Introduce yourself & your "reason" thread

CatHerder

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Have you all got "reasons" for not drinking or just don't enjoy it/never interested?

The real reason I don't drink is because I ran into serious problems with it. But if i dont know someone well enough to tell them that, I just say that I have the car with me, which is usually true too
I can see how it must be a pain for people who never drank to have to justify their non-drinking to others. Really says something negative about our culture.

anhedonia

LaVidaLoca wrote: »

Think of it like this: Imagine you grew up in a culture where every time anyone went to listen to music, they took Ecstasy first. A culture where most people literally couldnt imagine listening to music without doing this. Going to a gig would automatically equal being E'd out of you head. The only music available would be mind-numbing thumping techno, - no rock, no jazz, no funk, no classical or anything else, because music=MDMA.

Sounds like a blast to me !!

In my early twenties I used to go to dance-music oriented nights religiously, drank heavily, and took a lot of mdma.

Im nearly 30 now, and the past couple of years I have cut out booze entirely, but still take mdma maybe 3 times a year ('soberly'), mainly at music festivals.

I hate booze, but love dance music and mdma, and although those nights are few and far between these days, they still exist, and I still enjoy them, and they dont impact my life negatively, so its something I will continue doing on rare occassions. There is virtually no hangover for me with pure mdma, and none of the other numerous nasty side-effects of regular boozing.

Molloys Clondalkin

Used to work in my username,
cant handle the sauce anymore and working with it was going to send me to an early grave, so knocked it on the head 17 days and counting

Sunnyisland

Well done on your 17 days,keep at it and keep posting your progress or other wise,it all helps.

Molloys Clondalkin

26 Days now jesus this is hard, the boredom and the pangs are the worst, the pangs go though once you keep yourself busy. and the headaches arent too bad.
the most difficult thing is when my gf comes over and has a bottle of wine, Im happy to have a coke but she could at least make more of an effort so support me by not drinking around me (shes not perfect on the sauce either btw).
But it is worth it I can think clearley now and still have money in my pocket all week it was nice as well when I had to think how long I was off it.
So Im nearly at the 30 day mark and looking forward o celebrating with a nice Ice cold coke

Sunnyisland

Molloys what is your long term goal/plan ?

Sunnyisland

Just a few thoughts that happen,

In Deprivation Mode, we think alcohol is a good thing that we are being deprived of. We are sad, and grieve the loss of what had felt like a friend to us. We consider it a treat that we never get to give ourselves again. We are envious of others who "get to drink."

In Gratitude Mode, we recognize that alcohol is (for us, because of our brain structure, genetics, physiology, etc.) a toxin, a poison, something that nearly destroyed us. Mentally, physically, and spiritually. We recognize that we have the most amazing opportunity to rid ourselves of something that makes us very sick in all those ways. We recognize the craziness of voluntarily damaging our brains, minds, bodies, families, jobs, futures. We are really, really grateful for that opportunity, and we guard it and cultivate it carefully.

Sunnyisland

For most of us, Gratitude Mode does not just happen all by itself. We have to make it happen. If we want to shift into gratitude mode, we learn to cultivate it. We cultivate it by being careful about our thoughts, and about what we notice. If we find ourselves thinking about how wonderful it would be to have a drink, we deliberately shift attention away from this train of thought, and we deliberately choose to think about how good it is to know we will never humiliate ourselves with alcohol again, never again have another horrible hangover, never disappoint our children again with the way we are when we get drunk. We notice alcohol advertising, pay attention to how it makes us feel, and detach from the message by noticing how distorted the message is.

That kind of thing is crucial. We literally can BUILD a new way of thinking and feeling about things. And I think that's something to be grateful for, in itself. :-)

grohlisagod

unreggd wrote: »

not arsed!!!

Something very similar. I just don't really see the appeal.

Molloys Clondalkin

30 Days today

when I started I never really tought about a goal It was more just get off the sauce, but now one month later I dont think I want to drink again and if I do It would be very little in a very long time.
Realies I see what you mean by the grattitude mode I think Im in it now.
The benifits of not drinking outweigh the benifits of drinking. Im even thinking about giving up the smokes now as I know if I can do booze I can do ciggies aswell.

hubba

Well done Molloys, keep it up.

I'm somewhere just past 60 days. I will stop marking the days at day 90, which happens to be a friends wedding so an easy milestone but I must say it's such a blessed relief to be free of it. There were just many things wrong with me drinking for all sorts of reasons and I spent years clinging on to it for dear life, even though it was just wrecking me. And looking back, I am at a loss to figure out why I was so reluctant to let go.

So I guess, my humble message to anyone out there considering quitting - don't keep putting it off or else life (real life) will just end up passing you by.

+1 Realies on cultivating the right mindset - its crucial.

Sunnyisland

Well done hubba & molloys for yourselves, In getting your health & wealth back together your life will greatly improve, keep at it and don't quit quitting.

Molloys Clondalkin

Thats exatcly it Hubba I dont want to wake up when im 50 and realise life has passed me by.

HiKite

Howye, just a quick note to say hi. To block out whatever I was trying to avoid in my head, I used to constantly binge drink and take all the drugs I could get my hands on, like this guy - :pac: That was until Late December 2005, when I started going to AA. I had about a year's out-patient treatment in the ATU in Baggot St. to help me slow down before that, I tried moderation in that time and it was a right pain in the @rse, it is way easier to just stop altogether.

I went to lots of AA meetings to start, very enthusiastically etc., but when I moved out of Dublin in 2009, I stopped going altogether. I manage on my own fine now (I think!), it's been long enough since I was drinking/using, and I've no intention of going back down that road.

