Ever give up Booze?

[nortonscove]

I've never been a drinker. Try telling folks this and then convincing them you are not a religious. At 28 I tried my first beer and just wasn't impressed. Never left out of social events if only because I can drive after.

[jwcolby54]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

That's not the question. The question is whether they had the potential to be happier and I'd have to say yes. Drugs and alcohol never leads to permanent happiness. It's a lie

Thanks for that.

I am an addict, and alcohol is just a drug like any other. I stopped it all 30 years ago and don't miss it.

There truly is such a thing as an addictive / compulsive personality and (obviously) not everyone is. For the non-addict a drink (or several) is not dangerous. For the addict a single drink (or other drug) is absolutely dangerous because it lowers inhibitions and brings cravings for more. I know personally (because I am involved in recovery programs) absolute horror stories caused by drugs and alcohol.

The cool thing is that for those of us that are addicts, if we can get clean for long enough, the compulsion goes away and life can become about normal wonderful things like family, friends (and for those so inclined) a higher power. A BBQ, a football game, sailing, time spent with friends... is fun without that stuff.

Drugs and alcohol never lead to happiness. Any "happiness" found through any drug is chemical, not real. Now any happiness I have (and I have plenty) is just the normal kind, not drug induced.

Having said all that, I am long enough clean that I can be around it now without wanting it for myself. So if a friend wants to drink that's fine. If they want to get drunk or otherwise blasted, that's sad (to me) but does not affect my own state of mind.

[jwcolby54]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

My understanding is as alcoholism progresses, it doesn't take much to keep them drunk, the liver is pretty much dysfunctional and they don't metabolize alcohol?

Many alcoholics will tell you that at the end they couldn't drink enough to get drunk.

[jwcolby54]

Originally Posted by zeehag

[/FONT]



i was thinking of this color, but last time i used it(2008) i was spanked....rodl... is a nice color, tho..big boys get black. i use what i wish..kinda. i am gurlee

Let's not get into spanking now!!!

[jwcolby54]

Originally Posted by sanibel sailor

Only once, 32 years ago. If you got a problem, the twelve steps work.

[Sea Dreaming]

I havent read all the responses but I am glad to see non-drinking cruisers really do eixist. So mant of the cruisers books give the impression that one isnt a cruiser if you dont drink.

Im not alcohol opposed. We do drink. Anout 1 drink every 4-6 months. Suits both of ys just fine. We are cheap guests.

But this topic is a big one for me. From my dad, he "quit drinking" but "ah, hell its only a beer"(a case), to my mother who had to sneak beer onto a dry reservation because she just couldnt make it a week without, to my brother who says he is not an alcoholic but puts down a 6 pacj every night....

Frankly, I don't get it.

[Hard Rock Candy]

I have a different story. I started smoking tobacco when I was 18. I probably had my first drink when I was 19. Two beers and I was sick. So years go by, I would still try to enjoy the drinks my friends would have. I believed I was allergic to alcohol. I quit smoking the year I got my first sailboat. After 40 years. I found that I could get as drunk as I wanted. I've never even thought of going back to smoking. Mac

[maxingout]

When I did my internship in the Panama Canal Zone, I met a sailor who was an alcoholic, and he wanted to make a singlehanded sail across the Pacific in his forty foot sailboat. He was afraid that he might go into delirium tremens if he ran out of alcohol out in the Pacific. So to make sure he would not go into DTs at sea, he stopped drinking alcohol on shore for thirty days. He discovered that he did not go into DTs which was a great relief. So he loaded his boat up with booze and set sail across the Pacific. I never heard from him again. At least he was smart enough to make sure he could survive without booze before setting sail as a singlehanded sailor.

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by Nikki S

Wow, popular topic. So we can all support each other when we need quit booze for a bit?

Hope so. Again..... That was the crux of the OP.

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

I havent read all the responses.....

Then you should. Lot's of stories, some humor, some back & forth "baiting" - in good fun, of course.

Right, Boatie????

[Ribbit]

Originally Posted by Glacier Crews

Turns out you can now get yourself tested and indeed I am on the Eastern European variety that does not metabolize alcohol correctly.

Some of you thought I was pulling your wire about a small percentage of people lacking an enzyme in their liver, amI rite, or amI rite?

Good on you GC.

Eastern Europeans ALSO have a massive problem with alcohol, thanks to the Soviet Union and the Communist Party commandeering all the good (Ethanol) alcohol for themselves. Today there are huge issues with people in Eastern Europe, that have been seriously damaged by the cheap alcohol and high percentages of Methanol in the drinks for everybody else, thanks to the b'stard Communists.

Something else people need to seriously consider too.

If it wasn't for alcohol, there are an incredible number of women, who would never have a sex life at all . . . .

Now personally, I could never consider condemning so many women to such a fate.

[Ribbit]

Something else for a bit of perspective too.

Have any of you watched somebody trying to drink themselves to death? I have.

Guy in the next village lived and breathed boxing, earned a lot of money as a pro. Bought a lot of farms, stocked them, etc., as his career progressed.

Well came the final day, and his last fight in the ring, he quickly came to realise that he didn't like life without the boxing ring.

So in the words of 'Baldrick', he hatched a 'Cunning Plan'[tm], that would ensure that his elderly mother would be looked after all her life, via life insurance Policies on himself. That she would have been fine with the farms and stock anyway, he somehow missed - well to be fair, I think it was his way of committing suicide, without his mum having the knowledge that he had killed himself. So Iaian set out to drink himself to death.

You wouldn't believe how much booze was delivered to his house every week, and he drank even more when out.

After almost 40 years of this(!), he had drunk all his stock on 3 farms. sold and drank those 3 farms as well, and then his mother passed away.

Iaian had now run out of excuses, come to the conclusion he would never be able to drink himself to death, and so the poor guy hung himself.

He was one of the most colourful characters you could ever wish to meet, and everyone you met had a story about Iaian and his escapades, you hadn't heard before. He had a heart of gold, and would help anyone in need, but the pain of life without his beloved boxing, was just too excruciating for him to bear.

We all miss him like crazy.

[Siberianhusky]

Originally Posted by alaskaflyfish

I walked into a bar and ordered my first beer at age 21. The waitress said "that would be 8$ please." I decided right then and there that my low wage job could not support this habit. I never turned back. It does seem however that I have just as much fun at a social event as my drunk friends, minus the hangover.

Tell me about it, basically 10$ a pint with tip. Paid off my house 7 years early by pretty much cutting out the after work drinks and weekend bar tabs.
Had planned to be financially ready to go cruising by 60, now I can leave at 50 as soon as a big work contract is done.
If people keep pushing drinks on you, gladly accept them and dump them overboard right in front of them. They won't offer you many more!
Then find some decent people to hang around with who respect your choices.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by boatman61

So...!!
I'm in touch with my feminine side...
Does this make you guys feel insecure somehow...??

Phil my guess would be the only feminine side you'd be in touch with, would be a feminine standing by your side

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

For what ever reason I almost never get a hangover anymore. Maybe its too much practice or that I don't drink as much as I used to, but now a days if I push it a little too far I may feel a little off in the morning but definitely tolerable

Kinda makes my heart swell and brings a tear to my eye...

Knowing that all that hard work hanging out in bars, parties, vacations, garage tinkering etc... PLUS the financial discomfort, and has paid off in the end... Wait... or is this the middle???

2nd third?

4th fifth?