* Control--Sorry about that.

From my exp. I find this to very true.

page 23/24 Big Book was my experience:-

'He has lost control. At a certain point in the drinking of every alcoholic, he passes into a state where the most powerful desire to stop drinking is of absolutely no avail. This tragic situation has already arrived in practically every case long before it is suspected.

The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink.'

I always thought it was approximately drink number 6 that got me drunk...today I know it is the first drink! Amazing what I learnt about my disease when I got to AA.

As I was told in my early days, if you stay away from the first drink, you wont get drunk. How true that was and it got me day counting while I found a sponsor to do the steps with. I could not have done it on will power alone (I had lost control).

to me loss of control means that if I take the first drink , it , not me desicides to take the second.

Yes a crack in the hull of the ship, does cause one to think whether or not to scrap the whole heap Or find a way to "Endure." Alcoholism is funny that way!!
Billy

I heard this during the time that I was 'deciding' whether or not I was really an alcoholic. As I would rationalize that this week I'd limit myself to 3 a night or only drink Thurs-Sun (my version of weekend drinking :)....hearing "if you have to control it, it's already controlling you" really resonated.

For the alcoholic who has been sober, knows there is no such thing as controlled drinking.

The alcoholic who has yet to accept their disease - controlled drinking is an attempt to continue to live with the product that will ultimately destroy them.

Good post!

Catchy!!!!

It doesn't stop there.That applies to anything,beating dead horses remains resultless effort in all areas of my life.I simply would not be trying to gain or regain control over something I had control of.I would not think in terms of control if it weren't already an issue.

Tried controlled drinking. If I maintained my vision, I was fine. As long as I could get to the dunny on time, I was in control. Why was i trying to control it in the first place? Denial. My change came through Acceptance.

I thought I had contol until the physical issues showed up when trying to "cut back": Uncontrolled shaking and high blood pressure. Reality hit. This was out of my control. Stop or die. There wasn't going to be a magical time in the future I could just stop. It had to be now.

reply10 made alot of sense. if i am trying to control it, there must be a problem. why am i trying to control it anyway. i am trying to control it right now. i will just buy a pint not a qt and only when i really feel anxious which is all the time of late. thanks all for your posting.