Yeah sorry. If you're an alcoholic, that's not going to work. Maybe you're not though, I don't know. Give it a shot.

How's the rest of your life being affected by alcohol? Do you blackout? Do you feel guilty afterward? Do you drink more than you intended? You said you don't think you CAN give up alcohol for 40 days. Normal drinkers don't really think that way because they don't really care if they drink or not. They can take it or leave it. How does it affect your social life? Does your social life revolve around drinking? Do you give up events so that you can drink? Do you need to drink before you go out? Do you NEED to drink rather than WANT to drink? Usually none of us comes here if we don't think we have a problem. I say give it up for 40 days and if you can come back to it and just have a few and put it down then no problem. If it's not interfering with your life.... You didn't say how much you drink but in the end it's what drink is doing to your life not how much money you make.

And as cabledude said: 40 days to a normal drinker is nothing. They wouldn't even think about it. Maybe if they had an occasion they wanted to attend and have a glass of wine in a month and 10 days but they really wouldn't make this big a deal out of it. Is it possible to stay sober with a partner who drinks? Yes. It's a lot harder but yes.

Here's the question I've always wondered about. Does the olive in the martini break the Lenten fast? For, if we consider the olive as part of the cocktail qua cocktail, which is a liquid, then consuming it (even if chewed), is inseparable from the act of drinking the drink.

If, on the other hand, we say that the olive has a separate existence sui generis, then eating it (especially off the end of a toothpick) breaks the fast as surely as munching on the beer nuts or hardboiled eggs one often finds on the bar.

Still, the prevailing opinion seems to be that the olive is OK, and some extremely liberal theologians have tried to trivialize this by extending the argument to include the cookie which sometimes accompanies the glass of milk at bedtime.

What kind of an example are we setting for our children if we give in to them and allow this sort of turpitude when they are young and impressionable? Cookies and milk today can only lead to gluttony, lust, envy, sloth, anger and greed tomorrow, right? Where will this end?

ramblinman- I came here thru a google seach about giving up alcohol for LENT. But from what I'm hearing/reading I probably should have come here sooner - I'm NOT an alcoholic. (I think)

Dude, no offense, but what does Lent have to do with it? Are you trying to prove to God you aren't an alcoholic or are you hoping that he will prove it to you that you are?

Are you an alcoholic or are you not sure? If I weren't an alcoholic, I drink I'd drink every freakin day (haha). If you think you might be an alcoholic, why not just stop for yourself and your family? For the record, I can stop for 40 days, but you should see me during those month long binges in between. In fact, I am 39 days today.

If you decide you have a true desire to stop drinking, keep coming back. In my opinion, drinking alcohol really doesn't serve any positive purpose in life. If you think you might have a problem then stop. Oh, and you probably ought to listen to your family (NOT YOUR WIFE). They sometimes see things we don't.

Hey Jimmy, "everybody on here is innocent ..." The first time I tried to stop my evening " habit" . I got a fright ... I hope you don't get the same fright ...Take care ... Les

If your goal is to cut down and not quit why haven't you already done it? I mean, why wait for Lent?

The thing is that doing it this way will not help you to decide if you are an alcoholic, so you could do your 40 days and whatever, and think that you are safe but you could still be an alcoholic.

If you still love drinking then even if you are an alcoholic you are extremely unlikely to do what is required to recover.

There's a much better way to find out if you are alcoholic or not. If you want to check it out then post back to me and I'll tell you, if you are just out to prove to your family that staying sober for Lent means you're not an alcoholic then rock and roll, but never forget that there are people here who can help you if you get to the poin t that you want to quit for good and all.

Good Luck

You need to decide that. If your alright with everything, what's the problem? I realized that alcohol just didn't work anymore. Made me miserable, depressed, full of fear. It wasn't fun anymore, but I thought I still had to drink to live alright. Perhaps your just a heavy drinker. There are people like that, and it doesn't mean your an alcoholic. Alcoholics usually know beyond a doubt that there is definetly something wrong with them, and their drinking.

I personally like this lent idea. Not to be a wise ass, but from the way you have described your drinking habits and length of these habits I don't think you stand a chance in hell of going 40 days, ESPECIALLY with having a heavy drinking spouse in the house with you.

I think you not being able to go 40 days will prove you do have a serious drinking problem. BTW, I was like you, long term six figure job...blah, blah, blah That meant I couldn't be an alcoholic right? Wrong. if I was a bettin man, I would give you 14 days max. I hope I'm wrong...good luck

What I meant to say was "YES".

I make 7 figures.

...Circle, square, triangle, trapezoid, oval, rectangle, and the figure 8.

Never lost a single one of them.

Beat that Rman.

Sorry, Jimmy. Humor is a great distraction for this alcoholic. I think you should keep coming back here. You sound like a page out of the AA Big Book. And just be glad you haven't lost your trapezoid yet. When that happens, it's all downhill from there.

Normal drinkers don't have to question their alcohol intake. Normal drinkers don't ever make a plan to see if they can stop for 40 days or for how many days they plan. Normal drinkers don't have to attempt controlled drinking in any form. Normal drinkers don't have family members saying they think you have a drinking problem. Normal drinkers don't have to boast about having a 6 figure steady job to try and covince others they don't have a drinking problem. Normal drinkers don't question whether they can stop or not as you have. Blah, blah, blah...

Hi Jimmy, give it a go and see if you can stop for 40 days, or start now and see if you can go a couple of weeks with having 'no more' than 2 drinks a night. If you find that you can't, you might want to pop along to one of those AA meetings and have a listen and stick around for a chat after.

Alcoholics are pretty resourceful, crafty and in such denial we don't see the truth in our behaviour, and our actions to get the next drink. Even in my first week rehab, I didn't identify with being an alcoholic. But when I did, was the day I took another step towards doing something about stopping the self-destruction. Welcome to the group Jimmy.

Welcome Jimmy- I seriously want you back here. I think Coog is being too easy on ya. She is my friend and you will see we all have different opinions and experiences here. Don't feel judged, just feel welcomed.