I have stopped drinking

good for you anthony, i have no idea whether you have a 'drinking problem' or not but a stint of abstinence never hurts anyway.

Well done. I could not go a day without drinking (well, maybe I could, I've never tried, but two days no way) , so you have my admiration.

well done!

i find that not drinking leaves you feeling all around better

Hope it goes well for you, Anthony. :-)

Encouraging words...let's see... hmmmm.

You are the only person who knows exactly what drinking does to you and what it does for you.

That second point is especially important to grasp. That's the sting, the bad news. You don't get to give up drinking and not also give up what it does for you that you find useful or pleasant. You can only deal with it as a package. Since something you like or want has kept you drinking up to now, there is gonna be a certain amount of renunciation involved.

Presumably, you have decided that drinking, on some level, has effects on your life that you wish it didn't. So, the good news is that stopping drinking will *probably* halt those effects, too -- unless, of course, you simply dance a few steps sideways and take up some other habit that fucks you up in roughly the same way drinking does.

Watch yourself. If you find yourself doing inane things to fill up your time, you're just trading partners for a new dance. These observations apply to anyone who drinks a fair amount, not just alcoholics.

Your instinct is probably correct that stopping drinking will have some beneficial effects, if only to open a space for something else to flow into. Just be aware that boomerangs will be flying. Keep on your toes.

Alcohol is the devil of the belly

Good for you, Anthony. I don't know if you need to go to AA, depends on why you wanted to quit in the first place and how long you plan on stopping. It's good for some people, not for others. There's a cultish element that's very irritating, but it's worth putting up with in most cases. Also, the gay meetings are hell. At least the ones I've been around.

Like I'm such an expert...anyway, good luck, doll.

congrats, anthony ... best wishes

I quit drinking three years ago and I have to say there's been far less disaster, crime, violence, remorse and expensive property damage since. Although I just switched to smoking weed and now make Brad Pitt's 'True Romance' character look like Billy Whizz in comparison, so caveat emptor

Good luck with it!

best wishes, anthony!

I just like saying Gay AA.

Anthony - I went without for five years once, out of necessity: I had gotten rather out of control. Use whatever means keep you from drinking. I went to AA a lot, even though the meetings annoyed the hell out of me. But it's pretty hard to go get a drink when you know that there's a whole roomful of people who you just saw earlier that evening who've made it plain that they're willing to help you in any way they can if your real goal is to stay sober.

So yes, I'd say give AA a shot, and if/when it gets on your nerves, try to work through that. How come I un-sobered? rock and roll, man

best wishes anthony, im trying to quit smoking tommorrow!