Update (Sep 4, 2010): Due to the overwhelming, and ongoing popularity of this post (over 22,000 comments and counting!), I’ve recently started working on a new tool to make tracking and sharing your progress quitting drinking a whole lot easier and more fun.
It’s called Quitfest. Please feel free to check it out!
There are better things in life than alcohol, but alcohol makes up for not having them.
– Terry Pratchett
My maternal grandparents were both alcoholics. It’s for this reason that I can’t remember my grandpa’s funeral: I was only four. This is also why my grandma has meticulously avoided alcohol for over 20 years. If there’s anything to the rumours about alcoholism being influenced by heredity, I’m probably tagged.
My own consumption patterns change. Sometimes I’ll go through periods of several months having three or four drinks, three to five times a week. Sometimes I’ll restrict my consumption to social occasions. For about five months starting last December, in my quest to master the art of talking to strangers, my social life became two full-time jobs. I was constantly going out to social events, clubs, bars, museum parties, and everything in between. Despite temptation, I rarely drank.
Last month, I quit drinking alcohol again. I’d like to tell you that it was a struggle. I’d like to pretend that it’s almost impossible to stay sober at a social occasion where everyone else is burping bubbles. I’d like to imagine myself as more determined and disciplined than all the rest, and that’s what pulled me through.
But the truth is that I’m ruthlessly normal. And if you want to end your relationship with alcohol, right here, right now, It’s Not That Hard.
I’m guessing that most people who choose to quit drinking are not alcoholics. My intent is to offer here an action plan that anyone can apply, whether you’re nursing an addiction or just want to enjoy the benefits of uninterrupted sobriety.
Why Stop Drinking?
The long-term effects of bad habits are rarely sufficient to motivate people to change their lives. The near-term benefits of giving up alcohol are much more useful and interesting anyway. Here are the changes I experienced:
- Productive socializing. Talking to strangers is a great way to build character, but its benefits are greatly reduced when you’re drunk. The alcohol represses much of the social anxiety, which inhibits lasting change. But the only thing more terrifyingly fun than getting drunk and meeting a bunch of new people is staying sober and meeting a bunch of new people.
- Avoid the McPilgrimage. Clearly, there’s a conspiracy between the fast food industry and the liquor industry. Free will collapses under the weight of insobriety and convenience. With enough alcohol in your system, even the most wretched burger joint becomes an irresistible sanctuary.
- Reclaim lost time. Let’s say you have a few drinks around the house, three times a week, and that light touch of drunkenness costs you three hours of productive thinking each time. Within one year, you’ll have shaved about one full month off your life. That’s a lot of lost CPU time that could have been put towards reading a book, writing a speech, playing a sport, or even starting a business. And this doesn’t even count the time lost waiting for your brain to resolidify the morning after a night on the town.
- Get rich quickly. You don’t have to party that hard to spend $100-$150/week or more on alcohol and related expenses. If you quit drinking today, you could reasonably expect to convert that choice into a bankroll for backpacking around the world in about six months.
- Become an early riser. I’m currently readjusting my sleep schedule to wake up at 5:30 AM, seven days a week. Alcohol, and the lifestyle that often accompanies it, work against this process. Alcohol makes me feel tired when I want to feel energetic and awake. Ironically, it also increases wakefulness during sleep.
You can probably think of other instantly gratifying benefits to life beyond the bottle. The important thing is to actually have a reason that is important enough to you.
Make It Priority Number One
Giving up alcohol is one of the easiest and hardest changes you can make in your life.
It’s easy once you’ve established the right rules, configured your environment to support you, and set up useful boundaries of pain and pleasure to help direct you towards your goal. The hard parts are the social implications and fighting off the One Man Army that is your ego, with its barrage of self-limiting beliefs and drink requests.
Giving up alcohol must be made priority number one in your life. A partial commitment is a commitment to failure. Even if you already don’t drink that often, it will be tempting to break your own rules when your friends call you up and invite you out. You’ve got to be willing to prioritize this decision in every situation where it’s relevant, even when that means Just Saying No to pub night.
It’s Not a Big Deal
Ever notice how some people act as though the end of their relationship is the end of the world? It’s as if there’s no point in living if they can’t be with that person any longer. Yet other people come along and date that person who left them, eventually break up with them, and see it as hardly more than a blip on the radar.
You may feel that it’s pretty easy to give up drinking. Or you may feel that it’s an addiction with a stranglehold on your life. Either way, there is no inherent magnitude to this task. It’s as big or as small as you make it.
