What other (commonly used) substance can make you soooo "giddy" from just after you stop feeling lousy from the previous night ("giddy" because you know you're going to drink yet again--you think it's something really "fun" to look forward to), until you have drunk enough that you are "wrecked" for the remainder of yet another evening???
I promised this so here it is. Not sure how to start or how to organize, so I'll just list 10 points referring to my personal experience with coming to dislike alcohol VERY much.
1] I am a 40 year old physician. I am married to a wonderful woman and have 2 sons, 5 yo and 4yo. I am an accomplished runner and photographer. Alcohol has diminished much of my life since I first got drunk on Budweiser at an Alice Cooper (fathom THAT!!) concert at about age 16. Don't get me wrong, life is really good for me, but it can be a whole lot better.
2] I started with beer. Now it's wine. For me, high end beer and wine have always had a certain allure. I did a lot of homebrewing and now I have a large wine collection. I've read Allen Carr's book and I like it a lot. I think he's a little rigid on some things, but even if I choose to drink again, I fully believe that I will be ingesting a poison. At this point in my life I see very little, if any good that alcohol (in any amount) can do for anyone.
3] I've always been a "controlled" or "responsible" drinker. My pattern starts at 5 or 6PM, when I drink a bunch (like a bottle of wine) until, like I say, I'm "wrecked" for the evening. The sick part is I'll be "wrecked" but not so bad that I can't get the kids a bath, read them a story, take care of the house, etc... Just "wrecked" enough so that I know I am far less than I could be for yet another evening. Now don't get me wrong here, I do have a brother who IS a run-of-the-mill alcoholic, and another who is a crack addict, but I've never seen myself traveling down those roads. I'm just a "happy" "responsible" drinker.
4] I regularly abstain, out of necessity. When I take call (sometimes for 3 nights), I don't consume a drop. I always feel GREAT after this happens, then reward myself on the first non-call night by drinking a lot to the point of feeling lousy all over again. You'd think I'd learn wouldn't you?
5] I have a firm rule--one drop and NO driving. Yes, I am a "responsible" drinker. Also, I'm not to "drink one and the next thing is that I'm passed out". No, I drink precisely enough to "dumb myself down" for the night, then stop. I've had some awful hangovers in my life, but for me MOST nights simply result in a "usual" hangover that simply places me severely behind the 8-ball nearly every morning.
6] Again, I drink "high end". I drank great beers (brewed my own for many years), and now "fine" wines. I know all the names and pronunciations. I can talk the talk at work and am hip and cool. I am fun when I drink with others. Also, there's this certain "cozy" or "comfy" factor of relaxing every night with some form of booze in your hand. Problem is, for me, it always ends with me being essentially useless as a human being for the remainder of my night (that's just for ME, how useless am I as a husband and father?).
7] 4, 5, and 6 are the sadistic trap (the pitcher plant that Allen Carr speaks of) that make me absolutely hate alcohol. On one level you're hip, you're cool, you're sophistocated. If I choose to, I could probably live out my life repeating [3] daily and nothing "awful" would come of it. But on another level, I know that I am no different that the street dude drinking the cheapest booze available mainly for the "drunk numbness" that it offers. Really--it is no different. Take away the "Barolo" "Bordeaux" or "Chateauneuf" window dressing and it's just the same old poison that, on balance, ruins a large proportion of EVERY day of your life.
8] When I do want to stop completely (I firmly believe this to be the only correct solution), I HATE that nagging feeling of "sigh--what on earth will I do tonight to make life FUN?" Any body else experience this?
9] Being 40, I know that certain things happen due to aging. I see some things (some here have mentioned skin changes) about myself however, that I suspect may be due to pickling myself in this poison on a daily basis for the past 20 years. Can some here cite a few more and let me know if things get better with long term abstinence?
