30 days, A to Å
 

Day 0, no longer feeling like a newcomer. Tomorrow will be my last day 1. I've given myself a 30 day challenge (A through Å. Norwegian alphabet has 29 letters, add a day for summary). Monday, day 1, letter A - the obvious.

Just really, really tired of this deep-seated feeling of discontentment. Like feelings range from 0 - -10, no positives. I'm sick and tired of always being sick and tired. This is my oldtimer thread. Tomorrow, day 1. Making a plan. :wild

Hi, Stella. Do you have a plan for the next 30 days?

I have 29 plans..! :)

A new challenge every day. I need to keep my brain busy, the list is all made up.

Yeap, for me doing the same thing and expecting new results never worked, I needed to change things up!!

You can do this!! :)

I'm especially looking forward to Y (=yellow). Need to find something I'm scared of. Thinking maybe hanggliding..? Whatever... Starting with A. When drunk I'm the queen of anything, when sober I'm a recluse. Thus the 29 challenges.

Definition of crazyness, PK... I've been reading Cow all weekend. Makes me feel like there's hope for me. :)

Sorry, I didn't read your post closely enough; my apologies, Stella.

Hope you stay close to SR; we are here for you 24/7/365.

Hang-gliding - you are a very brave soul!!!!!!

Stella having a plan for sobriety is very useful especially for times of cravings and urges

Things like reaching out (which is lifesaving) journaling, meetings, volenteering, working a recovery program, addiction counselling, group therapy, seeing your Dr regularly

Having a exit plan, what to say if your at a gathering around drinkers who insist on you drinking

Stella it is vital you accept that drinking each & every time brings you to the same place when we accept this we start to work towards staying sober it is hard it will take time

but this time wont be wasted as it once was with alcohol

you can do this surround yourself with support keep posting embrace a life where you dont need alcohol in it to be truly happy

with you every step of the way you can always pm if you want to talk vent chat catch up etc

Hopefully spk soon Stella

Exactly! Eternal ground zero. Rinse and repeat, no good comes from this, I know. :) Thank you, SW.

Here for you 24/7 btw i saw coverage on tv of the recent eclipse in Svalbard as it was super cloudy where i was

You can do this Stella spk soon friend

I'm far from Svalbard, SW... No line in the cafeteria at work Friday..! I got my burger, no queue. Ha ha... Figured I have bigger issues than the universe lininig up actually... It's all internal in the end I guess. Unfortunalely all I cared about was getting home and getting drunk... Which is a sad and lonely place to be. :)

Day 1, A for Alcohol.
Hung-over after 4 days of drinking, which is a good thing. Revelling in it actually, as it’s my last one.
I know I’ll be feeling better during the day, but will avoid the store, going straight home. I’ll keep working late to make the evenings shorter, and I’ve decided to start meditating/napping for half an hour every afternoon (when I would usually start drinking).
Any urges during the evening will be dealt with by reaching out to friends or family.
Other than that I’m focussing on living in the moment. Right now, I’m not drinking. :)

Best wishes Stella - congrats on day one :)

D

All those letters and numbers.

How about AA, steps 1-12. The best way I have found to fix that inner discontent

good to see you making sober plans, StellaP.

Good to see you, Stella,

Drinking plenty of water and sleep as much as you can after you get home.

B for Books
 

I know, Gottalife… But making my Plan v. 108.0.0 I needed to change things up a bit. I like the daily focus, it reels my mind in when it starts to wander, and it doesn’t get boring as there’s always something new tomorrow. :)

AA is not really available here in my city. I guess there are online meetings, but I would like to be f2f. I’ve downloaded the Big Book though, which correlates beautifully with my Day 2, B for books. :)

I’ve read a lot of recovery literature, self-help and so on. Currently reading The Courage to Be (in increments, it’s a lot to take in for a newly sober fogbrain).

I do need some light literature, though. Any input is very welcome, as today is the day I’m making my list of literature. I currently have:
- Game of Thrones (should keep me busy for a while)
- The Courage to Be (Tillich)
- How to Meditate (Chödrön)
- Emergence: Seven Steps for Radical Life Change (Rydall)
- Ask and it is Given (curious about this one…)
- Some Mark Billingham, Stephen King and a lot of literature on Gulag and the Nazi war experiments (too depressing atm I think, will not go there).

Any recommendations? Easter in Norway = crime (for some macabre reason), but anything entertaining, funny or gripping would be good. I need some time-outs from all this recovery and self-development thinking.

Good luck Stella

Hi Stella,

In 1946 a man named Ian was alone in New Zealand with a Big Book he had got from New York. He read the book, then studied the book, especially the first seven chapters. His only support was Bobbie R in New York who acted as his sponsor by mail, so they never actually met, and he had one or two sympathetic doctors. There was no established AA.

Ian travelled the country visiting churches, psychiatric hospitals, alcoholic asylums etc trying to find an alcoholic willing to work with him. This work kept him sober but it was two years before he found another alcoholic and they were able to form the first AA group in New Zeland in 1948.

The point is that the Big Book contained all that he needed to make a start. Ian went on to sponsor Irvan, who sponsored David, who sponsored me.:) thousands have since got sober because of Ian's initial work. Though you are alone with just the book, it shouldn't be too hard to find another to work with. Perhaps by writing to the AA office in your country, they will be able to put you in touch with someone local who would be pleased to make contact.