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    #31
    My Own Path

    I've decided that I'm really ODAT now, I really would rather not drink. Not ready to say never, but I'm on day 8 with a new mindset.
    My life is better without alcohol, since 9/1/12. My sobriety tool is the list at permalink 236 on the toolbox thread under monthly abstinance.

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      #32
      My Own Path

      I decided to dig this up again. I am comitted to an AF future. What a relief!
      My life is better without alcohol, since 9/1/12. My sobriety tool is the list at permalink 236 on the toolbox thread under monthly abstinance.

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        #33
        My Own Path

        Hi Sunbeam!

        Would love to hear more about how you got from a mindset of modding to one of AF.

        Also, read on another thread how you have come back from your first AF vacation. Would love for you to expand on that. I know myself, and I think others here, can't quite see how that might look like. I even see vacations as a huge obstacle in being AF for life.

        Thanks so much. And congrats to you!

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          #34
          My Own Path

          Hi NextPlease,
          I think that recovery from alcohol abuse is a long process, you can see that I am in my fifth year since joining MWO. One important step was changing my thinking from I won't drink to I don't want to drink. In drinking moderately there is a lot of "I won't drink" thinking in order to stay within your limits.

          When I started posting in June, I thought a lot about vacations and holidays, how maybe I would drink just on those occasions. But I have concluded that alcohol truly does not improve those occasions in any way for me any more. I can relax and enjoy those occasions just fine. The pleasure of drinking is just an illusion, based on long-ago memories. The current reality is that having an occasional drink would most likely lead to drinking more frequently than on those occasions. The angst would be back, thinking about drinking, should I or shouldn't I today, wasting my time instead of doing the things I truly enjoy. Or taking a nap. Or getting absorbed in a good book. These are all better and more enjoyable choices than drinking.

          The most important tool I have used is my personal recovery list. I developed it based on the list that is the current last post on the tool box thread. This thread is located under Monthly Abstinence, it is the first thread. People here talk a lot about having a plan to follow in order to quit, but I think I don't hear enough about how to change your thinking, your attitude toward alcohol. The collective power of the activities and wisdom of that list was the final boost to strengthen my resolve.
          My life is better without alcohol, since 9/1/12. My sobriety tool is the list at permalink 236 on the toolbox thread under monthly abstinance.

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            #35
            My Own Path

            Hi Sunbeam. Just want to tell you how much I enjoyed reading about your journey this morning. It truly is a process we all go through - not an event. In particular I appreciated your words about going from the "I won't drink" mind set to the "I don't want to drink" place. That was a long and winding road for me!

            Best wishes as you continue your journey!

            DG
            Sobriety Date = 5/22/08
            Nicotine Free Date = 2/27/07

            One day at a time.

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              #36
              My Own Path

              Hey DG,
              It is always good to see your posts here, you have helped so many including me. Thanks for you kind words.
              My life is better without alcohol, since 9/1/12. My sobriety tool is the list at permalink 236 on the toolbox thread under monthly abstinance.

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                #37
                My Own Path

                Hi, just read thru your thread, I get it about the time that it takes to transition from wanting to moderate and doing that and then just wanting the freedom from AL totally. Please keep posting on this subject as I am in the first stages of this issue.

                Thank You For Your Inspiration,
                Play

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                  #38
                  My Own Path

                  Hi Playland,
                  I just noticed your post, I don't always check this section. Making that transition from moderate drinking to AF was much more difficult than my first quit time. Initially alcohol really was filling in much of my free time. Then I got that under control, so there was less motivation to quit. Yet, I still found myself drinking a whole bottle of wine by myself on some days, even though there were many times I could stop at two drinks. Then my drinking frequency started increasing again. One day I just looked at the recycle bin and said, "Enough!" I had a couple of setbacks after that (learning experiences!), but I had by then scraped together the determination to keep fighting. Endless times I scrolled through all of the ideas on the tool box thread, kept trying some new ones. The recovery list I've mentioned here finally did it for me. It finally sank in that I needed to keep adding new strategies to old, needed to keep reflecting on how I could make each of them work better. My AF days now just keep flying by.

                  Let me know how I can help, I'm around the boards most days, don't post as much as I used to.
                  My life is better without alcohol, since 9/1/12. My sobriety tool is the list at permalink 236 on the toolbox thread under monthly abstinance.

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