10] Lastly (again), how dumb am I? As I said, I am an accomplished runner. I've run 53 minutes for 10 miles and 2:33 for the marathon. The last time I flirted with these kind of times was about 10 years ago--precisely the time when I began getting into "high end" wines and drinking a LOT of it daily. I train every day ( I AVERAGED 9 miles per day last year) and have seen my times go absolutely nowhere. This is not due to aging, 40 year olds run kick-a$$ times all the time. Gosh, I abstained for >2 weeks this August and proceeded to run my best 10 mile time in ~7 years (on a HOT day). Think there'a a correlation there? For me running is THE physical accomplishment that defines who I am. I keep having this "pipe dream" that if I can manage to stay away from the booze, then my running will take off again. Perhaps. But even if it doesn't, I'll still be happy to run 5 or 10 miles every day. Alcohol has put the damper on enough of my days that I think I am finally ready to swear off it.
...and this is my "hobby". How "dumbed down" have I been for 20 years in every other aspect of my life??
I could post 500 more. Anyone else's alcohol story similar to mine?
BTW--no drinking last night with the neighbors, as I planned NOT to do. And guess what, on balance, it was more fun than if I had been "wrecked" by midway through dinner. Problem is (have you all had similar scenarios?) it's more difficult trying to explain why you are chosing to abstain from the poison, than actually not doing it. I told them that I had a headache while they "enjoyed" some crappy Chardonnay and a "red from Monteray". But I've had it with this. I think from now on, I'm simply going to say "I don't want any alcohol, it makes me feel lousy" and leave it at that. They can think what they want.
How paradoxical is it that my wife (my main wine drinking partner) has expressed alarm thousands of times with my alcohol consumption and asked me to cut down many, many times. Yet--when she noticed that I had chosen to abstain several months ago, was JUST AS ALARMED!!! She was all freaked out and suspicious. She was asking if I had gotten a DUI or something. It was as if I had a lot of explainin' to do after making this (ultimately wonderful) choice.
Funny and tricky thing this alcohol is.
Sorry this is long and scatterbrained. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I just wanted to get one little iota of it off my chest.
BFF
I promised this so here it is. Not sure how to start or how to organize, so I'll just list 10 points referring to my personal experience with coming to dislike alcohol VERY much.
1] I am a 40 year old physician. I am married to a wonderful woman and have 2 sons, 5 yo and 4yo. I am an accomplished runner and photographer. Alcohol has diminished much of my life since I first got drunk on Budweiser at an Alice Cooper (fathom THAT!!) concert at about age 16. Don't get me wrong, life is really good for me, but it can be a whole lot better.
2] I started with beer. Now it's wine. For me, high end beer and wine have always had a certain allure. I did a lot of homebrewing and now I have a large wine collection. I've read Allen Carr's book and I like it a lot. I think he's a little rigid on some things, but even if I choose to drink again, I fully believe that I will be ingesting a poison. At this point in my life I see very little, if any good that alcohol (in any amount) can do for anyone.
3] I've always been a "controlled" or "responsible" drinker. My pattern starts at 5 or 6PM, when I drink a bunch (like a bottle of wine) until, like I say, I'm "wrecked" for the evening. The sick part is I'll be "wrecked" but not so bad that I can't get the kids a bath, read them a story, take care of the house, etc... Just "wrecked" enough so that I know I am far less than I could be for yet another evening. Now don't get me wrong here, I do have a brother who IS a run-of-the-mill alcoholic, and another who is a crack addict, but I've never seen myself traveling down those roads. I'm just a "happy" "responsible" drinker.
4] I regularly abstain, out of necessity. When I take call (sometimes for 3 nights), I don't consume a drop. I always feel GREAT after this happens, then reward myself on the first non-call night by drinking a lot to the point of feeling lousy all over again. You'd think I'd learn wouldn't you?
5] I have a firm rule--one drop and NO driving. Yes, I am a "responsible" drinker. Also, I'm not to "drink one and the next thing is that I'm passed out". No, I drink precisely enough to "dumb myself down" for the night, then stop. I've had some awful hangovers in my life, but for me MOST nights simply result in a "usual" hangover that simply places me severely behind the 8-ball nearly every morning.
