I'm getting some lovely (sad, honest, brave) comments from new people who are obviously trawling around the internet desperately seeking answers to their questions about booze, or support for their desire to quit it, or reassurance that life without alcohol is ok, or whatever else they might be seeking.
These comments I find immensely moving and I do honestly feel the pain of these people who are at the point of despair with their drinking. I've been there, and not that long ago (18 mths or so). It's so fucking hard and so fucking unfair that it's so difficult to get this substance out of our lives - those of us who just can't moderate and be normal drinkers.
The other day I was watching Channel E's red carpet coverage of the Golden Globes. Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were strutting their stuff and I remarked out loud: "He's sober" as I often do when I spot a famous sober person. "Really?" said Mr D. "Yep" I replied. "Some people just have to take it away."
And that's the bottom line I think. For some of us there is no option but to just take it away. Just stop drinking alcohol and accept that you can never drink it ever again. Ok so it's not obviously as simple as that because learning how to live sober takes quite a bit of retraining and effort but it's definitely a journey I would recommend.
The alternative for us hopeless boozers is to keep the alcohol in our lives and spend years angsting about why we can't drink normally, feeling guilty about hardly ever being able to reign ourselves in, trying a variety of techniques to control booze (moderation, abstaining for periods of time, days on, days off etc etc), worrying, feeling like shit, not respecting ourselves and just thinking thinking thinking about alcohol all the time.
Or we could decide just to live as boozers and booze, booze, booze until the day we die. That's the other option.
But for those of us that are sick of the boozing, and sick of the angsting and the guilt (you lovely anonymous people who are commenting and lurking, who feel desperate and miserable) just know that you are not alone. There are many of us in the world who are these people who just have to take it away. We just have to take it away. Keith Urban, Rob Lowe, me!, my gorgeous brave friends whose blogs are in my reading list, countless others around the world. We are all the ones who just have to take it away.
It can be done. And I promise, life without alcohol is ok. Really it is. Actually it's pretty fucking great.
Love, Mrs D xxx
