May 26, 200916 yr 20 days!But who's counting? The one without his brain befuddled by alcohol, Big thumbs up
May 27, 200916 yr Great! I'm away for a few days, so fully expect to see the score racked up a bit more when I'm back Good for you.
May 27, 200916 yr Glad to hear you are going to meetings. And that you are feeling better. Short fuse is to be expected, as a woman who suffers from the occasional PMS short fuse, I can give you some advice on this one. Recognize it for what it is, an irrational short fuse based on nothing real at all, and it makes it easier to let it pass
May 27, 200916 yr 21 days Keep up the good work ! Whatever works for you, and it is, carry on and you will get support from everywhere, especially your wife and boy, which are the reasons you decided to change your life for the better in the first and second place. Now you no longer have any reason to be totally "living in exile" ,so take good care and keep everything simple..
May 27, 200916 yr "21 days wink.gif" My God man to have a clear head must be nice. You give us all strength.
May 29, 200916 yr 23....come on 30 I am genuinely delighted to see you progressing so well. Good on yer Mate.......
May 29, 200916 yr You're still in there and you are winning. Keep up the good work. You are proving that you are a BIG man. Now you have even more have reason to be proud of yourself. more than 3 weeks already. Congratulations, you are definitely getting the upper hand now.
May 30, 200916 yr Author 24 days. Yesterday I was driving down the Gold Cost highway when at the traffic lights I noticed a couple of guys walking down the street drinking a couple of bottles of VB. Straight away my reaction was "gee that looks inviting". But I now realize there are 2 things I can do at times like these. 1) Is to keep the thought and slowly cultivate it. To keep on telling myself that "yeah that looks good, why can't I have drink, it's been over 3 weeks now I'm ok. Then in the end pick up a drink. 2) Is to immediately dismiss it as a silly thought. Laugh at myself and imagine where I will be in a couple of days, back to square one. Choosing option 2 is so much easier and the whole process lasts no more than 60 seconds and then it's totally forgotten. A couple of times I have postponed the drink. I have told myself "yeah maybe but not today. Not this morning. Not this hour”. I can't over estimate how powerful this tool of "one day at a time" is. I’m not out of the woods yet but life is improving day by day.
May 31, 200916 yr 24 days.Yesterday I was driving down the Gold Cost highway when at the traffic lights I noticed a couple of guys walking down the street drinking a couple of bottles of VB. Straight away my reaction was "gee that looks inviting". .... A couple of times I have postponed the drink. I have told myself "yeah maybe but not today. Not this morning. Not this hour". I can't over estimate how powerful this tool of "one day at a time" is. I'm not out of the woods yet but life is improving day by day. A few times I've thought after a day of not drinking "I fancy a beer on the way home", but then I think "What's the point of having just one? I'll get home twenty minutes later, with a few dollars less in my wallet, be more tired for tomorrow, and for what?" and that sees me safely home... SC
May 31, 200916 yr Starting to get over the first hump. Well done. Welcome to the beginning of the rest of your life
May 31, 200916 yr 25 A big congratulations and I bet your Wife and Son are happier too. Next thing is to get into sorts with your Son, do the Daddy & Son things. Get a Dog, etc just keep out of the things that may tempt you like going to a soccer match then afew beers after the game.... YOU Can do it, hopefully you will not need that Valium stuff at the Detox make you feel like sh*&e
May 31, 200916 yr I just found this thread and want to add my congratulations- and thanks. You've helped me today and I have been sober for 8867 days today (I just looked it up). It really is a day at a time - we all started with one day, then 2,3,4, ...... For what its worth, here's a "trick" I used - whenever I had the urge to drink I would think of all the times I woke up after drinking full of regret- "I wish I didn't drink yesterday...". One day I realized that not once did I ever wake up after a sober day and regret having stayed sober. I've never once said to myself "I wish I didn't stay sober yesterday- I should have had a drink instead". Stay way from the first one and you'll be fine. The rewards of staying sober keep coming. I should have been dead a long time ago. Today I have a wonderful step-daughter who I will send to uni next year (first person in her family to go), friends, self-respect, a career, and most of all, that "hole" in my gut has been filled. If I hadn't got sober I would have missed it all.
May 31, 200916 yr I just found this thread and want to add my congratulations- and thanks. You've helped me today and I have been sober for 8867 days today (I just looked it up). It really is a day at a time - we all started with one day, then 2,3,4, ...... For what its worth, here's a "trick" I used - whenever I had the urge to drink I would think of all the times I woke up after drinking full of regret- "I wish I didn't drink yesterday...". One day I realized that not once did I ever wake up after a sober day and regret having stayed sober. I've never once said to myself "I wish I didn't stay sober yesterday- I should have had a drink instead". Stay way from the first one and you'll be fine. The rewards of staying sober keep coming. I should have been dead a long time ago. Today I have a wonderful step-daughter who I will send to uni next year (first person in her family to go), friends, self-respect, a career, and most of all, that "hole" in my gut has been filled. If I hadn't got sober I would have missed it all. I agree. I don't think anybody wakes up thinking, 'I wish that I had got drunk yesterday'. The urges will always pass and we will always be glad that we didn't give into them. I am only three years sober, but rarely think about alcohol these days. When I do, I use mindfulness techniques to examine what is going on. I just try and examine the thoughts without getting repulsed or excited by them. They are just harmless thoughts after all, and only dangerous to me when I chase after them. Well done Living in Exile.
