Now ive reached my goal / target i think I’ve proved to myself and family that i don’t rely on alcohol anymore
The question is now do i allow myself a drink when i fancy it?
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Definitely not!
If you are addicted like me and you are taking that drink you will be back soon in your “old” drinking habits.
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Congratulations on reaching your goal. I’d say that totally depends on why you choose to go sober for a month, was it because you and others thought you had a problem with alcohol? What kind of drinker are you? Can you stop once you start? Has you’re life improved over this month?
I know for me I can go a month without alcohol but once I have that first drink it’s game over, I won’t stop, I’ll drink until blackout and then I’ll carry on daily until my life is so unmanageable I desperately try to quit again. I know this because I did it many times. I once did sober October to prove to myself and everyone else that I no longer relied on drink, one drink after that month and I was back at square one. Sometimes I can moderate for a few days/weeks but that just puts me in the mindset that it’s okay to drink again next time because “I’ve got it now” then after a while its back to square one again.
Can you moderate? Can you stop once you start? If the answer is yes then go ahead and drink occasionally, if the answer is no then I’d carry on with the great work you’ve been doing so far. Have you seen any positive changes over the month? If so are you willing to give them up?I I know for me life is much better without alcohol in the equation
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Great job on reaching that goal. But I wouldn’t recommend doing that.
If you ever “relied” on alcohol at any point it means you have a dysfunctional relationship with drinking, and that you likely shouldn’t be drinking at all. Doing 30 days, 60, 90 is easy with the thought that when it’s done you can just start drinking again. Before I decided to really get and stay sober, I had many strings of 1, 2, 4 months of sobriety while I was trying to “prove” to myself and others that I didn’t have a problem. But the truth is, I did have a problem. If others have been questioning your drinking, it’s probably because it was indeed problematic. I would really take this time to reflect on why you drank, what kind of drinker you were, and any ways that your life changed when you were sober. A sober life is a better life, really truly!
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“Anymore” is a very important word in that sentence. Are you saying you used to rely on alcohol before? How long was this goal/target (honest question by me…I hadn’t seen an earlier post)? Do you really think it was long enough to remove a reliance? What did you do during this time? Was it just abstaining or did you investigate and work to heal the underlying issues with your drinking?
Please know that I don’t ask those questions to be critical. They are meant to be questions for you to ask yourself. CONGRATULATIONS on reaching your goal. Just take time to fully assess whether or not you’re really ready to drink again and make sure you test it slowly. If you aren’t really ready you’ll be right back where you were before in a matter of hours. I don’t exaggerate. That is how the disease of alcoholism works…I know it will only take one drink for ME to return to blackouts.
Do you like to get drunk? Because if you do, the bad news is, you will go back down that path you came. It’s not a matter of if, but when. I am not saying this to be a dick, I’m saying this from experience, and not just mine. I’d bet dollars to donuts that 100% of the folks here who’ve tried to moderate ended up right back where they were.
Something to think about.
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Yeeeeaaaaappppppp! My 1$ for donuts.
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By all means go out and test the waters. Then let us know how it goes. But if drinking caused problems in your life before you quit, why would it be any different this time?
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Hi @Slim1975 why not do another 2 months…? Or 3? I am being awkward here …but the thing is I would doubt very much you have mastered the very tricky ‘skill’ of responsible drinking… also the nirvana of sobriety is to eventually not miss drinking at all…! I guess you still are missing it as you are thinking of drinking again…why do you want to do it? What have you missed? More importantly what is better? Well done on a month but keep it going 
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