11,315 days one day at a time

[Bugkiller99]

Wow. That's great. Many more to come.

 

[diamonback68]

Congrats!

While I have no desire to stop drinking I did quit smoking about 2 months ago. Cold turkey. It's one of those things you have to want. And i understand that now. I tried before but failed and it'd because I "didn't really want to". A few months ago I scared the excrement out of myself when I felt something weird in what felt like my lungs. Did a few tests, including a lung xray. Everything came back clean and 100% and I no longer need a smoke although I sometimes want for one

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

You hit the nail on the head.
It's not "will power". That's just imposing mind over matter, you can't "will" yourself to do anything, doesn't work.
It's not "wont' power". That's just I won't drink no matter what gosh darn it, I'm that strong, doesn't work.
It's "want power". If you want to be sober more than you want to be drunk, you will win.

 

[PatAz]

You have done extremely well, congratulations.

 

[brucev]

Ok, today is the 31st anniversary of my "sobriety date", I have been continuously clean and sober since December 14 1982.

It's supposed to be a big deal but I'm feeling kind of ambivalent about that because it's been so long since I've had a drink anyway that to me it's a non event. I went through a period a few years back where I really questioned whether or not I actually was an alcoholic since I stopped drinking at a very young age ( I have never taken a legal drink) but I came to the conclusion that even if I wasn't I've gone so long without it that even if I knew conclusively that I wasn't an alcoholic I really can't see the point of drinking now anyway.

So come on and help me celebrate 31 years of not doing something I really have no desire to do anyway

With enthusiasm I applaud you!

 

[Smoke]

You hit the nail on the head.
It's not "will power". That's just imposing mind over matter, you can't "will" yourself to do anything, doesn't work.
It's not "wont' power". That's just I won't drink no matter what gosh darn it, I'm that strong, doesn't work.
It's "want power". If you want to be sober more than you want to be drunk, you will win.

One of the most profound statements I ever heard on Will Power was from Gregory Boyington in his book Baa Baa Black Sheep.

He said that Will Power was only doing whatever it is that you most wanted to do at that moment. If you wanted to drink more than you wanted to stay sober you would and if you wanted to stay sober more than you wanted to drink you would and that it really wasn't anything to be proud of because all you were really doing was what you wanted to do anyway.

 

[tork'd]

So come on and help me celebrate 31 years

well then... here's to you...
i tip my coffee cup to you sir...
SISU will see you thru....

to another 30
Don

 

[Old TexMex]

When I turned five (five years ago) a buddy reminded me:
"Don't expect no pat on the back for not doin' somethin' you shouldn't of been doin' in the first place"

We laughed about that then and still do! Again, congrats, long- timer.

 

[gaucho1]

But think of all the "fun" yall missed........................


I congratulate and respect all who choose life one day at a time.

For me, that applies to everything I say or do.

Our time is very brief............kindness is worth the effort

 

[the ringo kid]

Congratulations are in order to you Smoke. I tip my hat to ya.

 

[P&R Fan]

Congratulations, Sir, and thanks for sharing that with us. Maybe your story will help someone else.
I have a good friend who was a hard drinker most of his life. He was a Viet Nam vet, and never expected to live through that. About 13 years ago he got stopped for drunk driving. After he pled guilty he decided to quit. Wrote the cop who stopped him a thank you letter. He's been sober since.
I never had a drinking problem. When I was a teenager a friend and I would go out and get drunk occasionally. Drove home that way a few times, which in retrospect scares me. I remember I had two drinks in a bar on December 31st, 1984, when I was 19. I realized that drinking really wasn't such a good idea, and maybe I should stop. Made it my New Years Resolution. Kept it since then.
Well, maybe I should correct that. No I didn't. A few years ago I had a Bodyguard client. She was very afraid, and we were at her house on night. I took a drink out of her Pepsi can, and it about knocked my head off. It was about half Crown Royal Whiskey.
I'm more careful now.
Congratulations.
Jim

 

[walkin jack]

Congratulations on having the courage to do the right thing. You DA MAN!

 

[BC38]

Smoke, you and I must be twins separated at birth. Your sobriety story sounds almost exactly like mine. I quit drinking 11 days before my 21st birthday - though by that time I had lived 3 years in Wyoming where the drinking age for beer & wine (at that time) was only 18. My last drink was Halloween 1984 - 10,636 days ago.