No matter how much you want to tell yourself how hard it is, nobody’s ever going to claim that learned helplessness was the secret to their success. The most effective way forward is to not only make quitting drinking a top priority, but to think, talk, and act like it can be done.
Become the Impartial Spectator
Whether you view it as a spiritual separation, or merely conceptual, we all have more than one self. There’s the “Mmmmm…beeeer…” self, and the impartial spectator that can detach from and observe this desire.
Let the latter voice be your authority. You’re allowed to want a drink as much as you’re allowed to choose not to have one. There’s tremendous power in observing your thoughts as a third party. The impartial spectator can feel the heat without getting burned.
When in doubt, let it be there. No matter how bad the storm seems, it will pass.
Commit to 30 Days
If you’ve never done it before, it can be hard to think of giving up drinking forever. It’s discouraging to commit to permanent change, only to back out a few days or weeks into it. Some people will face social friction and lifestyle changes for which they’re unprepared.
But life is a laboratory. It’s an adventure that takes shape through hypothesis and experimentation, and most decisions can be reverted. When it comes to making big changes like this, live before you leap. Promise yourself that you will commit to this 100%, but only for 30 days, and see how it goes.
This is exactly what I did last month. I promised myself that November would be alcohol-free, and it was. Truth be told, I had a few drinks on day 31. But I broke the negative pattern that was creeping up on me and gained back the energy to spend on more important activities. And I’ve repeatedly proven to myself that I can give up alcohol whenever I feel like, whenever it seems like the right thing to do.
Dump Your Existing Stash
Any goal that’s important to you is important enough to start on right now. My 30-day challenge to give up alcohol started at about 3:00 AM on a Saturday morning. I had just gotten back from a post-nightclub McPilgrimage with some friends. I had a great time. I met lots of people. I even ended up dating a girl I met that night.
But I was really annoyed by how much I’d poured into me that night, at succumbing to the resulting Big Mac temptation, and at how much I was going to regret the hangover. As soon as I got home, the challenge was on. I had one last beer in my fridge, which I ceremoniously poured down the kitchen sink.
If you’re serious about doing this, get rid of your alcohol. If you’ve got $300 worth of spirits in your cabinet and you’re not yet sure if you want to empty it all down the drain, only to change your mind in 30 days, then store it at a friend’s place during your probation period. Preferably a friend that doesn’t drink.
Advertise Your Decision
I told most of my friends about what I was doing. Not only only does this add accountability to your goal, it also drops the hint that if your friends are planning on going out and getting wasted, you’re probably not interested.
Of course, you don’t have to avoid social situations where you’ll be the only one not drinking. I’ve gone out stone sober many times–even on my own–and met loads of people. Once you get used to social skydiving, you no longer need alcohol’s permission to talk to strangers and have a good time. You can get to that place by either getting hammered out of your face, or by learning to just not care what other people think. Frankly, the latter is way more fun.
Fire Your Drinking Buddies
Alcohol may be so tightly integrated into your social life that it seems almost impossible to go an entire weekend without drinking. If the only thing you have in common with your friends is that you like the same lagers, you might want to consider finding new friends.
I’ve let go of people in my social circle before and I know it’s not easy–but that doesn’t make it unnecessary. This might be the hardest thing you do in choosing a life without alcohol. The key is to remember that friends are an abundant resource. Having a strong social circle is purely a function of the effort you invest into it. That includes choosing to associate only with people who are aligned with your purpose, while avoiding the energy vampires.
This is another benefit of a 30-day commitment. Instead of permanently downsizing your social life, you can choose to be busy only for the next few weeks. Observe how it affects you when you stop spending time with your beer buddies. Join a local user group for something you’re interested in to bring yourself into contact with people with whom you share more than just a bar tab.
Bribe Yourself
I haven’t used this specific technique for giving up alcohol, but I have used it with much success in bulldozing my way through a wall of social anxiety.
Associate massive pain to backing out. To create that pain, visit your nearest bank machine. Withdraw an amount of money that you’d feel uncomfortable losing. Give it to a friend you trust. Tell them that you get your money back if, and only if, you don’t have a drop of alcohol until your 30 days are up. You’ll be surprised at how even the most difficult tasks become doable when you associate massive pain to breaking your own rules. Money can be a great way to make it hurt. If you can think of an even better form of self-bribery, go for it.
The stronger you feel that alcohol is a part of your life, the more of these techniques you may want to apply. My most recent alcohol-free challenge didn’t require bribery or letting go of any friends. But I did find it extremely useful to limit the challenge to 30 days, to give myself permission to live the lifestyle before leaping to a permanent decision.
