When things get tough, I feel that coin in my pocket, and it makes me resolve to take things one step at a time. It helps. Perhaps this can help you too.
Posted on 11/29/2023 7:23:58 PM PST by foundedonpurpose
No Nmae Given wrote:
“Jesus Christ knows exactly how you feel. If you trust Him, you won’t regret it.”
Agree 100%. Philippians 4:13 is a well-known Bible verse that says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
I am from a family of addicts. It was only when I TRULY turned my addiction over to God did I lose my desire to hide in a bottle every day.
After years of self loathing for my failure to stop drinking my desire suddenly went away on a Sunday morning. I earnestly prayed and God absolutely removed any inkling of a need to drown myself and run away from my root causes.
This will sound odd. But, what started my completely turning over my addiction was hearing Larry Kudlow recite part of the Serenity prayer from AA during an interview and me realizing that God would be my only path. Telling me to relinquish my need for control and the turn over the weight of my burdens to God.
This is what he said that day.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
I have never been to AA. But, my brother and several other friends faithfully attend meetings. That is just how I finally stopped. I pray you find the comfort I found and live you life to its fullest.
When things get tough, I feel that coin in my pocket, and it makes me resolve to take things one step at a time. It helps. Perhaps this can help you too.
A genuine desire to stop, in combination with AA can and will help. Prayer is not the sole answer, but it is a huge part of the solution you seek.
Naltrexone is an anti-addiction drug for alcohol and opiate addiction. It stops or reduces cravings. For some people, it is like flipping a switch, and they are instantly cured.
It can be taken as a daily pill or a monthly injection. It is sometimes combined with other anti-addiction drugs.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naltrexone
The pill form of Naltrexone is dirt cheap on GoodRx.com. The injection form (sold under the brand name Vivitrol) is used once per month, and it is expensive.
A doctor specializing in substance abuse should know all about it. Some doctors will also require psychological therapy in order to get a prescription.
Try changing your routine - that’s part of the habit. Take a walk, reorganize your files, delete emails, whatever - instead of heading towards a drink.
It is most common in alcoholics, so alcoholics should take extra thiamine.
By far, the best type of thiamine to use is Sulbutiamine, because this type crosses the blood-brain barrier. Sulbutiamine is also used as a nootropic (smart pill), which suggests brain-thiamine deficiency may be common.
You are in my prayers. My uncle was an alcoholic since his youth. For decades, he was our black sheep wandering around, losing his wife and 2 children, calling us from jail in the middle of the night just to chat with us (he was a happy drunk) and ending up with warrants for his arrest in more than one state out West. Throughout it all, his family was praying for him, and by God’s grace and the granting of a miracle, he finally was free of the habit, waking up one morning with no desire to drink from that time on.
He did have other habits, smoking and gambling, so one component to his alcoholism, aside from being indulged by his parents (baby of the family), seems to have been the tendency to be obsessive about something. I don’t know if that will help on some level, but it may be worth thinking about or guarding against once you let go of the liquor.
One last thought, whatever the alcohol is helping you to escape from, ask for God’s help to face up to it so that it can become something from your past, having nothing to do with your future. God wants what’s best for you, He loves you dearly and won’t abandon you. By Jesus’ stripes, you are healed. Grab hold of His outstretched hand and never let go. He will lead you to the still waters and restore your very soul. May He bless you and your family mightily!
My neighbor is an alcoholic. I would look in on her during her last binge. I wondered if she were better off alive or dead.
She finally agreed to take a monthly injection. Sounds like
Unwashed’s Naltrexone, which has a daily pill alternative. She likes the injection, so she can’t skip a pill or two or a hundred.
I don’t think it’s a complete answer, but it’s been helpful.
I think she’s been clean. I think it’s been a year.
Let me know if you want the name of the drug. Or if you want to talk to her or me.
I agree that this is something that needs God’s intervention, as we all do in our lives.
That said, there’s a book out called *You are not your brain* by Jeffery Schartz about retraining your brain to break bad habits. In chapter 3, he presents a case of a guy named Steve who has a drinking problem and how he overcame it using brain retraining or neuroplasticity. We got the book out from the library initially, but it was so good, we bought a copy of it used.
Also, Teen Challenge is a very solid Christian organization that helps with substance abuse that has a very high success rate.
I’ll be praying for you to overcome in this area. I know it can be done, but also know it is not easy. God bless you in your journey.