I also believe in Christ as my higher power. Grace is an amazing and wonderful thing. In my drinking days I swore I'd never live to see 30, and if I hadn't stopped I probably wouldn't have. I've seen a lot of lives ruined by it and like you, I can't see any benefit to it any more.

I've only recently quit tobacco - after nearly 35 years. I've only got 110 days tobacco free and am still chewing a couple of pieces of nicotine gum every day. Can't say I don't still have a craving for it every time I smell someone smoking, but I'm feeling so much better that I absolutely refuse to go back to doing that to myself.

Congrats brother on celebrating 31 years of the really GOOD life!

P.S. For anyone reading this who thinks quitting might be for them but is "turned off" by the idea of relying on Jesus or God for sobriety, the good news is you don't have to! That's what works for me and Smoke, and some others, but I initially got sober through AA, not through religion or the church. So if drinking is causing you problems, give AA a try. What do you have to loose? If you don't like it your drinking problems will be cheerfully refunded.

 

[gaucho1]

"What do you have to loose? If you don't like it your drinking problems will be cheerfully refunded. "


Very Good!

 

[vigil617]

I don't want any one to think that I think I did this on my own. I am sober today by the Grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. I'm sorry if saying that is against the board's rule but it is what I honestly believe.

I don't believe in any sense that I am "cured" (all though I have no doubt that is well with in God's power). I still don't see any reason to ingest alcohol except to get drunk and I am well aware that isn't normal thinking but at some point God changed my nature and took away the desire and that's really the reason I'm posting this.

If you are "white knuckling" it or wondering "Am I going to have to fight this desire for the rest of my life?" I can tell you that God can remove the desire; there will be a day where you look around and realize that it just doesn't hold any attraction for you anymore.

And that IMO is the real miracle

And Smoke, the greatest thing about what you say here is that any of us can "fill in the blank" with whatever problem or issue we have, and the answer will be the same as the one you found.

Our human concept of Power is so vastly insufficient to understand what real Power is. And that's great Good News to us all.

Blessings....

 

[S&WIowegan]

I'm very glad to hear all of the comments from those who got away from alcohol before it killed them(or innocent others). I was a heavy drinker well into my 20s or early 30s, including blackouts(boy are those scary). I finally scared myself to the point of becoming an occasional drinker of one drink. I'm so thankful I pulled back. I had a very good friend who was a"functioning" alcoholic so he didn't have a problem, right? We were professional associates when suddenly he dropped out of sight. He finally called me and explained his family had done an intervention and he had been in rehab. During this call he mentioned all the people in rehab who were so much worse than him. I knew then he was already off the wagon in his mind. He drank himself to death!

My big battle was cigarettes. I quit in 1987 so I guess it's 26 yrs. I quit only once because I have known so many people who have quit 100 times...NOT! I was a 3 packs of Camel regulars/day maniac. It helped that my kids wanted us to quit, laws and regulations were making it ridiculous to smoke by forcing smokers to sneak around and smoke on loading docks. The great thing about quitting is how quickly I found myself disgusted by the smell of smokers and smoke. The desire is completely gone.

 

[Doug M.]

Congrats. While in college and law school I was involved in serious research on the effects of alcohol, I could not keep that up and am a 2 with dinner, once in a fat while kind of guy now. I am fortunate to not have whatever combination of factors could have made me more at risk of a problem. I know a few too many folks who have gone through it; some recovered well, some are dying slowly.

 

[pawncop]

Well done sir, well done indeed.

 

[bgrone]

Ditto

Ditto to all the responses you have received. I am coming up on 23 years in Feb. So I now have more years sober than drunk by a couple. Its a far better path you have chosen keep up the good work.

Jim in Iowa

 

[Fishslayer]

Newcomer: "I'm not even sure if I'm an alcoholic."

Old Timer: "That's ok. You'll do until one comes along."

Normies don't generally think about it...

 

[Rastoff]

Congrats. I drank my last full beer in Jan 1988. I was not an alcoholic, I just decided it wasn't a beneficial pastime. That and Gal 5:19-21.

I'll lift an iced tea to your good health.