I also think that making this a top priority is key, no matter what your current consumption habits. It’s so easy to let yourself slip for just one night, and then feel guilty about breaching your own contract later on.
Ivy…like my second grade teacher used to tell me, “Chin up, cheer up, carry on.”
Don’t beat yourself up.
Martha
Hello everyone, nice to see everyone is progressing very well. I have been on holidays for the past week and therefore have remained on mainland and have now marked my calendar for D-Day. I have to admit that I have been very much in control over the past week but, the ultimate goal is to spend some much deserved quality time on the Island with you guys. It is funny as I was attending a big b-day party on Saturday where there was alot of drinking. Had a couple but, far from what I can normally ingest and actually stayed pretty well back and observed quite a few people making fools of themselves and did not like what I saw at all. Even though I am currently “in control” I know that there will come a time where like many others have said and it will be of what the heck one more, one more….. I have decided to approach it a bit in reverse and do the countdown to the day and then move my way up.
It seems that every morning it seems that this is going to be a breeze yet, by the time 5:00 rolls around it’s like o.k. tomorrow. Tonight I plan on making myself a list of the 10 reasons why I need to do this and remind myself that I have to do this for myself first and foremost and not use everyone else as an excuse.
I truly appreciate your words of encouragements and must say that when I read you all, I think that if so many people can do this, then so can I. I just need to do less thinking and more acting on.
I am babbling now, but, I guess I am writing to ensure that I am kept in the loop and not forgotten along the way.
Thanks for your understanding!
Grayson, Ivy, Addicts:
I am an addict. I have been addicted to Cocaine, Meth, Pot, Booze, and Cigarettes. As of right now I am addicted to nothing (bad). I have found that there is one story I keep going back to when I am challenged, and I’d like to share it.
I’m sure you have heard the saying: “It takes seven days to learn a habit and twenty-one to break it” Well that may be true the first time around, but not the second, third, fourth.
A little knowledge can go a long way.
A former chemist for a large tobacco company once told me about the studies the tobacco companies did to understand and reinforce nicotine addiction. He said that everyone was born with nicotine receptors (or cocaine or booze, etc.) in their brain cells. Everyone has ONE receptor at birth. When we introduce nicotine into the body the chemical is transported to the brain for translation. Nicotine stimulates a happy place in the brain, your brain says “good, we like” and you get that high (the high you will never have again (I’ll explain later)). Your brain now tells you to go get me more of that stuff… brain like!! So you have another cig/drink and now you have saturated you blood stream with goodness, and your brain can’t absorb all the good stuff. So like the good organ that it is, what does it do? The brain sprouts more receptors to gather all the goodness. It now takes more nicotine/alcohol to satisfy the pesky brain, so like a good kid you go get more.
I think you can see where this is going. As the brain produced more receptors it takes more chemicals just to keep the balance. You no longer get that high, rather you are feeding the brain to keep it satisfied. You are now addicted.
When we attempt to quit, we deprive the brain of its dependence on whatever we are quitting. That felling of anxiety, withdrawals, and cravings, are your receptors dying (not really they are shrinking). The withdraws and cravings are a good sign that you getting closer to non-addiction. They are rewards and reminders that you are indeed on the right track. Soon all but one receptor is left and the brain no longer needs the chemicals and you are left with the habit but not the addiction. Soon the habit is gone (reaching for your cigs, having a drink in your hand). Soon the addiction is just a bad memory.
Here’s the not so fun part: Ivy
Since we have cultivated these receptors in the brain, and they are not completely gone, it only takes one cig/drink for those little bastards to rear their ugly heads. Think of them as weeds that have been killed after they have seeded. The weeds are gone but the seeds (a lot of them) are just under the soil. All it takes is one good rain and the weeds are back full force. It only took one cig/drink to relearn the habit. Now we have to spend another twenty-one days to kill the addiction again.
Unfortunately addicts cannot drink/smoke moderately. We have already seeded or brain.
There is a lot more he shared with me, but that would be a really long post.
The opinions and views shared above are not from a doctor, I am not a doctor, they may not even be true, but they work for me. I hope they help you too.
Many thanks for your thoughtful and encouraging posts. You are all right of course it would be crazy not to build on the 30 days. Martha i like your idea of breaking it down to 30 day increments – hopefully facing the next 30 day mountain will be less daunting. A bit like climbing Everest for a second time, fewer surprises and the knowledge THAT YOU CAN DO IT.
