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Sobriety

Winston

Winston

Give me convenience or give me death
DP Veteran
Joined
Jan 24, 2017
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Hey all,

I've been sober since October 2016. And now that we're almost to 2018, I wanted to pause and reflect on how far I've come.

When I say sober, I mean sober off everything too. I know a lot of people who don't count weed, but, I haven't done any of that since October of 2016 too.

My problem drug was booze. I was a full blown alcoholic pretty much from 2012 until I quit.

It started just with going to the bars after work, and I never noticed the warning signs until it was too late. So, if you're a drinker and you notice yourself blacking out regularly and unable to keep drinking commitments to yourself, (Say, I'm only drinking Saturday, that's it.) You may want to quit altogether, because it gets worse from there.

Anyway, I'm not preaching to anyone. Just allowing them to learn from my mistakes if they want to. I'm firmly of the opinion that if you drink and you like it, go for it, until you don't like it anymore. I don't think there's anything 'evil' about booze. It's just that it was my favorite thing to do, and it shouldn't be anyone's favorite thing to do, because that's unhealthy.
 
That’s cool man, congrats for real.
 
God speed and keep it up.
 
Winston said:
Hey all,

I've been sober since October 2016. And now that we're almost to 2018, I wanted to pause and reflect on how far I've come.

When I say sober, I mean sober off everything too. I know a lot of people who don't count weed, but, I haven't done any of that since October of 2016 too.

My problem drug was booze. I was a full blown alcoholic pretty much from 2012 until I quit.

It started just with going to the bars after work, and I never noticed the warning signs until it was too late. So, if you're a drinker and you notice yourself blacking out regularly and unable to keep drinking commitments to yourself, (Say, I'm only drinking Saturday, that's it.) You may want to quit altogether, because it gets worse from there.

Anyway, I'm not preaching to anyone. Just allowing them to learn from my mistakes if they want to. I'm firmly of the opinion that if you drink and you like it, go for it, until you don't like it anymore. I don't think there's anything 'evil' about booze. It's just that it was my favorite thing to do, and it shouldn't be anyone's favorite thing to do, because that's unhealthy.
Click to expand...

Good job. Staying sober can be a real challenge. Sounds like you figured out how to shake it though.
 
I've been super lucky in that my body never really took to anything. I still remember back in my drinking days how, on a night after partying really hard, my friends would want to go out and drink again. I'd just shake them off and stay home. My body simply could not handle that. Pot perhaps being the one exception. I could smoke that every day, all day...at least up until it got too strong.


Anyway, back to my point. The graveyard is full of my old friends who didn't make it through their addiction issues. And, that was a wake up call for me. I forgot when I quit getting bombed altogether---maybe around 2010 or so. But, I certainly do not miss it. If I drink now, I limit myself to two or three drinks. And, I haven't dabbled with anything stronger than alcohol in 15 years.
 
Winston said:
Hey all,

I've been sober since October 2016. And now that we're almost to 2018, I wanted to pause and reflect on how far I've come.

When I say sober, I mean sober off everything too. I know a lot of people who don't count weed, but, I haven't done any of that since October of 2016 too.

My problem drug was booze. I was a full blown alcoholic pretty much from 2012 until I quit.

It started just with going to the bars after work, and I never noticed the warning signs until it was too late. So, if you're a drinker and you notice yourself blacking out regularly and unable to keep drinking commitments to yourself, (Say, I'm only drinking Saturday, that's it.) You may want to quit altogether, because it gets worse from there.

Anyway, I'm not preaching to anyone. Just allowing them to learn from my mistakes if they want to. I'm firmly of the opinion that if you drink and you like it, go for it, until you don't like it anymore. I don't think there's anything 'evil' about booze. It's just that it was my favorite thing to do, and it shouldn't be anyone's favorite thing to do, because that's unhealthy.
Click to expand...

Good on ya man. It takes a lot to be honest with yourself.

Ive been fortunate. I learned early in life that I have an additive personality. But with that I also learned how to keep myself in check.
 
calamity said:
I've been super lucky in that my body never really took to anything. I still remember back in my drinking days how, on a night after partying really hard, my friends would want to go out and drink again. I'd just shake them off and stay home. My body simply could not handle that. Pot perhaps being the one exception. I could smoke that every day, all day...at least up until it got too strong.


