This is so true! Even in this short time I am now remembering how much thought I put into drinking. From the axienty of going to an event and fearing I would let myself down, planning the hangover and preparing food/hair of the dog for next day, hoping I know the bar staff, so I don’t have to wait and be served quickly (in other words, my glass would never be empty) - the list goes on and on. I feel such calm knowing this unnecessary wasted energy and exhaustion is slowly leaving my body.
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I’m touched by your inspiration! Nice to be part of your team! 
Here is another good analogy from the wise one @Yoda-Stevie
"I made a huge step forward when I started to think of addiction as slavery, and my DOC (alcohol) as guilded shackles and chains: shining on the outside. Cold, hard, and oh so heavy, on the inside.
I think of sobriety as freedom. How light my limbs feel without those chains. Gone is the pain and misery. I am at liberty to move when I want, as far as I want, no longer focused on that which once bound me, held me down, held me back.
This helped me to think in these terms. On the rare occasion that “maybe just one” pops into my mind, I see the glass or bottle or mug transform into chains. I see the true form of alcohol.
I am free. 419 days since I threw off those chains. Why would I ever put them on again?"
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Thank you for sharing this. These words are sad, beautiful and very inspiring. I will read them often as I embark on this journey.
Write it down! You don’t have to wear it every day on a t-shirt 
Write it down on a piece of paper why you don’t need to drink and read it when you need it.
Our addicted mind has a habit of forgetting the bad things alcohol gives us. So when in need we have to fresh up his mind.
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To make sure I remember why I chose to get and stay sober, I have a consequences card. I made mine as simple as possible, and carry it in my wallet. In the early stages of recovery I would read it more than 100 times a day. Now, two or three times a week. Whenever I get a crazy craving, I pull it out of my wallet and give myself a reality check
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Great share, thank you for that! You’ve been incredibly strong in that moment.
Remembers me to the moment when I was in the grocery store, grabbing a juice or something, the alcohol aisle right behind me. Felt like something is sitting on my back, dragging me down to buy a bottle of wine.
Congratulations! Stay like this 
This is a great idea! Those reality checks truly safed me so often! I don’t have it in my wallet. Whenever I want a drink I think about the consequences: I become loud, maybe angry, hyper active, then bad headache, blurry vision, vomiting, more headache, dizzyness, sick for a week, bad skin… Yep, no I won’t drink.
Hey, thanks for the share. This thread really reinforced that what we (I) say on here actually matters and that it actually does get through to some people. Sometimes we need to hear that.
Well done on your choice! The relief of not worrying about how or when you’re going to drink is huge!
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Well done on 37 days and well done not lifting that drink , for me in early sobriety i didnt go to bars wish you well
Thank you. I went to the bar with the mindset that I had took my break, now I was ready for some fun again. I had no fear and no guilt whatsoever when I ordered the wine. It was only when it came to drinking it did something click in my head. I knew there and then it wasn’t a break I was looking for, it was total soberity. Now that this is clear to me, I have zero interest today going back to that scene. Please God this was the clarity and answer I was searching for.
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Hi Mandy, nice to meet you!