1. first you have to REALLY, TRULY want and need to rebuild your life ... most people have to reach rock bottom in one fashion or another before they come to the realization that they TRULY NEED and WANT to rebuild their life ...
2. get a copy and read the AA Big Book ...
https://www.aa.org/the-big-book
3. Start attending AA meetings REGULARLY, maybe 3 times a week to start with ... the trick here is to find a group whose social economic status is similar to your own ... you might have to attend several different groups to find the one that’s right for you ...
4. if you frequently associate with other heavy-drinkers for drinking events related to sports or pretty much anything else, it’s imperative to build a whole new set of friends whose lives are not built around drinking ... you’ll soon discover that you’re former drinking buddies and yourself had only a single thing in common, namely drinking ...
5. It’s also absolutely imperative to discover and participate in events, tasks, and/or hobbies that bring you joy with which to replace your former activities that involved drinking ...
all of the above is how you rebuild your life ...
A profound observation indeed.
Sure is good in pecan pie though. It adds just that little bit of edge of flavor. If you are going to cook with it use the good stuff.
Three uncles out of a few probably died of alcoholism or at least it contributed greatly to their deaths. So sad. Best to just steer clear of it completely. There is no such thing as just a little for some. When it gets its hooks in you it is hard to escape. An addiction counselor I worked with in scouts said he couldn't help anyone who was not broke downand absolutely sick of what he had become. Almost to the point of self-loathing.
Good luck.
I’m 77 years old and have been sober for a year and eight months. It’s never too late. I wish you the best.
We are here for you.
Hold on.
when i quit smoking, it was the automatic ones that i stopped first as they’re the hardest, the rest came easier...
prayers up
The calendar also says I quit drinking alcohol May 12, 2002. 
I tried to quit smoking numerous times but always failed after 3 to 5 days. But then when I finally stuck to it I realized that after three weeks of struggling, craving and thinking about it, I got to a point that I was fatigued so much that I just naturally stopped wanting to smoke anymore and it left my mind. Smoking to me is poison and when there is someone smoking outside near me I move away quickly.
Then when I quit drinking I did the same. My problem was I was too functional as an alcoholic. So I never really tried to quit. Sure sometimes I thought it would be good to cut back or give it a rest but I always kept drinking. Then I got tired of drink dragging me down the next day and thought: Let me see what being sober is like. I knew from when I finally quit smoking that if I can get past three weeks I can do it. Sure enough after three weeks fatigue from struggling against it... I was in the clear because I was fed up fighting against it and drinking dropped from my mind. The idea of drinking alcohol is like drinking gasoline.
Welcome! I also believe that alcohol abetted the worst decisions and biggest mistakes and failures of my life. It was fun and I was very good at drinking... Until I wasn’t.
Just remember you are a part of a family of VERY passionate and talented and intelligent people, all of whom have come to the same conclusion. Yours. Ours.
Today, I am not drinking. I am not cloudy-headed. I am not shaking. That is because I haven’t had a drink in awhile.
The first days are the hardest. It’s a nightmare. Withdrawal is almost impossibly awful. It’s hard, even, to believe.
But: little by little, it gets better. You recover. Your brain recovers, though it can take months.
Don’t beat yourself up. “Give yourself a break.”
But always remember that little devil wants you to take THAT FIRST DRINK... And you’re down the hole again.
You are in good company. You can do this!
Love
golux
Yep: I learned much from Carr as well. AA, too. Excellent tools in my toolbox. And I know I am only a drink away from trouble!
(Love Carr’s “trick ending!”)
It was some 30 years ago when I last had a drink. Since then I tell folks that ask that I used up my quota—got greedy—. What did I do to stop? Besides meeting, of which I stopped going because I had other things to do than hang around a bunch of drunks talking about their days of drinking—No—I just changed habits.
So instead of booze, I substituted coffee. I caressed the exotic bean and learned its language and made a ritual of hand grning the beans and making the coffee through various means, (french press, etc...)
Now its keurig cups and who cares.
But I dont drink.
Along the way I talked to Jesus.
But I don’t go to church. I just talk to Jesus.
Its been more than 30 years now since I had a drink...if this sinner could do that, then you can do the same. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and get on with living.
If there is one thing I learned....”Life is tough and then you die.” So what you do in between is what counts...
Good Luck
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