Interesting Point................. That can be the cause of many peoples relapse. Just because you remove the chemical dependancy, the rest of life's little treats continue. Family problems, job issues, peer pressure (yes, even as adults) and general stress can be tough to deal with.
IMO it's all about education, I try to be as honest (to a certain point) with my 10 year old as I can. Let them learn early what the effects of drug abuse can be. Just have them be as prepared as they can be when they, as us are confronted with choices. Hats off to the fellas with 20 and more years sober, I assume it gets easier as you go?? Being relatively young it's hard to even distance myself from the sources of disruption in my life. Me and my wife sometimes think that mowing away (literally) would solve some of my/our problems, but I know they would likely follow. Anyhow.

 

fronty,

you ask has it been worth it? i can only say that for the past 27 years i have not had to worry about going to jail, dying, killing someone by mistake, DUI, wondering where the money went and health problems.

i still have a <edit> home life but at least i am sober. my health is far better than had i been boozing all those years and i do have two fine sons.

sure, it has been worth it but of late i want a drink.

i guess this is why i started this subject. just wanted some input from my fellow CTD friends.

david in socal

 

I would say that I'm an alcoholic too. I still drink, but never drive afterwards, and only 2 or 3 here at the house. My dad is an alcoholic that quit on his own, finally. My step dad is an alcoholic that, as far as I know, quit on account of his health. I've been around it, to some point my whole life. It dang sure aint pretty. Most, myself included, dont know/think they have a problem, even when they're bein hauled off to jail, or making excuses and apologies for yet another "episode" I finally got the picture after 2 DWI's and other assorted "un-niceties" I'm just thankful that no one died on account of me. To some younger folks out there reading.....get off of it, it'll keep you from doing something you really want to one of these days. (through criminal records, bad reputations,etc)

 

I have talked with a couple recovering addicts that have basically given up on everything that gave them pleasure. sure they are clean, but not happy.

Most recovering addicts are happier now.

I grew up around alcohol and drugs, I have seen what it can do to people, but I still have an occational drink and have smoked a little weed in my past. Basically, I dont like to spend money and dont really want to spend the money on something that only makes me feel bad the next day.

 

I've been drinking since I was 16. Used to drink sprite and everclear every morning my senior year in highschool. I've done the hard stuff and it just doesn't sit well with me. I drink beer. A couple of my friends say I drink to much but I really enjoy the taste. I don't drink to kill memories or to solve my problems. I drink because I enjoy the taste. Am I addicted? Probably a little. But if I don't have anything to drink, oh well. No big deal. My grandmother was an alcoholic and my mom refuses to drink. Can't say I blame her after the stories she's told me. Whenever I drink that is on the back of my mind. She doesn't try and stop me but I try not to drink around her out of respect. I do think very highly of the people who realize they have a problem and seek help to treat it. It takes a strong person to admit something like that and for those who have done it, I salute you.

 

David........you know the answer to that as well as I do.I have those urges once in a while too and if they get too strong I know what I have to do,get my <edit> to a meeting!!
I cannot forget that alchohol was my first love for many years and the most natural thing in the world for an alchoholic to do is drink or drug.I needed a drink more than anything else in the world when I was active and my body still misses it today and it reminds me of that once in a while too but the need to stay sober is always a little stronger and so far it wins out.
I quit going to meetings about five years ago but I did go to one last November just to see what had changed.The only thing that had changed were the faces,they all welcomed me with open arms and made me feel right at home not knowing that I had been sober many years but it was the warm and gracious AA members that helped turn my life around 18 years ago and that resource is still there today for anyone who wants it.
Remember,the AA program is guarenteed,if you don't like it they will refund all of your misery back!!!!! Ron G

 

i guess it is time to re-read chapter 5.

david

 

I've been married 36 years this coming September. During about 33 of those years, I've watched my wife's brother lose a job, home, wife and beautiful daughter that recently graduated from Texas A&M - he really didn't see her from the time she was about 6 years old until the present. He was going to go to her wedding with us, but fell off the wagon the night before we were scheduled to leave and didn't even see her get married.

Because of the choices he's made, he sleeps in shelters or under bridges, has some real health issues and works day labor jobs when he's sober enough to do so. I've seen the toll that his lifestyle has taken on my wife as her efforts to help him climb out of the bottle fail time after time. Same thing with my niece (his daughter).

