives - and asked them for advice as well as to be my support group.
I also made this list which I'm planning to print out and leave by my bed to read every day when I wake up and before I go to sleep.
I thought I'd share this list with you all in case anyone else wanted to use the list themselves or add items to it.
I choose not to drink because
I cannot moderate the amount I consume
I make bad decisions
I forget things Ive done or said
I feel bad the next day for the things Ive done or said
I physically feel bad the next day
I feel more anxious the next day
The combination of alcohol and anxiety medication is dangerous
I want to live a healthier life
I want to have control of myself and not let alcohol control me
I felt it was important to begin with "I CHOOSE" to remind myself that it is a choice and I can make the choice to not drink.
Rich
Welcome back and all the best with your list. One thing that I regret is that I did not write down how it was when I was drinking because sometimes my mind tries to convince me that it was not really that bad.
Your idea of having a constant reminder in the form of a list is a novel one and I hope that it works for you. For me it came to a point where I no longer had a choice about whether I drank or not. I had to have alcohol every day and a reason always presented itself that justified drinking. It was not until I stopped believing my own excuses that I knew that I was in trouble. My choice then was between continuing to drink for no reason that made sense to me at the time or to look for help.
Where choice is concerned it probably depends on how far down the road to alcoholism a person has gone. It may be that beyond a certain point, not drinking is no longer a matter of choice.
It is a choice, and it is a good one. Sometimes people feel like they are missing out if they can't drink or that they are being deprived of something good. But if you are clear in why you are making this choice, then it is easier to keep to your decision.
Let me add a few to your list:
I choose to not drink because:
When I drink I am letting my family and myself down
I deserve better than a drunken life half-lived
Life is so much better and I am so much happier sober
There are many like me and many others who have also got into trouble with alcohol who do still have the capacity to always choose not to drink. Whichever way there are solutions to suit each individual if they want them. I know I tried many different things until I found what was effective enough for me.
I wish you well!
I went to my first online AA meeting last night. There is a meeting at 8pm every night and so I plan to attend as many of those as I can. I also purchased "The Big Book" for my Kindle and started reading that last night.
Rich
Excellent list. Thank you.