Good job! Routine and discipline suck sometimes, but for the alcoholic it's a good thing

I am not an alcoholic, I just abuse it.
bizi

the term 'alcoholic' is not particularly useful, bizi, I agree. It doesn't mean much that anyone agrees on, the term addict is somewhat more specific but still has problems. The real thing, seems to me, is whether our drinking harms us, harms others, keeps us from personal growth and from achieving life goals. Does it make you feel the way you want to feel. Does it keep you from having trouble with other people. And so on. These, to me, are the real questions about alcohol and most other substances.

And re your comments on AA, I benefited a lot when I attended AA. You don't have to believe anything you don't want to, all you have to do is say "I have a desire to stop drinking." You don't even have to say or believe that you are an alcoholic. And, like anywhere else, there are a lot of nutjobs at AA, also. It's a mixed bag, but generally, I met great people who were fun to be with and they shared the same goals I did in sobriety.

One of my favourite sayings back in the day was. "I am not an Alcoholic. Alcoholics go to meetings."

With that being said, I was not an alcoholic till about 2009 (after 20 years of drinking) when it dawned on me that my drinking was affecting me in negative ways. It was also affecting others around me (like Newstown pointed out).

Denial is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when dealing with an abuser of a substance.

Bizi, look back over this thread and read it from a 3rd party point of view. Does that look like "normal" behavior to you?

Blackouts, bing drinking, accelerated consumption, hangovers, etc....

This is not a place to sugar-coat things. You are here for a reason. You have a problem.

FWIW, I attend (and lead) Celebrate Recovery meetings because they work, not because they are Faith based (but that is a perk), and if you attend them with an open mind they have a much higher success rate than AA meetings.

I would give anything to be able to have just one drink. I would love to have a glass of red wine with a ribeye steak at a 5-star restaurant. A cold beer after work would be heavenly, but I was not wired for that.

Again, you are posting here for a reason. What is it? This is not meant to be mean, but to get you to think outside the box.

My daughter has benifited greatly from AA. Also, I know that I myself run risk of being an addictive personality. My daughter has and always will be "in recovery".

She attends regularly AA Meetings. She says even tho it may seem the same old same old; you need to be constantly reminded. It has been about 17 yrs. for her; but knows she needs to attend meetings regularly for the rest of her life or the old way of thinking will return. She tells me; it is your way of thinking that has to be changed. It is ongoing.

Thankful for AA,


Gerry