View Single Post
Old 08-24-2003, 04:35 PM
  # 5 (permalink)  
jessieandme2003
Member
 
jessieandme2003's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Levittown Pennsylvania
Posts: 264
welcome selhan

I just wanted to let you know I've been where you are. It used to make me crazy and I'd not be able to think about anything except where he was and when he'd be back. My daughter wanted my attention but I could barely give it to her because I'd be so distracted by my own crazy thoughts about his being out. I'd stare out the window, look at the clock, sit out front to listen for his truck, pace the floors, etc.
The three C's were the first thing a member of Al Anon said to me, and they opened my eyes. You didn't Cause it, you can't Cure it, and you can't Control it.
Nothing I did or didn't do led to his drinking more or less. Nor his leaving or staying, or coming home sooner. Nothing I could do would stop it, slow it, influence it in any way. Even when he'd try to say something I did or didn't do made him do it, I now know none of that was true. He was not out and thinking of how he was upsetting me, how I would feel, he was only thinking of drinking. He would push any of those thoughts out of his head, and only face them as he faced coming back home. By then he knew he'd done wrong, and would be panicked, and then become irritated with me because he was feeling that way.
So if nothing I did or could do made any difference, then why let it ruin my time? I was only hurting myself, and yelling at him would do nothing. You seem to have discovered that by not losing a whole evening to arguing with him when he came back.
Al Anon can help you in so many ways to discover ways to focus on your own happiness, and that of your children, and less on a problem you cannot do anything about.
jessieandme2003 is offline