Today is 30 days without drinking

Congrats, OP. You felt the need to do another thread, though?

Oh, R1, seriously, fuck off. Of all the times to hall monitor. Fuck right off.

Oh, R1, seriously, fuck off. Of all the times to hall monitor. Fuck right off.

You'rwe repeating yourself, dear R2/R3.

Thank wu, Elmer.

Are you the dead pug/new pug person, OP? If so, condolences and congratulations. I hope you can keep not drinking. And have fun with your new dog.

r1 - yes, I felt like sharing this as a new thread. I felt like sparking new conversation and also wanted to make sure I sent out a special message to the people in the original thread that didn't believe I could or would do it.

I also wanted to spread some positivity and a message that even when things seem bleak or you're at the bottom of the mountain, looking up and wondering how the fuck you're going to get to the top of that, it starts with just a few steps at a time that add up to the way up the mountain. And sometimes the journey looks very different to each person, but there are a number of ways to make it to the top.

r6 - yes I am that person :) My new pup is doing well. And a friend/former co-worker just completed a beautiful portrait of my old dog Hercules who died in November from a photo I've shared on here before. It's beautiful and I'll be getting it framed to hang in my living room.

I like to hear early sobriety stories.

I’ve been sober 39 years and many have been the times I’ve behaved badly when stone cold sober. The difference is that now I remember them.

It’s not easy, OP, but it’s so much better than the alternatives I just keep slogging through the Christmases and birthdays and all the other reasons to drink that a year presents.

I haven’t gone to AA meetings regularly for many years but the program gave me a solid grounding in the thought processes I needed. If reporting your successes and stumblings here doesn’t give you what you need, that option is always there.

Many good lucks!

Cheers, OP 🥂

OP sounds like a psychopath who has to live in a highly controlled environment or she’ll snap. The sobriety won’t last. She’s a runaway train and there’s no stopping the inevitable.

🔮DUI

It’s wonderful to hear things have brightened up for you, OP! It sounds like you are implementing a lot of positive actions to help you feel better and more healthy.

OP is on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

Respect! Keep going! You and the new puppy enjoy the portrait of little Hercules. I love that.

R9, R10, R11 and R13 are all the work of the same misanthrope. About as useful as the white crayon.

Yep, r15. I refuse to feed the troll. I look at them like the schoolyard bully who feels the need to belittle or make fun of others in order to deflect attention from their own perceived (or actual) shortcomings and failures.

I'm hoping one day they realize there is little to be gained by trying to make others feel bad in order to feel a sense of superiority in an attempt to overcome their feelings of insecurity.

Good sleuthing, R15. I happen to be unable to see all those posts and strongly suspected that I wasn’t missing much.

I also have them blocked. Just a cunt troll.

Good on you, OP / R7 And please do post some pictures of your dog

great to hear this OP, Congratulations!

OP needs to have a tasty, cold, refreshing whiskey & coke and chill out. 🥃

Congrats OP! You've got this. And don't listen to the Cuntzillas on this thread. This is an accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself.

R21, once upon a time the first 20 posts were iterations of I’ll drink to that.

R22, there is only one Cuntzilla, and that's the troll at R21.

You know, OP, if you went to an AA meeting, you could get a 30-day chip and have a real fuss made over you!

Some people love that stuff. I know I did when I was newly clean/sober, but now, after 44 years clean, I'm over it. And I haven't gone to a meeting for 20+ years. But it really helped me for the first five or so.

That said, congratulations! Just remember, it truly is a day at a time, an hour at a time, sometimes even a minute at a time. But after awhile, it becomes such a habit, you don't even think about it anymore. Good luck!

OP, just remember that no matter how happy you feel, you’ll always wonder if you would have been happier if you’d gotten in to a better rehab.

r25 - I wasn't trying to say "and I did it without AA!" at all, and have used AA in the past; the last time I stopped drinking in November of 2022, I was extremely grateful for the online meetings and having support after a loooooooong bout (3+ years) of severe drinking and hermit-hood. That was really a scary place to be and I had to pull myself out of far worse circumstances than I did this time (think: house overrun with bottles of wine, messes, hoarding-type situation) - AA was there for me and it was an important part of a routine for me the first 2-3 months to help me get back on my feet.

