So my experience with drinking started off in college (yes college, not high school). I was more on the shy side I would say but once I joined a fraternity and got introduced to alcohol I immediately became the life of the party. In college I would say that I was no different than any of my friends, we would all party Thursday-Saturday and usually make it to class but it was really no big deal. I would drink when it was time to drink and study when it was time to study. I guess you could say work hard, play hard.
In my early 20's I got married and had a job where I had Wednesdays and Thursdays off. It was just me on my days off because my wife and friends were all at work. I remember I would do things very constructive around the house and knock out a honey-do list or two. I would occasionally play some video games to relax but alcohol was never involved. I got heavily involved in the internet poker craze and was making pretty good money and would drink on occasion but still alcohol was not an issue for me.
I remember things starting to get out of control one year during fantasy football. I started having problems because football started on Sunday mornings at 11am and I would start drinking because, hey man, football is on and every guy drinks while he watches football! Although, I noticed that I would start drinking at 11 and not stop until bed. I just couldn't control it for some reason, I just had to keep drinking until either the Sunday night game was over or I passed out. This problem persisted for many years and I soon realized that I could go weeks without drinking but once I started consuming for the day I wasn't stopping.
This wasn't only a football issue, I would constantly get into trouble during March Madness because the college basketball games would start at 10am and go all night. I found myself in the same boat, fighting with my wife because I was wasted. My kids would witness it all first hand until one day my wife gave me an AA book. I read it to make her happy until I hit the page where it talked about alcoholics that couldn't stop for the day once they started. I realized that they were totally talking about me.
I immediately told my whole family that I was no longer going to drink any alcohol because that would make the decision real. They were very supportive, and I'm sure skeptical, but I had made my decision. I found an AA group near me with 50 awesome guys of every age and years of sobriety. I couldn't believe how genuinely happy these guys were, I mean they hadn't had a drink in years and you could tell that that's the reason they were so happy. They had all been saved, in a sense, from the addiction that they couldn't break on their own. Together they were so much stronger than they were themselves and I was drawn to the group that day. One man said that I was the most important guy in the room that day because it was my first meeting ever and felt so welcome.
Fast forward 18 months and I have not had a drink since. I feel amazing all of the time, I have a new passion and pastime and it's called playing with my kids. I am a different person and have not had the temptation to drink since. One of my friends asked me how I could do that and I said simply, "Man I haven't had a hangover in a year and a half!"
I couldn't believe how quickly the temptation to drink left my body and I try to remind myself of the person I once was and the person that I am today. I can never go back. It's not just me I would let down, but my wife, kids, friends and 50 brothers in AA. The best piece of advice I ever got when I started sobriety was when I told a guy that I can't go my whole life without drinking, it's just impossible. He simply responded, "You don't have to, you just have to make it the next 24 hours and just say that every day."
24 hours....I can do that.