u/Dadrocant

I started a strong sober streak, had great encouragement from people in this group, and then went for dinner to a friend's house and when they offered me a beer, I said yes. Some context on my decision: I did not start this journey to be completely sober, just reduce the number of times a week when I drink, because I don't drink to the point of drunkenness very often (done it only once in the past year), but I can drink 4 to 6 beers in a single night, or 3 drinks of whiskey in a single night (when I have some at home, which I try not to do very often).

But, back to my story, after that night where I had 2 beers, I immediately went back to my habit of daily alcohol consumption. Sometimes beer, sometimes seltzers, and last night I bought a new bottle of whiskey and of course had my customary number of drinks. I have again decided to try and go sober for a while and see if I can find a balance in this complex and harmful relationship with alcohol, and once more turn to you for support (I have not posted since I restarted drinking because I felt ashamed).

Any and all ideas on what to do are welcome.

I've been listening to a podcast that harps on about the benefits of IULs as investment vehicles, retirement planning tools, and even financing options for startups. On the other end there are many planners who are dead set against them, is it because they really are bad, or because the planner misses out on commissions if people move to IULs?

I made it past the first week, and it's been in large part thanks to those of you who have replied to my posts. It's encouraging to know that strangers out there take time out of their day to provide encouragement.

I have tried to do the same for others in this community, my way of paying it forward.

Here's to one more week.

Yesterday was really hard. I realized that I'm battling depression and alcohol was masking that... It's hard to move forward when you feel that nothing is worth the effort (and when you're starting a business that's a recipe for disaster), but I am fighting the need to run away and house in the bottle.

I know that in the end it'll be worth it, but God is it hard.

I would not have made it without your encouragement. Yardas was a rough day as e received some compared news from back home, and that made me want to reach out for a drink, but everything I thought of is I'd get a notification of a comment in my post from yesterday, and that helped me say no.

Again, thank you all.

I made it through the first day. I don't know if anybody is reading this, or if anybody cares, but at least the fiction that someone out there does is enough to keep me posting.

Events in my life are a mixed bag, I am starting a business (after months of unsuccessful job hunting), and that's going ok, but it's stressful, and then there's relationship issues with my wife that come and go and are mostly related to me not having an income...

Let's see if I make it to day 3

Last night I had the last drink of a whiskey bottle in my pantry. Normally I'd go buy another one today and it would last me until the weekend, but I want to put off buying that next bottle for a while, and to help me do that, I'll be writing down here how many days have gone by.

I've always had a complex relationship with alcohol. I started drinking, heavily, in my teens (just like everyone around me at the time), and In my college years I drank myself to blackouts way too often. Then I got married and had kids and pretty much stopped drinking for several years, but then in 2016 my company went bankrupt and I started drinking "to wind down" or "relax" after a stressful day.
Since then I've gone through periods of drinking one or two beers a day to others where I'm having two or three strong drinks (mostly whiskey or Scotch) every day. Then I get to a point (like today) where I realize it's too much, and not because I got drunk or did anything bad, simply a rational realization that last night's 3 drinks were unnecessary. And so I decide I'll bring it down, go sober for a few days, but then I'm back to daily intake.
I'm writing this both to explore my own feelings about it, but also in search of ideas, because I've tried mocktails, kombucha, sugar free soda, carbonated water (with and without flavors), zero alcohol beer... But I end up going back to my daily drinking habit, so if anyone has a new idea, or advice, it's appreciate it.