How Much is Too Much?
When I decided to quit drinking 46 years ago in September there was no question, I was drinking too much. I was blacking out almost every time and waking up to people I didn’t know in places I’d never been not knowing how I got there or what I did. Usually it wasn’t good. I suffered some very bad consequences. Fortunately avoided killing anyone by driving drunk!
But after I started drinking 10 years later because…well you know…Jesus turned water into wine for a wedding so it must be OK to drink right? It was all downhill from there. I should have had a clue after that first glass of hard apple cider.. I wasn’t satisfied until the bottle was gone. And so it went for another 10 years,going from the glass of wine to the bottle, to the small box, to the big box. But you didn’t drink wine with fish fry…that came with a pitcher of beer, and when you mowed the lawn and went fishing, so it went from a 6 pack to a case of beer too. Different occasions called for different beverages. Or eventually, whatever was available.
By the time I finished my masters degree and was a full fledged counselor I had also become a pretty full fledged alcoholic. It was one of my clients and a couple of colleagues that challenged me to consider whether I was drinking too much. I rationalized that because I hadn’t lost my job, I didn’t drink in the morning, I hadn’t ended up in jail that I was in control. These are some of the questions that I had to ask myself…. I didn’t like the answers, so in March of 1996 I quit. In April I went to Florida on vacation, and of course you can’t go on vacation with friends who drink and not drink, so once again made a fool of myself and that was it. Last drink was April 6, 1996.
I decided to check off which one’s fit… there were way too many!
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Have you used this to escape dealing with feelings?
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Have you felt that you should cut down?
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Is it causing problems with family, friends or work?
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Have you gotten annoyed when people express concern about it?
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Did you feel guilty after doing this behavior?
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Did you sneak it or do it in private so no one would find out?
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Is this costing you money or time you don’t have to waste?
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Are you at risk of getting in legal trouble for doing it?
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Is it causing you health problems?
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Does it make you feel separated from God- your higher power, when you are doing it?
If you have checked any of these then you are not alone and you are in the right place. I have been a counselor now for over 30 years and I am starting the PurposeDrivenRecoveryAcademy to help anyone that is stuck and can’t seem to move forward. You can take my course “Learning to Live With Whatever Ails You” for free for a limited time and we have a support group every week to help you overcome your challenges.
Check it out at https://www.purposedrivenrecoveryacademy.com
If you want a copy of this checklist and a bunch of other resources just fill out this form and you will get that as well as info about my “HOPE for Sobriety” Free Webinar and Course
