Jeff: Whaddaya mean, "the rest" of us?!? *G* I'm sure you've seen, on more than one of the other Mudcat threads that touch on the subject, that many of "the rest" of us have had our own battles with different degrees of alcohol addiction, myself included. For instance, there are some anecdotes, as well as a lot of good advice, on this thread: BS: I am an alchoholic (Note for future searching for that thread: "alcoholic" is misspelled in the thread title)

You're right that you've moved ahead a bit by admitting that alcohol is not your friend. Actually, it's not a friend or an enemy. It's just liquid with chemicals in it. What you do with that liquid – and without it – makes you your own best friend or your own worst enemy. You seem to have found that drinking alcohol has made you your own worst enemy (losing the job, piling up the bills, distancing the girlfriend).

You say that you feel you might be persuaded to give alcohol "another chance" tomorrow so, when tomorrow comes, don't give yourself another chance to drink. Don't be persuaded to drink... which is to say, don't persuade yourself to drink. Alcohol can't persuade you; it can't talk. The craving in your body might make you want to think that you need a drink, but the craving itself is just a chemical reaction to a chemical. You are the one with the free will and the ability to make a decision. You've already decided to stop seeing alcohol as a friend. The next thing is to decide to stop using alcohol as a friend... or as an enemy. As I said, it's neither.

Keeping you in thought,
Sharon