Quitting Drinking

Quitting drinking is difficult, I agree, but I did it. I drank for years. When I think back upon life, it seems like a flash. Initially, it was just fun to drink with my friends when I was a teenager. Party here, party there, I was everywhere. I should say that I liked being with my friends, looking at the girls, cracking some jokes and enjoying life. Drinking was never my main agenda. It came with that territory.

As years passed, I began to drink even more. Some of my friends went places, I got stuck with a couple of losers like myself. My parents were both alcoholics, and they divorced when I was ten. Since then, I lived with each of them in turn, and none of them made it a point to not drink when I was there. I’ve heard alcoholism is a genetic disease and there are actually genes that you get that make you alcoholic. I believed that strongly. While that gave me an explanation of my problem, it did not give me a solution.

After losing several girlfriends over my drinking problem, I finally found one who understood me. I felt a real connection with her, because she drank too and understood me. She drank a little less than I did, but that was ok with me. After I lost her in a car crash (she was under the influence), my world shook. I know that I have to stop drinking sooner or later. Money was not there to drink that much, and people were leaving me one after another. I wished I could be like a couple of my friends who drank socially, and had fun, but never got hooked. I guess their genes might have been different.

I tried the AA. It helped some. Then I went off drinking again. Slowly, I began to make some changes. I started cutting down on my drinking. Initially, it gave me the shakes, but after a while, it got better. I bought half the supply of drinks that would last me a week, then after a month or two, I cut that supply even further. I allowed myself only what was in my closet for that week, and since I did not buy anymore, I savored every last bit until that weekend. I made it a point to stop drinking everyday, and just on the weekends.

I stopped hanging out with my two drinking buddies. I joined the local gym and worked out. After a while, I gradually started feeling better. My brain was functioning clearly, and I looked at my finances and saw how I ruined my life. I made some good plans, started saving for retirement, and I could do more fun things since I saved a lot from not buying $100 or more of alcohol every week. It has been eight months since I have been sober, and when a friend of mine invited me and my new girlfriend to dinner with him and his wife, and when he offered me some wine, I politely refused, and shocked myself that I could do this! I felt like a million dollars!

After drinking for more than ten years, I was able to quit, and I encourage you to do the same. It is not hard, you just have to put your mind to it and keep going until you quit! Good luck!

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