Well, my wife went out of town for 5 days and I was tempted

[bif]

to do some drinking. It was way in the back of my mind. However, I decided to cook some gross food like potato pancakes, get some carry out, and watch a bunch of movies instead. I made it the whole time without having a single sip of booze!

[WhiteTara]

1. Congratulations,bif!

Now you know you don't need a caretaker to make sure you are true to yourself. Congratulations, you are stronger today.

This reminds me of the Buddhist story about a teacher who gives 3 students a chicken each and tells them to go kill the chicken where no one can see. The first student goes out behind the barn, looks to see if anyone else is there and kills his chicken. The second one goes to the woods to a secluded place behind trees and kills the chicken. The third one brings it back to the teacher and says, I couldn't do it. Everywhere I went, the chicken could see.

[bif]

4. Very nice!

Buddhism is the one religion I can believe in. When I walk down the street, I actually look down to make sure I don't step on ants. No one else would know I killed an ant. But I would.

[Karadeniz]

2. Yay... you can always get cholesterol medicine !!!

[Walleye]

3. Good job! 👏

[dem4decades]

5. Don't know if you can't drink or just prefer not to. But a breakout drinking foray usually ends in

a headache.

I know.

[bif]

18. I quit about 3 1/2 years ago.

My life has significantly improved since then. I'll have an occasional sip of my wife's wine. but have haven't really had a drink since then.

[tazkcmo]

45. Mine too! 2008 and still dry.

Suddenly, I have money! Also, I quit fishing. Turns out that fishing, for me anyway, is very boring when I'm sober.

Congratulations and continued success!

[Irish_Dem]

6. You did something really important on several levels.

1. You maintained your sobriety.

2. You demonstrated that your power is from within yourself.
Not outside. Like the previous poster stated.

In psychology, this is a very important concept, called internal locus of control. It signifies that a person is mature, advanced and high functioning.

[Guilded Lilly]

7. Way to go!! It, and you, matters.

[niyad]

8. Thank you for sharing your important victory with us.

[llashram]

9. ...

[wryter2000]

10. Well done

I really like your solution.

[Atticus]

11. Congrats! My Dad had stayed sober "one day at a time" for 43 years when he died in '03. nt

[onecaliberal]

12. And that is how it's done, one day at a time. Great job!

[c-rational]

13. Well done!

[XanaDUer2]

14. Good for you nt

[Farmer-Rick]

15. A very healthy thing to do

I don't have any problems with drinking. It's just that alcoholism runs in my very Irish family. So I always watch myself. And turns out according to this recent study it can lead to happiness in old age.

"Watch your drinking. Alcohol abuse is strongly correlated with smoking in the Harvard study, but plenty of other research shows that even by itself, it is one of the most powerful predictors of winding up sad-sick. If you have any indication of problem drinking in your life, get help now. If you have drinking problems in your family, do not take your chances: Keep that switch turned off. Although forgoing alcohol can be difficult, you’ll never be sorry you made this decision."

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/02/happiness-age-investment/622818/

Here's hoping you have a long happy life.

[orangecrush]

16. Friend of Bill W here

Just went through some stupid drama, myself, that 7 years ago I would have handled by drinking myself into a stupor.

It's called, "I'll show you, I'll hurt me".

Now, instead I'm like, " OK, this sucks, I'm angry, hurt, and feel powerless, but if I drink it will still be there when I sober up, only worse, and my problems will rapidly multiply.."

Since anything I do will be wrong, I withdraw, and trust the wisdom of divine intelligence, and wait for something positive to fill the void that was created.

Congratulations!

[Rhiannon12866]

43. Well said.

And same here, sober since April 30, 2009. Just went to an unusual meeting tonight. My regular meeting wasn't being held, the chairman couldn't make it, so I went with a friend to the closest meeting to me. What made it unusual was that it wasn't held in a church basement or Sunday School room, but in an actual church itself since that was apparently the area that was heated. And the topic was appropriate, it was humor in sobriety.

[orangecrush]

46. Very cool!

Or, warm, if you prefer!

I hope the meeting didn't turn into heated discussions!

[wendyb-NC]

17. Congratulations

[gademocrat7]

19. That is great!

Take care.

[CaptainTruth]

20. Good for you!

[IbogaProject]

21. Great

You're on your way to not even thinking of it other than in passing.

[kozar]

22. Well Done!!!!!

[DownriverDem]

24. Is that what you wanted to do?

I drink a glass of wine a day and really enjoy it.

[bif]

28. Seriously?

It always ended up a bottle or more. So yes, that's what I wanted to do.

[bif]

30. Not to be an asshole or anything, but...

Did you happen to notice the name of this forum?

[Iggo]

31. On second thought, I'll let bif speak for bif.

Sorry about that.

[barbtries]

25. well done.

psst...she would have known if you relapsed and I'm so happy you beat the craving.

[gab13by13]

26. Oh man, home made potato pancakes.

I love them but I want to stay at 173 for the winter and when I eat them it takes a couple of days to get back down.

[Iggo]

27. Good discipline.

[billh58]

32. This friend of

Bill W congratulates you for making a great choice.

[Permanut]

33. Nicely done bif!

27 years sober here, and no longer tempted. I know every day that I can't go back though.

[orangecrush]

47. +1

[sdfernando]

34. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

[BadGimp]

35. Well Played!

eom

[USALiberal]

36. Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sprinkleeninow]

37. Who's a good boi?! Attaway❣👍 ☮

[DEbluedude]

38. It been in the back of my mind for 15 years.

I do what you did. ANYTHING, but drink. There's nothing out there for people like us, NOT A THING, that will be made better by taking a drink.

Congrats!

[Camaromjr]

39. Time Does Dim the Desire

I've some ~35 years of sobriety. It becomes easier and the reward is in every day when you wake up.

[ailsagirl]

42. Good for you, too!!

PS Welcome to DU!!

[calimary]

40. YAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Proud of you!!!

[ailsagirl]

41. Good for you!!!!

[Rhiannon12866]

44. Well done and thanks for sharing. A drink never makes anything better.

And you did what's helped me from the beginning, "move a muscle, change a thought." I learned to distract myself and that still works for me, even after more than 12 years.

[PatrickforB]

48. I was never a big potato pancake fan, but love latkes. By the way,

resisting the urge to drink when you were alone is a major accomplishment.

[RevBrotherThomas]

49. WELL DONE!