Quitting Alcohol

[survivalistd]

Like anything in life, what you put in your ears and the people around you will have the biggest influences into the decisions you hold yourself accountable for.

Absolutely brother!!

 

[snowdog104]

I'm a closet non-drinker. Meaning, I haven't actually told anyone I don't drink. I've just been avoiding it or making excuses.

Almost made it 2 years between captain and cokes and 3 months between beers. College buddy caught the cancer and was here and gone in 4 months. Saw some fellas that I haven't seen in years and felt like a pup again for a minute. I'll chalk it up as a blip on the radar but hindsight, I would've had just as much fun drinking lemonade.

I've typed and deleted a ton on this message. I'm not sure what my goal is. I just wanted to write it down I guess. I don't have a lot of places to turn on this topic so you gun freaks and animal slayers are my home.

 

[TheHammer]

I'm a closet non-drinker. Meaning, I haven't actually told anyone I don't drink. I've just been avoiding it or making excuses.

Almost made it 2 years between captain and cokes and 3 months between beers. College buddy caught the cancer and was here and gone in 4 months. Saw some fellas that I haven't seen in years and felt like a pup again for a minute. I'll chalk it up as a blip on the radar but hindsight, I would've had just as much fun drinking lemonade.

I've typed and deleted a ton on this message. I'm not sure what my goal is. I just wanted to write it down I guess. I don't have a lot of places to turn on this topic so you gun freaks and animal slayers are my home.

Everyone has something they are battling. Best case scenario we can all help one another for the better. Thanks for sharing! We are all human. We all have different outlooks, opinions and goals. Maybe just maybe one person can relate with you and Your message positively affects them. Or individually each of us can grow in some factions due to one another. I hope you crush your goals this year and harvest your biggest buck/bull/most banded birds or whatever your adventure flavor is.

 

[Brock A]

I'm a closet non-drinker. Meaning, I haven't actually told anyone I don't drink. I've just been avoiding it or making excuses.

Almost made it 2 years between captain and cokes and 3 months between beers. College buddy caught the cancer and was here and gone in 4 months. Saw some fellas that I haven't seen in years and felt like a pup again for a minute. I'll chalk it up as a blip on the radar but hindsight, I would've had just as much fun drinking lemonade.

I've typed and deleted a ton on this message. I'm not sure what my goal is. I just wanted to write it down I guess. I don't have a lot of places to turn on this topic so you gun freaks and animal slayers are my home.

This is great, glad you posted it.

 

[survivalistd]

I'm a closet non-drinker. Meaning, I haven't actually told anyone I don't drink. I've just been avoiding it or making excuses.

Almost made it 2 years between captain and cokes and 3 months between beers. College buddy caught the cancer and was here and gone in 4 months. Saw some fellas that I haven't seen in years and felt like a pup again for a minute. I'll chalk it up as a blip on the radar but hindsight, I would've had just as much fun drinking lemonade.

I've typed and deleted a ton on this message. I'm not sure what my goal is. I just wanted to write it down I guess. I don't have a lot of places to turn on this topic so you gun freaks and animal slayers are my home.

So many people nowadays are non drinkers. Young kids going to non alcohol bars and parties. If you do come out of the closet you'll notice so many are not drinking. Great job on not drinking also. As you ive buried a lot of friends that never quit.

 

[hunt1up]

I think I've probably mentioned it before, but before I quit I spent a lot of time worrying about what other people that drink will think when I stopped. It's funny, because I couldn't care less what people think of me in other aspects of my life. Peoples' opinions and words only have power if the recipient grants it to them. Otherwise they're completely meaningless.

I look back now and laugh at myself worrying about it. I got few gentle ribbings, but those people didn't actually care what I do with my life. And if anyone does care, it's because they're being exposed to flaws within themselves and it makes them uncomfortable. Almost as if my decisions are an affront to their decisions. And those aren't people I really care to associate with anyway.

So for anyone worried about what others think. Please don't. Real friends won't care at all. And if someone does, they weren't really a friend to begin with.

 

[*zap*]

Just Do It

 

[ChrisA]

I'm a closet non-drinker. Meaning, I haven't actually told anyone I don't drink. I've just been avoiding it or making excuses.

Almost made it 2 years between captain and cokes and 3 months between beers. College buddy caught the cancer and was here and gone in 4 months. Saw some fellas that I haven't seen in years and felt like a pup again for a minute. I'll chalk it up as a blip on the radar but hindsight, I would've had just as much fun drinking lemonade.

I've typed and deleted a ton on this message. I'm not sure what my goal is. I just wanted to write it down I guess. I don't have a lot of places to turn on this topic so you gun freaks and animal slayers are my home.

Amen Brother! 3 years and 3 days sober and this thread was the catalyst. I quit short term a few times and my friends where of no help because they didn't believe it and knew I loved to consume so actually said things along the lines of, "oh bullshit, have a beer."

I was able to get passed that through interaction and learning about the Huberman Labs podcast #86 in this thread. Honestly, early in this thread I was complaining, probably more reaching out for help, about trying and failing and that I didn't need help from outside sources like AA or whatever. Then someone replied something like, "and how's that going for you?"

That one response sticks in my head and could've very well been the trigger for me to finally kick off the concrete shoes.

I sometimes mess with those same friends that discouraged sobriety before as they're sitting around drinking. I'll reach into the fridge and grab a beer and say something like, "F it, it's been long enough."

Now the last thing on earth they want to see is me breaking. Quite the change in attitude but they have seen the positive effects and dont want me to slip back into those shackles. I know many of them wish they had it in them to kick it too.

I apologize for the long post but like you, writing it down, right here has changed my life.

 

[Will_m]

Good stuff and just commenting to keep bumping the positivity.

Regardless of your position or justification for it, I can guarantee that if you go on a hunting or fishing trip and drink and I ask you the next morning if that was a good idea, you will invariably say no.

Go through all that time, trouble and expense to get to destination to hunt or fish and then you get drunk. Total clown.

(I say this having done it myself many times, so I am king of clownery)

 

[IsThisHeaven]

Had a health issue arise early February. Haven’t had a drink in the 3 months since. Don’t see myself having another drink. Turns out I’m not missing anything.

I’ve done the hunting/fishing trip only to end up miserable the next morning after drinking. I kick myself when I think about the wasted opportunities.

 

[survivalistd]

Had a health issue arise early February. Haven’t had a drink in the 3 months since. Don’t see myself having another drink. Turns out I’m not missing anything.

I’ve done the hunting/fishing trip only to end up miserable the next morning after drinking. I kick myself when I think about the wasted opportunities.

They are not wasted opportunities. They are just reminders of what you need not do again.

 

[snowdog104]

They are not wasted opportunities. They are just reminders of what you need not do again.

That's a great perspective.