Dalek

I am securely abstinent, Boleo, and therefore, recovered. Yes, although it occurs far less frequently than in years prior, I still think about drinking from time to time, and no, I absolutely do not need or even want those thoughts removed. You might interpret my recovery as not caring whether I think about drinking or not; as not having to fear my own desires and thought processes.

My plan? I will never drink or use again.

AVRT is the engine I use to restrain any desires to the contrary.

Dee74

As you can see there's a lot of different approaches TIG.

For me, I've boiled it down to a two-step

don't drink and do drugs...and be happy that way.
Both parts are as important as the other

ps don't stint on the work on either part- do what needs doing and never put it off

D

mfsteve1

My plan (I am a broken record about this, I know):

I will not drink today.

This is my entire plan. 123 "todays" later, my plan remains the same.

Boleo

Your plan sounds like 100% willpower. Something I have heard much about from literally hundreds of relapsers.

For me, recovery is a life & death issue. I want the most reliable recovery available at all costs. Also, for me, recovery is a life-long endeavor. I want the most comfortable way to stay sober as well. Pretty-good recovery is not good enough for the same reason pretty-good brakes on my car is not good enough either.

It seems strange to me that when it comes to automobiles, most people want maximum comfort, safty and reliability. But yet when it comes to something as deadly serious as addiction, all they want is
plain-old-standard-regular-basic-striped-down abstinence.

"There are no wrong ways to stay sober".
(But there are plenty of unreliable ways to stay sober)

Sapling

Thanks for the reminder....I'm glad you made it back.

mecanix

My plan is to understand that i can be happy and joyfull now .
I gave up struggling for nearly anything and found acceptance, it set me free .

Bestwishes, M

discTosser

For now:
1. Going to meetings at least 5 times a week.
2. Visting here daily
3. Starting every day with my "sobriety song"
4. Doing a bit of blue book reading when I can

In the next month:
- Getting a sponsor
- Start really working the 12 steps

Ie: Follow the program , not letting my belief system/ own thoughts stop me from recovery

Oh , and very much ONE DAY AT A TIME... I have a string of 17 straight victories.

dsmaxis10

The first 103 pages of the book alcoholics anonymous !!!

BackToSquareOne

One thing we all have to be careful of is comming to the conclusion that because something worked for us it should work for everyone. There are probably as many reasons why a program works for some as there are why it does not work for everyone. I see far too many people fail with a program and instead of trying other things beat their heads against a brick wall trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. I know this is off-topic but it is something we should all keep in mind.

What finally worked for me was mindfulness (close to but not exactly AVRT) plus bits and pieces of many other programs, including a lot of AA wisdom. I took a "Take what works and leave the rest approach".

spryte

My first thing was HALT - Hungry, angry, lonely, tired...but most particularly hungry.

I can take food or leave food; it's an afterthought for me, but one of my big downfalls in early recovery was refusing to eat in the morning because I didn't feel like it.

Just an apple, or banana, or yogurt...eat anything in the morning.

Boleo

I agree that there may be millions of methods for those using psychological tricks&tips to stay sober. However, for those using using the spiritual path, there is only one spiritual path for everyone. We are simply at different mile-markers.

"We are all different psychologically but we are all the same spiritually."
- Carl Jung

Sapling

I like that...Some good stuff on this thread Boleo...Thanks!

Dalek

If by willpower, you mean self-restraint, then yes. I suspect you mean fighting with or struggling against desire, though, which I do not do. AVRT is self-aiming weapon, and at this point, requires no "power" beyond some calories which my brain would use up while idling anyway.

I could respond in kind to your broad brush strokes, but instead I'll just say that for me, trying to abstain by removing the desire to drink or thoughts of drinking proved most unreliable. It wasn't even "pretty good" -- it was abysmal, and would likely have lead to a fairly abbreviated life.

You may have missed it in my post, but it was not by accident that I said that I do not want thoughts of drinking removed. Feel free to ask around, but somehow I doubt that very many of those 'relapsers' you equate me with would ever say such a thing.

ReadyAndAble

Awesome, Dalek.

As long as we're using car analogies, I consider AVRT top-of-the-line, Boleo.

And the best part? No maintenance.

Boleo

Out of all the folks that I have met who claim to be "recovered", only about 10% of them have experienced what some call the "Tenth Step Promises". This is not the forum where I should be quoting from the Big B so I will sum it up this way:

We do not think about drinking. We do not think about not drinking. We do not think about relapsing. We do not choose to not drink ODAAT. We do not try to directly manage our own sobriety in any way, shape or form. We know that true emotional sobriety is a byproduct of spiritual fitness. We stay spiritually fit ODAAT and trust our HP will manage or sobriety for us. We do our part (trust god, clean house, help others). We trust our HP to do his/hers/it's part, then we detach from the outcome.

I don't know much about AVRT, but I do know that those who get results with it;
do their part, trust the process, disassociate from the outcome. These are not completely different automobiles here, they are just put together on different assembly lines.
(except mine has more HP ):rotfxko

ReadyAndAble

lol! Well played, sir.

ReadyAndAble

All jokes aside, I'd love to hear how you determine this. Which step enabled you to judge everyone else's recovery with such startling precision? Can you do it online? Do tell.

Dalek

I don't claim to be AA recovered.

Not from the outcome, but from the addictive mentality.

Dee74

Lets all remember the newcomer who started this thread

It's no surprise to me some AVRTers and some AAers have different ideas on plans.

Maybe it would be better for you guys to PM it out?

D

Fastenbulbus

There's getting sober, and then there is staying sober.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a free self-help organization. AA is a fellowship of men and women. The ONLY requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.

When I first came into AA I had already stopped, but I couldn't stay stopped, and I was obsessed with the idea of drinking. I had to go through physical withdrawal. It takes 28 days to make or break a habit. Then came months of physical and psychological healing. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and many people suffer from depression and/or PTSD. The AA group was great support and I met a lot of interesting and helpful people there. I asked someone to sponsor me because that is what they suggested. I told my sponsor that I couldn't find the word 'sponsor' in the first 164 pages of the BB, and he said that was because they didn't have the word sponsor there. Bill W's sponsor was Ebby Thatcher, a chronic relapser. When AA first started there were only six steps. Bill W. and Dr. Bob practiced the six steps and were members of the Oxford Group, a religious organization.

Today, I have no desire to drink and realize that I am one of those who cannot safely take a drink. Today, I am responsible and I made a decision not to drink again. I don't believe compulsive drinking is a disease, but more of an obsessive/compulsive disorder, like Dr. Silkworth describes in the Doctor's Opinioin. I have recovered from alcoholism, and I don't believe in spiritual diseases, which is a made up term anyways.

I still go to meetings once or twice a week to share with others, and I talk to a lot of people new in the fellowship on a daily basis. I like to share about recovery and I realize that there are many different types of alcoholics and addicts. I find it is best to keep an open mind about recovery and I have met many happy and sober former problem drinkers who do not go to AA, and that is Ok with me also.

I think getting sober is a plan, but staying sober is a way of thinking and ultimately, a way of life. Change your thinking, change your life.

Peace