6] Again, I drink "high end". I drank great beers (brewed my own for many years), and now "fine" wines. I know all the names and pronunciations. I can talk the talk at work and am hip and cool. I am fun when I drink with others. Also, there's this certain "cozy" or "comfy" factor of relaxing every night with some form of booze in your hand. Problem is, for me, it always ends with me being essentially useless as a human being for the remainder of my night (that's just for ME, how useless am I as a husband and father?).
7] 4, 5, and 6 are the sadistic trap (the pitcher plant that Allen Carr speaks of) that make me absolutely hate alcohol. On one level you're hip, you're cool, you're sophistocated. If I choose to, I could probably live out my life repeating [3] daily and nothing "awful" would come of it. But on another level, I know that I am no different that the street dude drinking the cheapest booze available mainly for the "drunk numbness" that it offers. Really--it is no different. Take away the "Barolo" "Bordeaux" or "Chateauneuf" window dressing and it's just the same old poison that, on balance, ruins a large proportion of EVERY day of your life.
8] When I do want to stop completely (I firmly believe this to be the only correct solution), I HATE that nagging feeling of "sigh--what on earth will I do tonight to make life FUN?" Any body else experience this?
9] Being 40, I know that certain things happen due to aging. I see some things (some here have mentioned skin changes) about myself however, that I suspect may be due to pickling myself in this poison on a daily basis for the past 20 years. Can some here cite a few more and let me know if things get better with long term abstinence?
10] Lastly (again), how dumb am I? As I said, I am an accomplished runner. I've run 53 minutes for 10 miles and 2:33 for the marathon. The last time I flirted with these kind of times was about 10 years ago--precisely the time when I began getting into "high end" wines and drinking a LOT of it daily. I train every day ( I AVERAGED 9 miles per day last year) and have seen my times go absolutely nowhere. This is not due to aging, 40 year olds run kick-a$$ times all the time. Gosh, I abstained for >2 weeks this August and proceeded to run my best 10 mile time in ~7 years (on a HOT day). Think there'a a correlation there? For me running is THE physical accomplishment that defines who I am. I keep having this "pipe dream" that if I can manage to stay away from the booze, then my running will take off again. Perhaps. But even if it doesn't, I'll still be happy to run 5 or 10 miles every day. Alcohol has put the damper on enough of my days that I think I am finally ready to swear off it.
...and this is my "hobby". How "dumbed down" have I been for 20 years in every other aspect of my life??
I could post 500 more. Anyone else's alcohol story similar to mine?
BTW--no drinking last night with the neighbors, as I planned NOT to do. And guess what, on balance, it was more fun than if I had been "wrecked" by midway through dinner. Problem is (have you all had similar scenarios?) it's more difficult trying to explain why you are chosing to abstain from the poison, than actually not doing it. I told them that I had a headache while they "enjoyed" some crappy Chardonnay and a "red from Monteray". But I've had it with this. I think from now on, I'm simply going to say "I don't want any alcohol, it makes me feel lousy" and leave it at that. They can think what they want.
How paradoxical is it that my wife (my main wine drinking partner) has expressed alarm thousands of times with my alcohol consumption and asked me to cut down many, many times. Yet--when she noticed that I had chosen to abstain several months ago, was JUST AS ALARMED!!! She was all freaked out and suspicious. She was asking if I had gotten a DUI or something. It was as if I had a lot of explainin' to do after making this (ultimately wonderful) choice.
Funny and tricky thing this alcohol is.
Sorry this is long and scatterbrained. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I just wanted to get one little iota of it off my chest.
BFF
I have found that it took time for my husband to understand because he doesn't have the brain "swich" that comes on after a few drinks. Only an alcoholic truely gets that. It is like having kids or a pet or losing a parent or child to death...you just don't know until you've been there.
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