Yeah, I drank through college and for a short time after my wife and I were married. I quit one Thanksgiving when we were visiting my wife's parents. I went out with an old buddy, came into my in-law's house stumbling drunk about midnight and spent the night with my chin hung over the rim of a toilet bowl. I promised my wife that I would never humiliate her like that again - and I haven't.

Rusty

 

The first time I got drunk I was twelve years old. It's a sad long story but it is only by the grace of God that I am still here today. I still take a drink every once in a while, and I even get "drunk" every once in a while but it's not part of my life everyday. From the time I was sixteen untill I was thirty six I drank almost everyday. It never got to a point where it cost me my job, never had a DUI or anything like that but for twenty years it was a big part of my life. I am married now with three step-sons and I think I am just to busy to drink lol. I thank God for his love a mercy or there is no telling where I would be.

“It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.” Abraham Lincoln

 

Lot's O' Venting here, It's Good ! Nice to hear the truth ever once in a while.
Real Men, (talking about it.) Not just laughing in a somewhat uncomfortable tone, then going about life as if things are dandy. My Dad has been sober for about 10 years now. His last big bang was getting loaded, punching his wife in the head then trying to toss her out of a second story window right in front of her daughters. It gets worse, that is a censored version so the admins don't have to do it for me.

 

I agree there are a lot of wet blankets in aa. However, there are also a lot of sober folks from there that have chosen to live life to its fullest.

The biggest thing I had to get in my life was self worth and an understanding of what harms others and myself and what does not.
Now that took me at least five years sober to see how twisted my thinking and actions had become. I also lapsed to a time in my sobriety where I decided to run the show and I started using the old tools from the past...I was doing EVERYTHING I did when I was drinking and mocking aa and the drunks while I was at it. That became a very lonely place.

I remember when I first thought about quitting the booze...I thought; "What about a wedding, long wknds, stags, concerts, camping, jamming, etc etc. Everything I did was related to booze. I then realized that is why I had to make some changes.

Sure I have bad days but the way I deal with it now is much MUCH better and safer for all involved.

First thing I said to the guy who came to get me for my first AA meeting was; "Don't give me any of that God crap and can I bring my sense of humor?" His reply was that his God is Good Orderly Direction and that aa needed more people like me." That made sense to me.
They weren't all that happy or receptive to my first prank of poking pin holes in all the styrofoam coffee cups though.

Having 3 DUI's in 9 days in 3 different cities and having liver damage and seizures at age 22 had some influence on my choice as well. Not to mention the severe accidents every 30-45 days, lawyer bills, guilt, blackouts and remorse.

Now if I can just find my sense of humor.

 

good stuff guys, thanks for the inspiration...

sober for another day,

Forrest

 

i haven't had a drink in almost 12 hrs. but i guess i am just lucky, i drink a lot more than many people. but i just don't have a need for the stuff. i don't have a problem not drinking either. i quit smoking after 15 years cold turkey, no big deal. i can walk from the beer any time i feel like it. i have no problem with ignoring all of the whiskey/ hard stuff. i never drink to the piont of blacking out or just forgetting stuff. i do not like being drunk, a nice smooth buzz is just fine with me. i have friends that can't hold the liquor, and i am the first one to tell them they are over the line. i think drinking is like so many other things in live, if you can't control it, you don't need to mess with it.

 

This is a very intresting post. Defining the word "Alcoholic" could be many thing's. I battled drug addiction for 12yrs and I can truly say addiction! I was into pot, coccaine, LSD and mushrooms. This was a every day deal, the alarm would go off and I would take a tok off the pipe and then light up a smoke, from there it just depended on what I had. I delt everything I did, made good money but still don't know at what cost. It wasn't till I was making a deal that felt "wrong" but I stayed and ended involved in a shoot out with 4 other people. I managed to get out alive. Next morning I took everything thing I had and dumpd it. That was apart of my life I wish never happend.

As for the alcohol, (best homer imatation) MMMMMMMM, BBEEEEERRRRRRR .. I love beer. Due I drink to much? At times yes, usually out at the cabin we winder up pretty good playing cards. At home 2-3 after work. My tolerance and size allows me to intake a few and still walk a straight line. I DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE! I drink and stay home. Do I think I am a alcoholic? No, but it is allways noon somewhere.

 

Booze was never my downfall but that EVIL Coke was. Been drug free since 1984.
when ever i see a Whaked out Junkie I Know but by the Grace of God it could have been me!!
If you have a problem get Help.