Not all with this genetic makeup are actually alcoholics.
Might well be that I got it, too - but just and only accepted this would have made things too easy.
(Which reminds me that it is nearly exactly 23 years ago that I had my last drinks before starting my therapy :wink: )
[Well, can be 24 years - not sure at all now
]
I find it encouraging to see so many recovering alcoholics. Congrats to John Creasy, Sturg and Walter!!
I come from a family of alcoholics. Growing up, it was all that I knew. I thought all adults were drunks. None of them ever got help. None of them ever spoke up and said "this is a problem".
Given that fact, I may well have a genetic bias towards becoming an alcoholic myself. I am not. I drink in moderation (by that I mean a glass of wine with a meal once in a while).
Alcohol can not be blamed for social problems or any other problems. It is always people who make choices....often poor ones. And we all know making booze illegal doesn't work. It's ridiculous. People always have liked booze and drugs. We just got to deal with it with some common sense.
my two bits
Curse or a blessing?
For me personally, I'd say both.
Like Sturgis, there's a strong genetic component in my family, plus, I always felt that pull.
Basically, drinking was all I had in life, everything else took 2nd place. Although I functioned through the whole thing, keeping a job, that is, I don't really think I could say I was human.
Today, I really like and love who I am, as well as being likeable and lovable.
I make a difference in others lives, for the good.
If I had never drank, I would not have the joy I have now.
They weren't wasted years, they were a very long lesson. I think I mentioned before on A2k that I remember my last night of drinking. I was driving through streets that were full of small children playing. I didn't care, it meant nothing to me at the time.
But it did the next day.
What kept me from killing a child that night? I would have been totally to blame. That would have been a curse.
Since then, I've never been in that situation, and that's a blessing.
Chai Tea,
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Had it not been for my addiction and every lousy thing I did to myself and others just for the sake of that high, I would not be the person I am today.
Seeing our life's journey as a blessing is something I try to do everyday.
I am so happy for you in your recovery.
It is pure blessing to me.But I only drink in pubs and only from 10.30 to 11.45 pm and I never have more than 3 and a 1/2 pints of 3.8% John Smith's Extra Smooth to accompany the conversation when a few of us men escape from supervision and set the world to rights.
Everything in moderation is my motto.
Ah yes...moderation the famous last word of the one about to go crashing downwards.
Let me get this straight here spendius...you can tell us the exact amount tou drink, you keep it in an exact time frame nd you think there is nothing at all odd about that? The alcoholic in denial...it's a frightening sight.
Whether or not we are alcoholics is a subject which often comes up in conversation.This alone suggests that we haven't made our minds up.But when I think of all the other things I'm addicted to 3 and a 1/2 pints a night and a good laugh (usually) doesn't seem too bad and I feel absolutely no need whatsoever to consult anyone about it.If that constitutes denial then I must be in denial and long may it last.
It's the men addicted to women I feel most sorry for.
hehehehe
this oughta be good.....
Fortunate for me I am a man only addicted to men...and my computer...good thing I got that booze thing figgered out before it killed me. You see Spendius, I remember the weekend with a bottle of beer and how getting through that 2 day stretch convinced me I was okay...just take my concern as what it is...concern. I don't want you to take a tumble.
I ought to have said that it was the men addicted to other humans I feel sorry for.I'm only addicted to goods and services.Though I dare say it is safer being addicted to men than being addicted to women.I only used "women" because of the extremity of the case.Being addicted to men is a little similar to going moutaineering on Malibu beach.
I donno
best I can figure is he's talkin' about gettin' sand up your butt crack.
wimin hate that.
They are not alone.
Twas a mere figure of speech designed to pithily convey the relative dangers and difficulties of being addicted to men in comparison to those associated with being addicted to women.
addiction is still addiction it don't make no matter how you want to dress it up...in any outfit it is deadly.
That is speculation.
I think we are at cross purposes.I have no problem with my wide range of addictions and this leads me to treat them in a more easy going way than would those who do find problems with theirs.
I was basically making the case for moderation because in my experience it is immoderation that is usually the cause of difficulties.
too much of a good thing is wonderful.
I thought I was a moderate drinker when I woke up one morning and had $20.00 bills thrown all over me.
It probably would have been considered immoderate drinking if they had been fifties.
Actually, it was a bunch of $20's and a dime.
someone asked me who gave me the time...
All of them.
du du dum. chii.
