10. I have to drink; It’s the only way I can handle [fill in problem here]. – Of course drinking doesn’t “handle” anything, it just puts off having to handle it, and adds another problem.

9. My body can handle alcohol better than normal people, so I can drink more. – Handling alcohol is not a “super power”, it is an increased tolerance, which just means we will drink more and hurt ourselves more.

8. I only drink [weekends|beer|a couple of drinks]. – Most doctors assume a patient drinks at least twice as much as they admit to, and honestly, we lie to ourselves first, and then to others.

7. I’m only hurting myself. – What? Is your name Robinson Crusoe? We hurt ourselves, our families, even strangers. The damage done by one alcoholic can flow down for several generations.

6. I know. I was wrong, and this time I have learned my lesson. It will never happen again. – Talk is cheap, no matter how sincere it is, and often it is not sincere. We do it just to end a confrontational situation. Only action, not drinking today, and changing our behavior, really counts.

5. There’s nothing wrong with me, you’re just hyper opposed to drinking. – A classic example of “Attack the Attacker”. The only problem is, the people who are saying this to us are the one’s who care about us, who love us. Our “counter attack” hurts our relationship with them, and sooner or later drives them away.

4. Everybody drinks. It’s just part of life. – Well, if you’re a drinker, you’re certainly not alone, but “everybody drinks”? Nah! A recent large study found that 17.8% of people over 18 had abused alcohol at some time in their life, with 12.5% having at some time experienced alcohol dependence. When asked if they currently had a problem (in the last year) 4.7% said they had abused alcohol, 3.8% that they had been dependent on it.

3. I love you. – When its bad, we really don’t love our wife or husband, our children. At least we don’t love them as much as we love booze. We prove it by the choice we make. We have to change that choice.

2. I’ve tried to quit, but I can’t. – Yes, we can, and help is there if we need it. This site, AA, medically supervised treatment. It can be done, one day at a time.

1. I can drink moderately. – Some can, at least I think so, and I don’t want to take that away from them. But many of us, for example me, can’t. For us, “I can drink moderately” really means, “I’m going off the wagon.”

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if it cured boredom

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If it gave more then it takes

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This “Top Ten Post” was shared to the Boozemusings Community by @Ira from HSM. Thank you Ira for helping me smile through my first sober year. A little bit of humor and common sense is always a great idea !

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