Anyway, back to my point. The graveyard is full of my old friends who didn't make it through their addiction issues. And, that was a wake up call for me. I forgot when I quit getting bombed altogether---maybe around 2010 or so. But, I certainly do not miss it. If I drink now, I limit myself to two or three drinks. And, I haven't dabbled with anything stronger than alcohol in 15 years.
Click to expand...

Yeah, addiction is a complicated thing and affects people differently. I remember researching it before and learned that there is a genetic component to addiction. Some people, well a lot of people, are just genetically predisposed to addiction. And other people are genetically resistant to it. And of course you can also become psychologically addicted to something even if you aren’t chemically addicted. The trick is you don’t know what category you fall under until you try things. And that is a gamble that may or may not be worth taking.

I have have done all manner of drugs at various points in my life. Ones that are not considered addictive, like shrooms and LSD. Ones that at least have the potential to be psychologically addictive, like weed and MDMA(Molly), and ones that are considered highly addictive, like cocaine, alcohol and tobacco.

I learned the risky way that I am not predisposed to addiction. I could spend a whole week partying, high on blow every day, and then at the end of the week never give coke another thought for years. I’ll smoke cigarettes when I hang out with friends who smoke, but I truly don’t understand what is addictive about them. Same with alcohol. I can only imagine what withdrawals feel like because I have never experienced them. For me recreational drug use is like riding a roller coaster. It is enjoyable, and sometimes VERY fun, but when it is done I don’t give it another thought.

I really don’t know how the genetics of it work because both my parents have been addicted to cigarettes and I have alcoholic uncles on both sides of my family. Maybe I just got lucky.

Disclaimer: Don’t do cocaine. Even if you aren’t disposed to addiction it can be a dangerous drug as you rarely know what the potency is or what it might be cut with.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
Yeah, addiction is a complicated thing and affects people differently. I remember researching it before and learned that there is a genetic component to addiction. Some people, well a lot of people, are just genetically predisposed to addiction. And other people are genetically resistant to it. And of course you can also become psychologically addicted to something even if you aren’t chemically addicted. The trick is you don’t know what category you fall under until you try things. And that is a gamble that may or may not be worth taking.

I have have done all manner of drugs at various points in my life. Ones that are not considered addictive, like shrooms and LSD. Ones that at least have the potential to be psychologically addictive, like weed and MDMA(Molly), and ones that are considered highly addictive, like cocaine, alcohol and tobacco.

I learned the risky way that I am not predisposed to addiction. I could spend a whole week partying, high on blow every day, and then at the end of the week never give coke another thought for years. I’ll smoke cigarettes when I hang out with friends who smoke, but I truly don’t understand what is addictive about them. Same with alcohol. I can only imagine what withdrawals feel like because I have never experienced them. For me recreational drug use is like riding a roller coaster. It is enjoyable, and sometimes VERY fun, but when it is done I don’t give it another thought.

I really don’t know how the genetics of it work because both my parents have been addicted to cigarettes and I have alcoholic uncles on both sides of my family. Maybe I just got lucky.

Disclaimer: Don’t do cocaine. Even if you aren’t disposed to addiction it can be a dangerous drug as you rarely know what the potency is or what it might be cut with.
Click to expand...

Surprisingly I never even came close to becoming addicted to blow. I liked it a lot. But never craved it and the crash was never bad.
 
Winston said:
Hey all,

I've been sober since October 2016. And now that we're almost to 2018, I wanted to pause and reflect on how far I've come.

When I say sober, I mean sober off everything too. I know a lot of people who don't count weed, but, I haven't done any of that since October of 2016 too.

My problem drug was booze. I was a full blown alcoholic pretty much from 2012 until I quit.

It started just with going to the bars after work, and I never noticed the warning signs until it was too late. So, if you're a drinker and you notice yourself blacking out regularly and unable to keep drinking commitments to yourself, (Say, I'm only drinking Saturday, that's it.) You may want to quit altogether, because it gets worse from there.

Anyway, I'm not preaching to anyone. Just allowing them to learn from my mistakes if they want to. I'm firmly of the opinion that if you drink and you like it, go for it, until you don't like it anymore. I don't think there's anything 'evil' about booze. It's just that it was my favorite thing to do, and it shouldn't be anyone's favorite thing to do, because that's unhealthy.
Click to expand...

Congrats, dude. :thumbs:
 
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