This time, my lapse in sobriety was 4 months, so it was quite a bit easier to fall back into healthy patterns I had previously developed. But AA is definitely helpful and I fully support and encourage anyone who needs that support; it is a wonderful resource.

For me, just being able to function without feeling sick and seeing the results of caring for myself and my surroundings is incentive enough.

Best wishes to you, OP, and much happiness.

R10 was being a bitch, but he makes a good point.

OP thirty days is amazing! Huge congrats. I've been sober for almost five years (also with zero AA meetings - just not my thing) so I know that first thirty is so damn important.

But I do think you need to realize that dogs will die. People will die. Jobs will be lost. You will get sick. You will be disappointed. And frustrated.

If what you want is sobriety, you have to accept that bad things will happen to you and because of you and because it's how life works. And that those bad things are no reason to drink. They are a reason to cry, yell, lament, heal and laugh. But not drink.

Once you truly accept that? You'll be just fine.

God, this site has been overrun with humorless, bleeding heart fraus and the femme gays that imitate them.

R30 are you a MascTop??

R31 no, a femmepwrbttm

Fucking Frau alert, kill it with fire! Go drunk antifreeze OP.

r29 = Negativatina

I've been sober since I was twenty-four and as an "average Datalounger", you can imagine how long that is!

My observation remains the same: Drinking, of the daily variety, has very little to offer if you plan on doing anything else.

That's great, OP!

Keep expressing/relieving/reporting/whatever you want to call it here as needed.

Wishing you well!

And yet I don't see a humourous contribution from you, r30.

OP, I am truly hapoy for you. Your observation about treating alcohol as someone who died and isn't ever returning is spot on. You will succeed.

Thanks for brightening my morning.

^ happy 😉

R30, as he lifts another gin fizz to his gnarled mouth....

I’ve been sober for 3+ years and regularly attend AA meetings - my city has many gay meetings and I found those meetings the most relatable and beneficial. I moved to a new city and hung back a bit at the meetings and observed people b fore I started accepting invitations for “fellowship” - lots of AA people have an agenda and I am careful who I hung out with, but I’ve made friends and the support and camaraderie has been great. It’s definitely good for networking. I go to a lot of meetings now, 5 a week, but I’ll definitely drop back to just one or two. I’m pretty sure I’ll attend meetings for the rest of my life, and like them, I like the stories and the experiences and being reminded of my problem. Good luck OP!

How much did you drink, Op? I like to have a couple of glasses of wine or a couple martinis before I go to bed. Maybe, I'm an alcoholic but don't think of myself as one.

r42 I was swilling down 2 bottles of wine a night.

Thanks, Op. I will drink a bottle and maybe a glass from a second bottle. Occasionally, I stop drinking for several weeks just to prove I can walk away from it.

R43 yeah you needed help

To the flailing Nancies up thread, if OP is tempted to relapse based upon some teasing posts and emojis on an anonymous obscure website then she’s got bigger problems.

Cheers, OP 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

I was drinking a bottle of wine a night listening to music. It was bliss. But I had to stop because I felt I might be becoming an alcoholic. I thought I'll be damned if I can't drink at parties or get togethers. That would be truly miserable. So I don't keep any alcohol in the house. Oh that vodka in the freezer! I miss it but it allows me the freedom to drink when I go out with friends. To abstain in a social setting is unimaginable to me.

R48 is a functioning, social alcoholic

I'm not tempted at all by the teasing stuff.

I'm not excusing my relapse, but when you lose your Mom, your dog, your cat and find out a very good friend who you'd lost touch with (and was younger than you, and also an alcoholic) died in one year, it's a LOT.

And so that happened for me late last year. My dog was my North Star - he'd been with me for 14 years through so many things, including living in my car for 6 months in 2017. My Mom and I hadn't seen each other in over 15 years, and she was diagnosed with a devastating form of dementia that completely laid waste to her mind in the course of just a few years. I never got a chance to see her because I didn't have the money to go see her in Hawaii. There were so many things that just summed up to a cesspool of suck.

But i wallowed for four months in grief and now i'm picking up the pieces. DL helps (even when people bash and call names) because there are some great people here that actually care about others.

So, thank you, DLers.