For me I guess I am not at a stage that I can fully commit to never drinking. I like Ben’s post
(thanks Scout) but for me I am not quite at the point of being able to redefine myself so completely. The words are fantastically powerful but they have to mesh fully with where your up to in the process of freeing yourself. For me 30 days is the first stage of the journey. Perhaps after 60 days I will be more ready to make that “leap of faith”
It seems that there are few of us at the 30 day plus stage and a few more who have recently been there. I guess I feel a bit vulnerable having completed my initial goal.
Time to rehearse all the arguments re-read your posts and pour out a large lime juice and soda.
Again many thanks for your kind words. This blog could put a whole load of therapists and counsellors out of work…
John
Hi,
I am not sure anyone will get this, but I would like to try the 30 day challenge. I have gone without drinking numerous times, for months or even a year at a time. It seems as though I always fall back into the same pattern, and I am not quite sure how to go about getting out of that trap.
The time wasted with drinking and hangovers is the thing that makes me most crazy. I also don’t like looking in the mirror on the days I have been on the great binge. My outside looks haggard on those days, I can only imagine what the inside looks like.
I am a high school biology teacher and certified as a principal. I think the prospect of actually being someone in a position such as principal was to good, to big for me. I came from a very poor uneducated family and in the back of my mind probably feel that is where I should stay;I wasn’t good enough is the message being played in the background, and drinking has made sure that it hasn’t happened for me.
I want to get back the control, and next year I want that principal job. Can you all help me out?
Mckinley
Welcome aboard Mckinley. Lots of folks with advice and assistance here if you want it. Just say today is Day 1 and hold off drinking for 30 days. While doing that read past posts and post your thoughts and concerns here. We’ll help any way we can. Best Wishes!!
Ivy- I was there too. You’ll be fine. You will recover from disappointing yourself. Tomorrow will be much better! Stay strong!
Richard – Brilliant post very thought provoking. Sounds a little like the early info around crack cocaine. One hit and you are hooked.
My own feeling about alcohol is that the addiction is more of a process shaped by a whole host of psychological and social factors. I also believe that we are not simply victims of our neurobiology. Our addictions whilst having commonalities are unique to each of us. We therefore need to find a way to deal them which reflects this.
John
Ivy,
I agree. Chalk it up to a one-day experiment and move right along onto your second string of 30 days! There is no right way to “count.” There is a wrong way though – and that’s one that is self-punishing and defeating. The whole deal is about coming to love one’s self so dearly that we do give ourselves a chance to blossom and to bear the fruit of experience and wisdom. Wisdom generally comes at a price. But once you’ve got some, you are richer for it.
Best to you!
Scout
Ivy- As PDQ pointed out, I’ve been in your shoes also. In fact, I’ve been in those shoes 3 seperate times but made sure to come back to this Island and work through my failures. Now, attempt four, I’m going strong. It’s great to see you back, only one day after your slip up.
Nothing Clever, Pita- Welcome aboard. Your going to find a bunch of great people here on this forum to help you successfully complete this 30 day challange. Monday’s are always a great day to start the challange. I recommend to anyone new, to blog at least twice a day. Stay involved with this forum and prepare yourselves in getting a shitty nights sleep. The good news? The shitty night sleeps only last about a week and you will be feeling better and better by the day.
Richard- Interesting post. I neat way of thinkning about addictions and how the process works. Thanks for posting.
Happy Monday Everyone,
-Grayson-
John,
“I also believe that we are not simply victims of our neurobiology. Our addictions whilst having commonalities are unique to each of us. We therefore need to find a way to deal them which reflects this.”
This really hits it for me. I look around a room full of people and know that each person in the room has a different set of things going on that are also reflected in their level of addiction-desire-taste. The problem with the victim analogy for me (which is one that I think those of us who have struggled with our desires, to a deeply painful degree, are offered most often) is that either you have to come to terms with being “damaged” at some level while everyone else is “normal” – and living with it. Even as people learn to grin and bear it, it’s still a construct that doesn’t work for me. And, for those it does work, might say that I’m still not accepting of the true facts – resisting – and at risk of failure until I do. Somehow that just doesn’t match my climb out of where I was. Which was more akin to your notion of differences shaped by all kinds of things (from visions of our parents’ drinking, to a confluence of loss and available self-medicating drugs or alcohol and encouragement from others in similar shape, or any variety of events, biology, and timing), I think. And so, the world has curves, not edges – so do ideas. They continue to grow and reconfigure. I think it’s just as useful for me to understand that drinking is road I’ve already traveled that seemed ill-paved and dark and that taking a drink now is likely to lead me back that same direction – and just take that as a premise to live by while I take in the good stuff that seems to be available on this alternate path. And just leave it at that. If I compare myself to those who can slip along easily by drinking a glass or two of wine when the occasion calls and get stuck in pitying myself because I’m an addict – or as someone recently declared, just a drunk trying to stay sober one day at a time – I could just about be smothered by life. I think, in addition to the biological and life-experiences differences that define us, we also have different levels of self-preservation instincts at different times in our lives. Mine is on high alert now and I’m finding that the further I am from the days that included alcohol, the more clearly I can see the paths of choice. I know this is a long post but I am truly working to build a framework of a life that actually means something to me and it’s an intentional effort to make it make sense. So, John and Richard, thank you both for your thought-provoking posts.
