Paulos

Do you think trying to recover in the same room where you did most of your heavy bombing can depress you, make you anxious, and even have a better chance of failing? You see I love my room and the things I do in it but sadly many of the things I do now are the things I did while drinking or saw while I was drinking, and my ROOM Was where I did most of my drinking... is this just the common "Get out of the house" idea?

Freedom1990

Well, that would be tough for me. I did most of my drinking out at clubs and bars, so I don't find it necessary to hang at those places anymore.

I was told early in sobriety to change my playmates, playthings, and play places.

That works for me

ermine chorten

Hello Paulos! NO! NO! NO! do not think that. Hmmm I liked my room in Sydney too. I live in the south of France now as you know. I loved the light the colors my paintings and the ilk in Sydney. But I'm always ready for change. Doesn't mean I'm going to cut my hair off or anything.But sometimes I thought if I moved a few of things around and do some funky painting on the walls . Arrange things a bit differently they may in fact look better. ""Don't get out of the house". Look at your lovely stuff and see maybe that could go there or maybe in that corner.. Buy some candles, Explore, Get a funky plant. I don't know what your room looks or your style. I'm one who changes things to keep my mind and creativity active.

caraway

I agree with ermine chorten. Maybe a new coat of paint if thats feasible? I did all my drinking at home and I'm not moving out now that I'm not drinking!

nandm

I found that my drinking had less to do with my surroundings than it did with my perceptions. Where I drank, what I saw when I drank was irrellevant to what I felt and thought during and about the drinking. But that is just my experience.

1cor13

NoMoBeer

I did most of my drinking at home as well.... For a good while, I did not swim in my pool, cook on the barbecue, etc. b/c that was too much of a trigger for me. But moving out of my house was just not an option.

Unfortunately, as 1Cor13 stated, WE are the problem, and unless you decide to move out of your own mind (and let us know how you pulled off that miracle), you are stuck with you. NOW, being involved with a program like AA, which helps you live in the same body and mind, SOBER and getting on with life -- that is where the answer lies.

Paulos -- we alcoholics are pretty banged up when we first get sober -- I had no idea my mind was in the fog it was in. Keeping alcohol out of our bodies is the first priority (I have a disease of the body in which once I put alcohol in, I trigger a chemical reaction, or allergy, which manifests in an actual physical CRAVING for more and more alcohol). But then, we have to deal with the mental obsession (1Cor13's reference to the disease of the mind -- a mental OBSESSION with alcohol -- telling ourselves it's OK to drink the drink which our bodies assure will trigger a desire for more)... See the vicious cycle we are in? Unless we recover, and can live life without that mental obsession, things are pretty bleak. The best news I can give you is that THERE IS A SOLUTION.

ken

CAPTAINZING2000

I had a cabin at the lake I sold to prevent isolation. I didn't drink that much at clubs or bars unless, I was with a group of friends.

I still attend concerts and base ball games but, I can do this without drinking and still have a great time

Dee74

It wasn't necessary for me to 'get out of the house' Paulos.

I've moved now (for other reasons) but my first 6 months of sobriety I was in the same room I'd drunk 24/7 in for 5 years or so.

If you really want it, nothing else matters

D

CarolD

Well...
Yes and No.

I think colors can influence moods.
When I was depressed and drinking
I wore mostly black .

Now I wear "happier" colored clothes

You might consider moving the furniture around.
Change the desk chair to a "sober" chair.

I quit using my "drinking" glasses.
Use a Therma Mug and a straw these days.

I stopped listening to Jazz
early on as it made me miss drinking times.

No...I don't say Move Out
just experement with variety.

Notice your mind is becoming more curious?
That's a positive sign.

Paulos

I meant the theory when people say "You should get out more" not "Sell and leave your house" ... lol :P

Lily

Now that you say "get out of the house" I can relate to that. Since I have been clean and sober I have wanted to get out of the house much more. I have become much more social and can actually make plans now. I kind of enjoy people more now. :-) I was an isolator when I was drinking.

Tazman53

In my early years of drinking I drank every where, I drank with other people and I drank alone, as fewer and fewer people drank like I did I isolated more and more until eventually all of my drinking was done by myself!

Early in sobriety the worst place I could be was by myself!!!!!

In order to stay sober I had to get out into the world, I had to break the isolation and be with people, people who knew how to stay sober. I had to be with sober fellow alcoholics. I found that in meetings.

When I was alone all I thought about was drinking!

Today thanks to those fellow sober alcoholics I can be alone with myself and be at peace, I no longer sit around thinking about drinking, you see my program enabled me to become a part of the outside world and also be by myself and happy not even thing about drinking. It took time and work, but I got there.

1cor13

Paulos,
You sir were the topic of my thoughts today. I read your response here as you shifted gears. You made me think about a time in my life that was very hard. I put together a story relating the experience. I don’t have an answer for you but I do wish all the best.

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ml#post1702829

Chrysalis

My husband used to drink on the steps in our garage. He had his ashtray, smokes, trade journals and beer perfectly positioned on the stairs. In winter he had a space heater at his feet and a warm winter jacket that smelled like smoke and a touque. In summer he had the doors open with the radio to listen to the ball game or talk radio. The radio was there in winter too for the hockey game

Now, he does the same except he traded the beer for a cafferine free coke or coffee.

Something about the whole scene makes me nervous. All the triggers seem to still be there, especially the isolation from the family.

caraway

If you were to get out more, where were you thinking of going, what were you thinking of doing?

chip

I drank everywhere I went. In sobriety, I had to get used to the idea of not drinking ANYWHERE. This took time, and it wasn't always comfortable. It really required a complete psychic change in me... a change in my thinking more than in my enviornment.

I "got out more" by going to recovery meetings. This really helped me get out of my head, and my alcoholic thinking.

I did alot of my horrible, blackout drinking alone in my garage/workshop. When I got sober, I became obsessed with my tools and my workshop. I got rid of all my bar signs etc... and turned my garage/workshop into a wonderful haven where I can work on projects or have times of quiet reflection.
chip

barb dwyer

Paulos -
I've often wondered about that.

Being a bartender - I stayed and drank at the bar. by the time I got a few days off ... usualy after a fouteen day bender -I was too exausted (and toxic)to drink when I got home. SO I rarely drank at the house. It was a sober up dry out haven for me. I didn't have that as a trigger.
I agree about a coat of paint, rearranging the furniture, changing the decor. that kind of thing, but then - I'm a chick.
Girls do that kind of thing.
Regularly.

I also agree with Chip.
I'd pretty much drink anyplace when I was 'on a runner'.
Any time - allatime.
We called it ' wake n bake.
Avoid the hangover - just stay high.
For like ... five years.

Then, sobering up -
I took some NA advice -
and it was - when that urge hits
so tomething anything different -
RIGHT THEN -
even if its nothing more than to
change your 'sitting' chair.
Get up and go to another room.
Do dishes.
Don't do dishes.

It really CAN be something as simple as buying a plant.
Rearrange the furniture.
A total spring cleaning.
A complete ZEN spring clean.
Like putting every. single.
Drinking memroabilia item.. into storage.

dunno.
meditate on it.

Paulos

I see...

best

When people say that, I would think what they are saying is Change your routine. Try different things. Enjoy life rather then be a couch potato.
I can do many different things in my house as well but by going outside, I have so many more things available to me.