I am Strong

So here I am

Who was I?

I was 50…..Working in a high level professional job 2 children 1 husband 2 Labradors

I had been drinking alcohol on and off since I was 16. I now drank 1-2 bottles of wine a day after work as my ‘reward’ and more at weekends.

My leisure time and social life were wrapped around alcohol – every aspect of it intrinsically linked.

I exercised and ate a healthy diet etc but never really felt well.

I often drank to blackout, waking with bruises and injuries of unknown origin.

I was lost and alone – hungover was my normal.

Emotionally, physically and mentally I was drained.

I hated my life and myself. My job was hard and emotionally I was volatile.

I knew the amount I drank was too much but my ultimate aim was to control my drinking to an acceptable level.

Giving up alcohol was not an option I ever considered seriously.

I would abstain from alcohol for a month at a time always after an ‘incident’ Then I would begin to drink again after a month of abstinence – – and ALWAYS – – slip slowly back to drinking exactly the same as before.

On 27th December 2013 at 3.15am I found the online community Hello Sunday Morning and became ZOO.

ZOO does not drink alcohol.

I have not drunk a drop of alcohol since.

I had to learn what quantity of alcohol I drank, when I drank, and most important of all WHY I felt I NEEDED to drink – what it was that alcohol gave me.

I had to not drink alcohol for a year to begin the slow process of learning all of that.

I had to learn to question societies insistence that we have to drink alcohol to be accepted.

I had to learn other ways to cope with life’s ups and downs without using alcohol.

I had to learn for the first time ‘who I was’ and learn to love her warts and all.

I had to change aspects of my life that could be changed and needed to be changed and accept the ones that couldn’t be changed.

On 26th December 2018 I was 5 years Alcohol Free.

So here I am

Who am I now?

I am 54.

Working in a high level professional job 2 children 1 husband 2 Labradors.

Emotionally, physically and mentally I am strong.

I love my life, my job and I am proud of who I am.

I am happy, healthy, peaceful and free from the chains that alcohol had imprisoned me in.

I DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL…..AND NOW IT’S ENTIRELY BY CHOICE.

Zoo

“For a long time, when it’s working, the drink feels like a path to a kind of self-enlightenment, something that turns us into the person we wish to be, or the person we think we are. In some ways the dynamic is simple: alcohol makes everything better, until it makes everything worse.” ― Caroline Knapp, Drinking: A Love Story

Beat the Binge Drinking Routine !

If you are drinking too much too often maybe we can help. Alcohol is the only drug that people will question you for not using but we understand how it feels to lose your off switch. We are an independent, private, anonymous community forum .

Talk to Us.

You can read more about us Here

And join Here

BOOM Rethink the Drink

It’s never too late.

Boozemusings

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