Has anyone here ever posted BEFORE they quit drinking?

[NotHappyHourHappyLife]

Welcome back, TTH! Like you, I vanished for a couple of years, and I have once again looked at my alcohol habits.... while I was "gone", I was out there in the world moderating, presumably in charge of my life.

When I was here before, I spent a lot of time on here talking about alcohol, so while I wasn't partaking, it was still "front and center" in my life, but in a different way.

Back in October, I spent a week in Europe with my non-drinking 21 year old son, and because I didn't have the peer pressure of starting early in the morning and going until bedtime, I hardly drank.... and started to re-assess my habits. WHY is it so important for a liquid to have so much control over my life? And similar to what you said above, I was sick of drinking. The romance was over.

I went cold turkey, which is the only way I can stop addictive behaviors (i.e. quit smoking cold turkey 20 years ago). My son has been (unknowingly) my support system for the last 3 months and while I have lost weight, I now have a sweet tooth that I will satisfy with a chocolate. I haven't cheated on me.

So why am I here tonight? The last time I quit drinking, I gave my husband a "my way or the highway" speech and he quit drinking. I didn't do that this time, and he is still living with his nightly pal, Mr. Jack D. With a marriage of 25 years, by choosing my AF drink, I see that we are sadly living together, but it's definitely a "threesome". He's not going to quit drinking unless I give him another ultimatum, and quite frankly, if he's not going to do it on his own, I'm not going to push. It has to be his choice, just like it's got to be yours.

We are all welcome here, as we are all broken humans, trying to be better versions of us. My uncle once said it takes 6 to 8 years from the time the first thought of stopping creeps into our heads until we take decisive action to stop, but that's just a number.... I hope this is my real quit. My motivation to protect my quit is my son, but I realize that the true motivation should be me.

Hugs.

[Marylou123]

Hi TTH,
I joined almost six years ago pretty much the day I finally was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” I clung to the Nest and stood on the shoulders of those that came before (Lav, Byrdie, Pav, Ava, etc) and savored every nugget from those that were even newer. The great comfort was I wasn’t alone in my drinking patterns, whatever I had done would neither surprise nor cause judgement from those here, and, I had hope! I posted a lot the first three years but mostly just fly by now. But only because after three years of sobriety I wanted to make some sober friends. So now I go to a women’s 12-step meeting and have lots of friends I can hang with in person! I owe my sobriety to MWO and I’ll celebrate six years of joy and peace next week.
Like most others here have said, my drink of choice now is water. (And coffee!) I used to feel weird, even like I was being cheap, if I didn’t order a cocktail. That passes. Plus, everybody’s drinking water now...it’s cool, just not in plastic. And, here in the US, there’s the “sober curious” and “dry January” movements so you can use that as a reason.
I wish you all the best on this journey. You can do it.
xo -ML
ps Ava, Gman and all the peeps here from down under - prayers for your safety and a fast end to the devastation.