4MyMel

At every turn today there was something else. The day started on the phone with PayPal and my credit card resolving an issue, which boiled my blood. Then turned into work and nothing was working out, no body was sending me the stuff I needed and my numbers weren't matching, grrr. Then, my gf calls and says she owes some inordinate amount in car taxes, for a car which we traded in last year!!! Obviously you don't need many brain cells to work at the DMV. I stayed an hour later at work to figure out their forms and stuff and I still haven't. After getting home, I was on the phone again getting all the info. GRRR.

I was so tempted to stop on the way home from work and just down a bottle of wine and stop my heart from racing and my hands from shaking. I didn't. I went to a meeting, as I had planned all day. Went for a run/walk after getting home and continued with everything else. I do feel good that I did not drink. But I know that if I did drink, all this wouldn't have taken such a toll on my stress level!

I did it today, but I'm not sure I can do it everyday. I know once the alcohol starts flowing through my veins, I calm down and things don't matter as much. How do I not give in?

Dee74

Learning to live with stress alcohol free is a skill to learn like anything else I think 4MyMel...it gets easier the more you do it

I think you did well going to a meeting...support is vital....

I find a little light exercise works too, or something that relaxes you like a funny movie or hanging with good friends or whatever...

On a more abstract level I found it useful to look at what I was really mad at, and think about what can I do about it?

If I thought of something I did it...if I couldn't, I learned it's best to let it go...

I also learned to never forget the things I was grateful for.

These are not skills that come overnight believe me so don't be too hard on yourself - I do believe you can get through days like this though, no matter how many of them you have - don't talk yourself down .

D

NobleCause

I can so relate to this right now.

Today has been a boatload of pressure wherein all my best efforts seemed an exercise in futility, and already unreasonable deadlines and budgets became even more so. It was very uncomfortable to be sober today.

A few months ago, I read about a study that followed patients entering a smoking cessation program. It found that, inherent lung capacity aside, the duration for which one could hold their breath was an accurate predictor for long term success in quitting. The summarizing conclusion was essentially that the greater the ability one had of withstanding the discomfort of holding their breath, the greater the chance one had of withstanding the discomfort of nicotine craving and not giving in. I'm not comparing smoking cessation to recovery from alcoholism, but when I find myself frazzled, frustrated, and thinking of a drink, it's helped me to think of the fundamental concepts in that study and remember that these moments are good practice for strengthening my ability to weather discomfort.

Running helps me immensely too. Meditation as well. I also think it's worth remembering that everyone has these sorts of days.

Hope tomorrow's better for you and me both. (And congrats on not drinking.)

tomdecel

Good job guys. Life will throw you curves on any given day that you may or may not be able to have control over, but running to the bottle is something you can control. You have to develop the mind set that pouring booze down your throat is not going to solve those problems for you.

Focus on facing life sober and it will get easier.

4MyMel

I know the bottle won't solve things in the long run, but its so hard for me to battle the mindset that it will solve the problem for the moment and then deal with everthing later, or make it dealing with the problem "easier."