Medion

Or at least haven't posted in a while...

Since my last post things have been going in the right direction. I've moved closer to my mates, with less travel I'm feeling a lot more connected and much less isolated.

I used to live about thirty minutes drive from my mates (the next town) but when I couldn't drive because of being over the limit, it was a awful circle to be in, isolation and the associated boredom just made me drink more, plus the shop was walking distance and did carry out bags of beer. I needed to get away from that!

So back to the positives. While I still haven't completely given up - I have managed the last 4 weeks only drinking at weekends. They say it takes up to 6 weeks to change a habit, and my habit of breaking the weekday drinking was the first step for me. A month doesn't sound a long time but it's probably only the second or third time I have drunk that much less in over 10 years.

I think the next step for me is to cut out the weekend drinking as well - I just need to find things to fill that time with - weekday evenings are much easier to fill with gym etc

Then I guess I need to sort out all the bits, which I forgot to do in the last ten years or so, then try to repair the relationships which were damaged by my lack of responsibility and care.

But I'm in a positive place - and fresh start to try and sort it out.

Sorry for my self centred ramblings - it just helps to type it out.

I wish everyone here the best with their journeys

Dee74

Congrats on your improvements - to be honest I think you'll find you'll sort out things a lot more when you finally knock the drinking on the head medion?

D

Soberwolf

Good luck

Asta1

Good for you. I struggle daily -- most days I am OK but I hit the wall every now and then. I assume you know what I mean. PS to Soberwolf: I love wolves and all creatures in the wild.

Anyway, more power to you. :-)

Johno1967

Well done mate,
In my case I found that I could limit for a while but eventually boundaries would fade and "session creep" would set in. That is, Friday and Saturday Night spilled into a Sunday session, then there was an excuse to drink on week days and then every night. For me it worked for a while but I found myself having to adjust my settings every few months until I gave up to the "rubber arm". In the end, mates were no longer an issue as I lost them all anyway and ended up isolating and eventually hating myself...
None of this is to say it will happen to you but its worth bearing in mind. If you can control your consumption in a sustainable fashion without it affecting your work, health or personal relations and you find that it adds enjoyment to your life rather than heart ache, well hats off to you mucker, that's great and I wish it were me.

Medion

I know - it's wise and valued advise - it's just a large shock to go from everyday drinking to no drinking - suddenly loads of empty time - which I'm starting to fill at the weekends but to be honest I'm not used to having normal planned weekends - it was normally one big hangover - which is sad really as I type it...

Thanks Soberwolf and Asta1

Medion

Really appricate your post - I can relate to all of this - it's good to know someone else has felt this way

Dee74

I've gone from being an all day everyday drinker to nothing too

If you have a huge surfeit of free time why not consider volunteering?

It gave me something to do, it got me out of the house, and it was useful, not only to me but others too

I wanted change. Drinking to fill in time, or not doing something because I'd never done it before were no longer suitable ways to live, y'know?

D

Johno1967

Hi Dee,
What sort of volunteering do you do?
Being FIFO my choices are a bit more limited but I have found that getting volunteer work is almost as hard as getting a job over here! Wait lists!
Guess there's a lot of people with time to give.

Medion

Again thanks - all being taken on board

I do want change

Dee74

These days you're looking at it

In the past tho I did things like volunteer work in a library, and in a thrift shop, at a 'special school'... for a time I gave out hot meals and dinners on a Friday night...I even participated in a historical dig once, lol.

I regret I couldn't have done more, but my body didn't like it much.

There's a lot of scope for volunteering - everything from office work
to emergency services

Connecting volunteers to community organisations - Volunteering WA

D

thomas11

Hi Medion. Your situation is very similar to mine. I quit drinking during the week (Sun thru Thursday) a few years ago and the adjustment was difficult. But what I can say is that I succeeded, with the exception of a bender last winter.

Quite honestly, now that I've done it successfully I can't see myself drinking during the week. It just doesn't appeal to me.

I have not been able to not drink on weekends, but that is my goal.