Scout
Katie, are you out there? let us know how you are.
Pita, welcome back! I’m quite thankful to have returned. You can do this!!
Richard, thank you for your post. Couple all of that with just a major “habit” and you’ve got trouble.
Welcome, Mckinley. You’ve got a great attitude about it all and a fantastic goal. you will find MUCH support here!
Not much to report; just movin’ along.
Martha
Scout,
What you said about “coming to love oneself so dearly” really strikes a chord with me. I’m looking forward to reading your post above carefully. Small child is awakening from nap…must meet his various needs…
Martha
up and at ‘em early and took a little nap. I’m looking forward to a great day 2.
McKinnley–I have the same type of issues with self-concept. I am a trained school psychologist and very capable but the drinking has ruined my self-confidence. I have my eyes on another job, but wonder if I could really handle it. I think after a few sober days, I’ll apply.
Hey Everybody; I returned home around noon and have spent most of the time reading to catch up – so glad to see it seems like most everyone has been posting over this hot weekend – the communication about dogs was interesting to read since they are on my mind: we had more dogs than humans at our camping rally since most of the campers had multiple dogs – all weekend I was thinking of you all and sending strong vibes of STAY in all directions so we all would get them
good to see your peeking face Monika welcome back and Pita, you are always welcome and Key so good to see you here –
ISLAND TALK: so glad to see myself playing on the island too thanks
STAY love, carol xoxoxo
You guys are all awesome. Thanks for your support.
Key good luck with that job. We can do it!!! Hopefully, I will just spend more time on my self image and less time opening wine bottles.
Thanks again for your support. I am glad I found the island.
Mckinley
I’m having a really nice day on the island. 10 minutes until the bewitching hour. I felt so great this morning…why would I want to sacrifice that?
Thanks to all for your support, it really helps! I’m trying not to beat myself up, that’s the worst part. I’m looking forward to tomorrow after getting a good night’s sleep and feeling more like my “old” new self, if that makes sense.
Many of the notes today were very thought provoking too. I think that’s another great feature of all of these great minds coming together and thinking about this demon.
Grayson, Scout, Don and Richard, your personal notes help a lot. It sure was a one day experiment. The weird thing is I’ve been in a lot more tough situations than this one and sailed through without much of a problem. I’m at a workshop out of town, by myself. I think that’s the differentiating factor. In my previous days, that was part of the fun of attending workshops, conferences or whatever, so it was hard to step out of that frame of mind, especially since I’d been successful for over 30 days. Physical, emotional, social, psychological triggers…..all of them can sneak up on you at any time and catch us with our guard down. Time to move on for me and get over it. Tomorrow I can say STAY again! :)
Key, you hold strong during the bewitching hours. You gave me great advice yesterday, so I’m giving you some back today. Drive on…..right Don?
Welcome to all newcomers, you will find support, success, and love here. Even if you screw up, people still love ya too.
Love,
Ivy
Ivy-
My 30 days are coming up on Thursday, and then it’s the big week end. I like most people approching the “day” am contemplating having a drink. I got to know. Can I moderate myself?. I think it’s a sort of need to know question for most of us so we can put that behind us. I am also thinking that it may not be a bad idea to have that 30 day drink, if only to put the what if’s to bed. You did, and you answered you own personal question. Seems many before you have done the same and many after you will do the same. Could be par for the course a kind of right of passage. The wisest people live through the most diversity. I wouldn’t be too concerned. In fact I am looking at it as a positive reinforcement for you, and a strengthening of your will and conviction. Success through your next 30. Drive on and STAT
ISLAND ACTIVITY:
I have retuned to my hut to find it so clean and cozy. The fresh pillow is a nice touch. Thank you. Sorry, but I was really hungry and ate all the fruit. No worries, I’ll get some more. I am going to be at the Tiki Bar later for some AP’s please stop by if you like, the drinks are on me.