May 31, 200916 yr Author I just found this thread and want to add my congratulations- and thanks. You've helped me today and I have been sober for 8867 days today (I just looked it up). It really is a day at a time - we all started with one day, then 2,3,4, ...... For what its worth, here's a "trick" I used - whenever I had the urge to drink I would think of all the times I woke up after drinking full of regret- "I wish I didn't drink yesterday...". One day I realized that not once did I ever wake up after a sober day and regret having stayed sober. I've never once said to myself "I wish I didn't stay sober yesterday- I should have had a drink instead". Stay way from the first one and you'll be fine. The rewards of staying sober keep coming. I should have been dead a long time ago. Today I have a wonderful step-daughter who I will send to uni next year (first person in her family to go), friends, self-respect, a career, and most of all, that "hole" in my gut has been filled. If I hadn't got sober I would have missed it all. 26 days Thanks for your reply Netfan, 8867 days! wow. Do you remember your first day? I bet you do. Day at a time, some day I will be able to say that too Everyday my life gets better. 26 days ago my wife and son felt an inconvenience hovering around in the background. They lived their life trying to do their best to live with a drunk under the same roof. Now my son comes to me when he hurts himself, he wakes me in the morning to get up and play with him, he calls me to come into his room to play with his blocks... and I am enjoying his company so much. Even as I speak he is sitting on my lap watching cartoons on TV. Later this morning we will all go shopping and then to the park. 26 days ago all this would have got in the way of my drinking and I would have resented them for it. How sad is that! But today I live for these moments, he is such an amazing boy. He's demanding breakfast now so I have to go Thanks for your support everyone.
May 31, 200916 yr I just found this thread and want to add my congratulations- and thanks. You've helped me today and I have been sober for 8867 days today (I just looked it up). It really is a day at a time - we all started with one day, then 2,3,4, ...... For what its worth, here's a "trick" I used - whenever I had the urge to drink I would think of all the times I woke up after drinking full of regret- "I wish I didn't drink yesterday...". One day I realized that not once did I ever wake up after a sober day and regret having stayed sober. I've never once said to myself "I wish I didn't stay sober yesterday- I should have had a drink instead". Stay way from the first one and you'll be fine. The rewards of staying sober keep coming. I should have been dead a long time ago. Today I have a wonderful step-daughter who I will send to uni next year (first person in her family to go), friends, self-respect, a career, and most of all, that "hole" in my gut has been filled. If I hadn't got sober I would have missed it all. 26 days Thanks for your reply Netfan, 8867 days! wow. Do you remember your first day? I bet you do. Day at a time, some day I will be able to say that too Everyday my life gets better. 26 days ago my wife and son felt an inconvenience hovering around in the background. They lived their life trying to do their best to live with a drunk under the same roof. Now my son comes to me when he hurts himself, he wakes me in the morning to get up and play with him, he calls me to come into his room to play with his blocks... and I am enjoying his company so much. Even as I speak he is sitting on my lap watching cartoons on TV. Later this morning we will all go shopping and then to the park. 26 days ago all this would have got in the way of my drinking and I would have resented them for it. How sad is that! But today I live for these moments, he is such an amazing boy. He's demanding breakfast now so I have to go Thanks for your support everyone. Keep up the excellent and determined effort. Imagine those 26 days drunk compared to your last 26 sober..its literally hel_l and heaven on earth,and you chose heaven, thank God.
June 1, 200916 yr 26 days Well done. It's a day at a time thing. Not sure how many days I have now, but I started on Oct 21 2003. Nothing since that day. I don't want to preach so I won't. 12 step programs have a lot to offer in that you can meet many other people on the same mission as you. As a result you get companionship in a safe way, new ideas about old ways of doing things and so on. Best of luck. DR
June 1, 200916 yr Keep up the good work Livin' I know you have contributed to my thread, so you know that our lives are being affected by an alcoholic family member. That's one of the reasons why I am so impressed with what you are doing. Keep on enjoying the new life you have with your family
June 3, 200916 yr Had me worried there Livin' When you didn't post 27 days Nearly a whole month of your new life. Congrats
June 3, 200916 yr Well Done Keep it Up, You are near to the top of the mountain Glad you posted was gettin worried. Go Man Go. There are better things than Drink around you
Create an account or sign in to comment