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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Associates Degree in Sobriety
- Thread starter Ad Astra
- Start date
- Joined
- May 9, 2002
- Messages
- 12,684
Has it been 2 years? Already?!? My God, how time flies. Congrats on beating a very tenacious demon, my friend.
Jake
Jake
Mike, as they say down here, "You done good, boy!" Sounds like you grabbed yourself by the belt and picked your ass up. CONGRATULATIONS to you, Mike, and to all the rest of you, too. I guess we all have our demons to fight, whether they are addictions or afflictions. All I know how to do is keep on keepin' on! 
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2006
- Messages
- 56
Yeah, my wife spends all the money that I save from not drinking. It's enough to drive someone to drinking.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
Congrats. I can appreciate and relate to your success Mike. I am also proud to know you as well as the other gents that came forward here in this thread. I don't talk about it often. In fact I've never mentioned it on these forums even once but one of the main things that keeps me doing the things you see me doing around here all the time with knives is the simple fact that doing it keeps me straight. Making and working on knives saved my life, my marriage and perhaps the lives of others if I'd have kept tempting fate the way I did. I averaged at one time more than an 18 pack of beer per day and that was before 18 packs even existed. In fact I remember drinking that many and driving around the corner to get more, drinking those and still finding myself wanting more. It may sound like a lot of beer but when you start out with breakfast that way it is far easier to do than anyone would believe. Ask my wife. My angel from heaven I'm telling you!
Someone put it right it is a tenacious demon and the second such demon to torment this member in his life, both of which followed me for many years. Half my life basically was spent catching a buzz. Our sales meetings at my job were basically get drunk sessions, as were our golf outings and many other excuses we found convenient, like 5 pm. I could say it runs in the family but I believe that to be a lame excuse. I don't often think about the time that has gone by for me. Its been a long time.
I know that when I tell people that I am so fortunate to have met someone that knows every indiosyncrasy of my character and still loves me and stays loyal to me that they don't really catch the whole meaning of what I'm saying to them or trying to convey. This demon is as hard on those standing by to watch as it is the people partaking of it.
I have come to believe that we as humans have much more personal power than we give ourselves credit for a lot of the time. I believe life is about choices. You make choices and you live with them. You are about at the point in your sobriety now where I started to think that I must not have been an alcoholic at all. I still have trouble with that word a lot, but I'm not able to tell you why. Partly I have an issue as to whether or not it is a disease or a habit. Many habits are hard to break. For example when I stopped smoking pot, something I loved much more than beer by the way, I found my substitute habit for that was beer. Which led to 24 or more a day for many years. I'm a big guy and used to be even bigger so I have always been able to put them away but even seasoned drinkers didn't keep up with me in most situations.
I'm sure that like me when I quit for good that many of your old circle of friends had to go along with the drinking. Some of my old buds still try on occasion to get me back into old habits. That, just like thinking you must not have ever really had a problem with it are traps. Don't fall into it. I can say I'm not only proud of your accomplishment but that I can honestly tell you I've been there. Kiss your wife and it will be ten years before you know it and then you'll have your PHD. :thumbup:
STR
Someone put it right it is a tenacious demon and the second such demon to torment this member in his life, both of which followed me for many years. Half my life basically was spent catching a buzz. Our sales meetings at my job were basically get drunk sessions, as were our golf outings and many other excuses we found convenient, like 5 pm. I could say it runs in the family but I believe that to be a lame excuse. I don't often think about the time that has gone by for me. Its been a long time.
I know that when I tell people that I am so fortunate to have met someone that knows every indiosyncrasy of my character and still loves me and stays loyal to me that they don't really catch the whole meaning of what I'm saying to them or trying to convey. This demon is as hard on those standing by to watch as it is the people partaking of it.
I have come to believe that we as humans have much more personal power than we give ourselves credit for a lot of the time. I believe life is about choices. You make choices and you live with them. You are about at the point in your sobriety now where I started to think that I must not have been an alcoholic at all. I still have trouble with that word a lot, but I'm not able to tell you why. Partly I have an issue as to whether or not it is a disease or a habit. Many habits are hard to break. For example when I stopped smoking pot, something I loved much more than beer by the way, I found my substitute habit for that was beer. Which led to 24 or more a day for many years. I'm a big guy and used to be even bigger so I have always been able to put them away but even seasoned drinkers didn't keep up with me in most situations.
I'm sure that like me when I quit for good that many of your old circle of friends had to go along with the drinking. Some of my old buds still try on occasion to get me back into old habits. That, just like thinking you must not have ever really had a problem with it are traps. Don't fall into it. I can say I'm not only proud of your accomplishment but that I can honestly tell you I've been there. Kiss your wife and it will be ten years before you know it and then you'll have your PHD. :thumbup:
STR
:thumbup:
- Joined
- May 9, 2002
- Messages
- 12,684
Congrats, Mike. Out of that damned FEMA trailer and beating your demons. A heartfelt congrats, my friend. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy:thumbup:
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
- Messages
- 2,232
Keep doing what your doing and just don't drink, one day at a time. Great Job!
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2008
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- 4,667
Congrats.