Tonight I will help patrol the shore for newbie’s and I can probably take back torch duty, however if anyone wants to snuff the torches with me I’ll be by cove later. Thank you Hippy, key and everyone else watching out for the late arrivals while I was gone. The island was in great hands. Thank you all, you are fantastic people.
Don’t tell Gilligan but I have an extra radio and this time I brought my iPod.
Richard; so many people have posted here – many stories, different drinks ; ONE common factor: after a sober night whether it consist of poor rest or great sleep the morning is one of refreshment, peace and guilt-free. Please think about that and it’s significance before you have that celebration drink then you may do whatever you see fit – it is your life and your choice
ISLAND NEWS
the Island is watching over you with soft music and songs and will be awaiting your decision – love, carol xoxoxo
Richard- If you leave the Island,
you’ll have to make your way past the cannibals that live on the perimeter. If you make it past the cannibals to the water, there’s a fleet of pirate ships. If you get pas the pirate ships, there are renegade German U-Boats out there.
I’d just…stay. ;-)
Richard,
I hear you, but must say that “that one celebratory drink” makes it really tough to get back on track. My advice (I wish I had taken it myself!!) is to think of the big picture. If you truly believe that alcohol can be part of your future, that you can moderate, then I guess it makes sense to try it. But, if like me and many others, it took a long time to get to the place where you could even do the 30 days, I’d think long and hard before drinking again.
PDQ, after the German U-Boats, it turned completely “Night of the Living Dead” for me.
Love to all,
Martha
PDQ- Well said. I walked into a Cannibal ambush today. I hung with some SF/SOF types after work. I was at SOCOM all day working a very busy catch up with being gone for a week after taking leave to deal with personal issues. We worked and then hung out. I drank with them. Didn’t even blink…had a couple of drinks and realized what I had done. Talking old times and Iraq etc…it got away from me. A different world. No matter. I’m ashamed.
I don’t deserve your (the Island’s) respect. I have to think and figure out what happened. So fast, it happened so fast. I’m not drunk. I didn’t drink enough for that, but I drank and I’m thinking I’m caught. It can and probably will happen again. Damn. 8 or 9 days? Well I’ll just babble if I go on. So ashamed. I feel all I wrote in the past was just so much phony crap. I dishonor you all and what you accomplish.
I have to deal with this. More later when I figure it out.
Don-
Do NOT be ashamed. Life’s an experiment. So you experimented. OK. No harm, no foul.
We love ya.
Don,
I respect you so much. Please do not be so hard on yourself. Take my advice, I was there this morning. We are all human. Please keep coming back.
Richard,
Although I appreciate your support, don’t use my poor decision last night to make one for yourself. Trust me, everyone is right, it’s NOT worth it! It sounds to me like you are in a safe spot yet because you have not decided to drink. As Carol said, you are the one who decides, but as someone just coming off of 30 plus days without a drink and feeling pretty sure of myself, I landed on my ass.
Really, really, REALLY sincerely to both of you.
Ivy
Don I’ve been there so many times. I had a great night last night and great morning and I can’t beleive how tempted I have been this evening. I’m not going to drink, but I was really tempted.
Richard–lots of people have reached 30 days and had to make a deicision of whether or not to drink…but how many drank and regretted it? Now, how many did not drink and regretted it? I don’t think we ever regret NOT drinking, only drinking.
Island talk –
It feels so good to be back on the island. Calm, safe, reassuring, friendly. I wonder how MJ is doing. I know he said he had a set back too, but I think he is still on vacation. He’ll help with the island patrol when he’s back too. I’d come down to the Tiki Bar for an Arnold Palmer but I’m too tired tonight.
PDQ, glad you’ve got an extra radio. Richard, it’s ok on the fruit thing. Eat fruit, don’t drink.
HippieChick, thanks for keeping everything freshened up. The sheets smell like they were hanging out in the sun all day. Has anyone seen Key tonight? Hope Denise checks in too.
Ivy
Don:
Don’t be so hard on yourself, this is not a black and white process for anyone, if it were that easy to quit this site wouldn’t even be here.
Now you have a point of feedback, now you have discovered a trigger, and you’ll know it going forwards.
That’s all it is…
Hi Ivy! xo I’m officially quitting on July 1 but if I get 2 or 3 days under my belt for extra credit that will be good and today is 2.