A.a. Thread

[Guest]

Coming up on 10 months in a couple weeks without a drink. I used to think a year would be impossible and now I'm only 2 months away. Still regret not being able to enjoy myself and drink in moderation. But the trade off of not getting wasted and losing good friends or doing things drunk I regret the next morning is well worth it.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Guest

[Luigi]

Coming up on 10 months in a couple weeks without a drink. I used to think a year would be impossible and now I'm only 2 months away. Still regret not being able to enjoy myself and drink in moderation. But the trade off of not getting wasted and losing good friends or doing things drunk I regret the next morning is well worth it.

 

What you're talking about here is the difference between cheap thrills (the drinking) and long-term happiness. It's easier to feel the thrills if they're cheap. The thrills of long-term happiness are more subtle, but they're also more rewarding.

[Guest]

14 months. God gave me the grace to not take a single sip. I think I deserve a cold beer. Had a supernatural experience early October that involved God, an old friend who died in a drunk driving accident, and my 1 year mark. Hopefully will detail it in this thread at some point. Through experiences like the one that just happened and others I'm left without a doubt of the existence of a loving Creator. There's no way you could convince me otherwise. It would be like telling me my mom or dad never existed. God bless.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Guest

[Luigi]

The program works, if you work the program. And you've been working it. 

 

I've known people who dried out without benefit of a program. They may still be dry, but they're not much changed from who they were when they were drinking. 

 

And I've known people who dried out with the help of AA or something similar. They're not just still dry, they're happier people. 

 

Rock on, brother!

[AnneLine]

Was thinking about this and another thread the other day, and prayed for you.  :)  Still doing that!

[Guest]

Thank you both for your prayers and support.God bless.

[Guest]

So its been 18 months without a drip of alcohol. Except the times I've been in a state of grace and received Christ Blood at Mass. I haven't been to a meeting in who knows how long. Have thought about having a drink every now and then. Although God has put up this wall or something like that where the idea has no power over me and goes away without a second thought. Other things like lust at times are impossible it seems to abstain from. Perhaps I should join a 12 step program for that. I use marijuana in moderation. So some people may have a problem with me saying I have 18 months. There's a debate going on in the debate phorum and I'm also welcome to being called out on it here. With that said I joined alcoholics anonymous  18 months ago because I hit what i believe to be a rock bottom and I needed to stop drinking. So if anyone wonders.....With God's help and a complete (emphasis on complete) desire to stop drinking this program will work. To those that enjoy alcohol responsibility God bless. Keep enjoying it.

[AccountDeleted]

So its been 18 months without a drip of alcohol. Except the times I've been in a state of grace and received Christ Blood at Mass. I haven't been to a meeting in who knows how long. Have thought about having a drink every now and then. Although God has put up this wall or something like that where the idea has no power over me and goes away without a second thought. Other things like lust at times are impossible it seems to abstain from. Perhaps I should join a 12 step program for that. I use marijuana in moderation. So some people may have a problem with me saying I have 18 months. There's a debate going on in the debate phorum and I'm also welcome to being called out on it here. With that said I joined alcoholics anonymous  18 months ago because I hit what i believe to be a rock bottom and I needed to stop drinking. So if anyone wonders.....With God's help and a complete (emphasis on complete) desire to stop drinking this program will work. To those that enjoy alcohol responsibility God bless. Keep enjoying it.

​Oh Josh, congratulations for your efforts against alcoholism.  I know it is a day by day thing but marking milestones does help to encourage you to persevere, I am sure. 

As for other vices, one step at a time. God is in your corner!  

[Guest]

One day at a time

Edited October 25, 2015 by Guest

[Guest]

27 months

[Ash Wednesday]

God bless you, Josh. Keep fighting the good fight.

[Guest]

I have 29 months without a drink. I still think about the friend I lost. I probably always will. I allowed my resentment  and anger to build so much it exploded that night and I was a drunken lunatic liar who threw a good friend completely under the bus. It was my ****** character that allowed the lies and hate to stir up in my heart and mind that night. It was the 20 beers that made it so easy to say screw it and not look back and let it come out of my mouth for everyone to hear. I'm glad a.a. addressed both alcoholism and character defects in the meetings. For the last 29 months I've mastered the not drinking aspect which has prevented me from getting wasted and running my mouth. Although I know I still need more improvement on the character defects. I don't think I try hard enough on this aspect. My old friends friend posted this on Facebook. A ton of truth in this.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Guest

[Guest]

https://youtu.be/dkqgPhED9lQ

[Anomaly]

Josh, 

I'm not an alcoholic, though I've spent significant time in bars and with alcoholics for many years.   I have a good number of family and dear friends that are alcoholics in various stages of sobriety or complete denial.   I've family and friends that addictions to alcohol and/or drugs have first taken them out of our lives and some it eventually killed them.  

