Originally Posted by
Anna 
I'm glad you're back and making a plan that will work for you.
Journaling is really good idea. I think it always helps to write out your feelings. The only thing I would add to your plan is to do something for fun, something that brings you some happiness each day. It could be something as simple as going for a long walk in the beautiful Fall weather, as long as it makes you smile.
You're absolutely right! You can tell I was/am kind of struggling with guilt feelings while writing, so I feel the pressure of working hard to rebuild. But it's definitely important to make time for fun or else you might burn yourself out.
And speaking of the fall weather, I noted it as being dark and cloudy, but walking out on my deck this morning and seeing all of the newly dead leaves blowing over as the sun hit the trees in the woods out back was a beautiful sight that reminded me of my love for the season.
Originally Posted by
Dee74 Hi Orderfororder
If you feel overwhelmed reduce things down to basics.
I will not drink - the tools I will use will including posting here regularly, posting before I start drinking.
I will also use...whatever else you can think of. OforO
Investigate other ways to deal with cravings, with fear, with anxiety, with boredom or whatever else you see as a trigger.
Some folks use AA or some other recovery methods, others read books, listen to TED talks, get busy with activities.
None of that is a particularly onerous workload IMO.
Your AV might try and scare you by suggesting it is, but I reckon it's not.
I worked pretty hard to try and stay drunk all the time.
if sober you is not worth the effort, who is?
D
Great tips. It's definitely important to have a basic plan, and posting here when I get the overwhelming feeling to drink is something I have been guilty of NOT doing in the past, even if I tell myself I should. I've been watching various talks on how to deal with negative thoughts, they've been helpful to a degree.
I've also been recognizing triggers. One huge and obvious one that led to bad moods was reading letters from my ex while we were breaking up last month. As soon as I read them, I would get back into that negative state of mind. So...I just deleted them. I figure, they serve no purpose. The world runs without them in my inbox. And if they only cause me to go down a bad road, they are worse than useless.
Excited to start the part time job, if only to give me something to do while I am getting back on my feet.