Amelie in order for me to get and stay sober I had to be willing to step out side of my comfort zone over and over again.
My comfort zone for the last 5 years of my drinking was sitting alone in my garage drinking, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, hating the world and myself. In the years before that I had tried over and over again to stop and or control my drinking.... but only doing things I was comfortable with........ sadly about the only thing I was comfortable with was drinking, so I never did stay stopped for long because I was not in my comfort zone.
Things that I did that involved me stepping out of my comfort zone in order to stop drinking and STAY stopped.
1. Calling the alcohol & drug hotline and admitting I had a drinking problem was far from being comfortable, but I did not want to die from my alcoholism ALONE!
2. Going to the doctors appointment and telling the TRUTH about how much I drank, how long I had been drinking, and what happened to me when I drank or did not drink. This was WAY outside of my comfort zone, telling the truth about my drinking to some one else!!!! I had never told anyone the TRUTH about my drinking, but I did not want to die from my alcoholism ALONE!
3. The doctor told me I needed to be medically detoxed! Now this was WAY outside of my comfort zone!!!! Being basically locked up, given all kinds of meds to keep away the shakes, the DTs, cut down on the anxiety, & to control my blood pressure during withdrawals and not drinking!!!! Talking with shrinks, therapist & counselors, being taught about alcoholism, participating in group sessions and worst of all going to an AA meeting every night!!! This all was WAY WAY WAY outside of my comfort zone!!! I did not want to do that, but I did not want to die from my alcoholism ALONE!
4. In detox they kept telling us over and over again "If you want to stand a chance at long term sobriety you should go to at least 90 AA meeting in 90 days and get a sponsor." Once again, another BIG step outside of my comfort zone!!! I did not have time for that crap!!!! I worked full time and had a family (Barely)! My counselor and I spoke about this and he asked me "Are you willing to commit as much time to recovery as you did to drinking?" Well even though this was way out my comfort zone I did commit to doing just that..... which of course meant that I went to far more then 90 meetings in 90 days and I did get a sponsor.
I had to be willing to do what ever it took to stay sober no matter what it was, I had to step out side of my comfort zone every single day!!!!
My old comfort zone was drinking and doing things with people that involved drinking.
Are you willing to do what ever it takes to stay sober no matter what it is?
Are you willing to step outside of your comfort zone over and over again until you get comfortable in sobriety?