Addictions ravage more than the addicts lives.   I'm currently dealing with a very close family member who will not admit the drinking that is destroying them and damaging my family.    

I have read your posts for years with interest and maybe a little understanding.    I want you to know that you have impressed me tremendously and have often been a example of hope and encouragement as I deal with addicts close to my heart.  

You don't have to be perfect today.  Just willing to get back up and try. Kudos on your accomplishments and thank you for sharing your journey. 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, Anomaly said:

Josh, 

I'm not an alcoholic, though I've spent significant time in bars and with alcoholics for many years.   I have a good number of family and dear friends that are alcoholics in various stages of sobriety or complete denial.   I've family and friends that addictions to alcohol and/or drugs have first taken them out of our lives and some it eventually killed them.  

Addictions ravage more than the addicts lives.   I'm currently dealing with a very close family member who will not admit the drinking that is destroying them and damaging my family.    

I have read your posts for years with interest and maybe a little understanding.    I want you to know that you have impressed me tremendously and have often been a example of hope and encouragement as I deal with addicts close to my heart.  

You don't have to be perfect today.  Just willing to get back up and try. Kudos on your accomplishments and thank you for sharing your journey. 

Thanks I appreciate that. I'm glad you're even able to understand them a little bit lol As far as drinking I'm still surprised myself I haven't drank yet. Not even once. Not even a sip. I've said it before in this thread but it really is a miracle. I would drink sometimes 24 hours or more straight and become so wasted. I would realize when I woke up the next day I couldn't keep doing this and would try to stop drinking and it never worked. This friend I lost would talk to me about drinking and encourage me to stop. Always listen to me say I was going to stop and never be surprised when I was drinking again. She was Mormon and I would always talk with her about how Mormonism was in error and how Joseph Smith started a false religion and that good stuff. She wasn't practicing but being from Utah she was raised Mormon and most of her family was. Beautiful blue eyes and blond hair. One of the nicest people I ever met. I had figured out I was eventually going to marry her and she would become Catholic and get Baptized. A week or so before my rock bottom these big flies kept appearing in my apartment. I had no Idea how they were getting in. I lived there 5 years and that was the only week I ever had flies. They weren't regular little flies but these really big disgusting flies. I kept killing them. I was dealing at this point with a lot of resentment and hate for her because of stuff that had happened. Not stuff that she had necessarily done but just a combination of things and resentments and that good stuff. I actually remember talking with God about how I didn't want to get wasted and do something evil. Not anything physical I would never do that but seeking out revenge in ways that I knew I could hurt her. After talking with God about this I went and got her a birthday card as her birthday was coming up. I told myself I was going to let the resentment and hate go. Got the card but never got the chance to give it to her. The night before her birthday I was wasted drunk at her work place telling people who were there and people that she worked with that we used to sleep together all the time. This was lie. I also said a bunch of other lies and hateful things. I was kicked out. I caused more problems. Told a security guard I would kill him and his family. Eventually was arrested for trespassing. Still remember waking up that next day and feeling like I wanted to die. I really do think I experienced hell. I got a glimpse of it internally that morning at least. Lucky for me I was still alive and recovery,healing and repentance was available. I remember I had it all figured out. When I got my one year sobriety chip I would put it in a card with cash and give it to her and she would forgive me. And eventually we would become friends again ect ect ect. Looking back I went in to aa so I could be friends with her again. Yes at this point every fiber of me wanted to stop drinking but yet I wasn't doing it completely for myself. I was doing it so I could become friends with her again. 2 and a half years later I never gave her a card with the sobriety chip in it. I did leave her a couple of text a few times telling her my progress and how sorry I am. I guess that is my amends. I think God is okay with that and rather me do that than try to become friends with her again. The night I got attested the cop said my friend was going to put a restraining order on me. She never ended up doing it. She could of did it the times I texted her or left a voice message saying I have this many months sober and I'm sorry. She never did the restraining order at these times either. She never replied and I honestly feel I probably will never talk to her again. 29 months without a drink I can now say 100% I did this/am doing this for me and my sanity. It's important I do it for others as well so I don't mistreat anyone else again but now the #1 reason I don't get wasted is because it's truly best for me and my life. I'm not saying people shouldn't go into this program doing it for someone else or so they can get something back or even keep something. Sometimes that's the push a person needs to take the first step. If I knew on my first day of sobriety that 2 and half years later my old friend still wouldn't have talked to me yet and most likely will never talk to me again I wouldn't of entered the program and stopped drinking. Although now each day I add and each additional month I complete without a drink it's for me. It's not so I can get an old friend back. It's so I can live a life where I'm in control and there is sanity. This video is by the Catholic rapper Dy-Verse. The song is called Control. This guy has kept me in prayer and he's a great guy. Anyone reading this check his music out and purchase it on iTunes. God bless.

https://youtu.be/vXMU-xvpfcE

Edited February 13, 2016 by Guest