Looking back at AA, it definitely helped me stop, I certainly owe it that. However, I always saw it as a support group at best, never as a real solution. Certainly, I miss the social aspect of it, lots of people in Dublin to hang out with etc., but again, I've moved on. I've my family to keep me occupied and we live in the sticks quite contentedly so I'm enjoying this pace of life for the minute.

If I ever move back into a city somewhere, I might start up again, but for the minute, I'm happy to be free of drugs and alcohol All I can say to anyone newly sober, is to keep yourself very busy in other ways, start the hobbies you always bull****ted on about when you were pissed and miserable. Start having fun, reconnect with family and friends. You'll be surprised at how much you were missing out on.

All the best, e.

hubba

Thanks Hikite. Sounds like you are in a happy place. Well done.

seanrose

Hello again,

did 26 days there and drank then last weekend,drank saturday night and sunday for a while.all i can say is that people are missing nothing out there by socialising and drinking,i socialisied when i was doing the 26 days and socialised at the weekend,and you know what,i wasnt missing much either way.the reason i did go out at the weekend was that i didnt really feel the need to drink alcohol but just 2 remind me why i no longer want it to be a big part off my life

will do another stint off it again,hopefully do the full 30 days this time,im missing a fairly big session this weekend with my friends as theres a big party on but i dont care because i know how my friends will be feeling next week after it all,the downer will be unreal

allydylan

Hi i'm ally, if anyone on here has been badly effected my a family member or loved one being an alcholic you can talk to me

i don't drink, i'm young and feel pressured my soicty to stop drinking even though i don't really want to

Sunnyisland

Good luck seanrose with your 30 days, let us know how you get on.

Allydylan there are lots of posts here that could do with some more opinions, post away. :-)

allydylan

thanks i'll stick around so, but just so everyone knows i'm not an alcholic like i think some people here are/were anything i say about alcohol is taking from the point of view of someone that has seen people become victims of alcohol some of which recovered some that never did

L.Jenkins

Hey. Thought I'd stick my head in and say hi. Haven't drank in over 2 years and I'm as happy as a pig in sh*t without it I enjoy other extra-cirrculars way too much and don't like hangovers.

dundalkfc10

Hey all

I was drinking very heavily, not every day but going out on a Friday and not stopping apart from sleep till Sun/Monday...Would wake up some days and only have x amount of money (i.e not enough for pub) and would sit on my own with cans, vodka anything cheap really in house till i fell asleep.

After one 3 day session I had enough and decided I was going off the drink. Off it for 6 weeks then started a new job, went out one Friday night had 4 pints, also had 6pints the following day but knew when it was time to go home.

Havnt touched a drop in 5 weeks after this. Im just wondering do people think I would be able to have the occasional drink or do without it forever?

seanrose

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

Hey all

I was drinking very heavily, not every day but going out on a Friday and not stopping apart from sleep till Sun/Monday...Would wake up some days and only have x amount of money (i.e not enough for pub) and would sit on my own with cans, vodka anything cheap really in house till i fell asleep.

After one 3 day session I had enough and decided I was going off the drink. Off it for 6 weeks then started a new job, went out one Friday night had 4 pints, also had 6pints the following day but knew when it was time to go home.

Havnt touched a drop in 5 weeks after this. Im just wondering do people think I would be able to have the occasional drink or do without it forever?

Theres only one person who will know whetever you can have the occassional drink or do without it and that person is you.

I was off it for 26 days then drank saturday night and sunday day for a while.Had a rite lot of drink but didnt get down and started off it again.
My birthday is coming up next month and i hope to be able to have a good weekend and not drink to much.

Dundalk it is every weekend at a time,you might think that you will be able to control it like that every weekend and forget about the struggle with alcohol but the struggle will always be there.

I have found great solace in praying to my father and he has given me great strength,i lost the girl i loved over the head of alcohol a few months back and it has taken that after about 7 years of an unhealthy relationship with alcohol for me to do something about it.I am a great believer in that everything happens for a reason.

I like you my drinking was confined to the weekend but sure the hangover went well into the week and that i may as well have been drinking all the time.

Hope Dundalk that you are able to overcome the binge drinking if that is what you want,are you still able to go into a pub and sit with friends and not drink

dundalkfc10

seanrose wrote: »

Theres only one person who will know whetever you can have the occassional drink or do without it and that person is you.

I was off it for 26 days then drank saturday night and sunday day for a while.Had a rite lot of drink but didnt get down and started off it again.
My birthday is coming up next month and i hope to be able to have a good weekend and not drink to much.

Dundalk it is every weekend at a time,you might think that you will be able to control it like that every weekend and forget about the struggle with alcohol but the struggle will always be there.

I have found great solace in praying to my father and he has given me great strength,i lost the girl i loved over the head of alcohol a few months back and it has taken that after about 7 years of an unhealthy relationship with alcohol for me to do something about it.I am a great believer in that everything happens for a reason.

I like you my drinking was confined to the weekend but sure the hangover went well into the week and that i may as well have been drinking all the time.

Hope Dundalk that you are able to overcome the binge drinking if that is what you want,are you still able to go into a pub and sit with friends and not drink

Oh yeh i still go pub (more so now footballs back on but apart from the work night out and next day I never drink, never want too either)

See how it goes with drinking on odd occasion but if i fall back into trap of drinking non stop at weekends, il have to nip it in the bud for good

seanrose

yeah trying to do the same.if i cant control it now that i feel strong and feel i have a bit of self control it would be time to stop it for good,hope it doesnt come to that but not kidding myself either in that il always have a problem with alcohol.