My Recovery Plan
 

I have been trying to seriously quit drinking for awhile after drinking daily. I made it a few months last year but fell back into it as soon as I started socializing. It was too early for me to be in a bar. I know that now. I am now learning a lot about handling the addict voice and seeing how it bargains, calculates and manipulates me back to into drinking regardless of the consequences.

My only recovery plan has been "Don't drink alcohol... Eat, drink tea, sleep, bathe, cry, but don't drink." I have a list of sober treats. They are good ideas but not really a mindful plan. My drinking life is full of impulsiveness and disorganization. My sober life needs to be planned and organized for now.

Day 1 (today) - Go to gym and buy new fragrant soaps as a treat. Done.
Day 2 - After work....Have a healthy snack. Go to gym and have a nice bath. Read/ post on sober blogs. Have tea.
Day 3 - Repeat.
Day 4 - Repeat.
Day 5 - Take a rest from the gym. Buy more afternoon snacks and honey.
Day 6 - Go to gym and have a nice bath. Have tea.
Day 7 - Go to gym and get hair/nails done. Lots of tea.
Week 2 - Review sober plan and make adjustments for the next few weeks. Buy plants for my office.
Week 3 - Go for a long walk around the lake. (This will be a huge win!)
Week 4 - Go to a movie theatre (Batman vs Superman?). Go for outdoor walks 3x.
Week 5 and beyond - Look for ways to connect socially without alcohol. Start some of those things I love but stopped in order to drink... My art, museums, and generally getting out of the house to participate in local city activities.

I will have at least 2 waters a day. Tomorrow I am taking a good lunch to work and a snack for the long drive home. I need to find a route from work to home that does not take me past a bar or wine store that isn't too much longer (surprisingly hard).

I will keep refining this plan. Thanks for reading and all your support!! Hugs

dont over think it too much. Main goal is 1 day at a time. Tons can happen between 1 day and months etc.. heck first few days its minute by minute even!

You got some good ideas tho to keep your mind occupied!

Hi Aurora - it's great you're thinking ahead :)

This link was useful for me - it might be useful for you too if you want to flesh out that plan a little more?

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ery-plans.html

Thanks for the link Dee! I will be making a list of known triggers and how I plan to handle them. I know my boss/ stressful coworkers, among other things, are triggers for downing wine right after work.

Hi Aurora, good for you for working on your plan. The evening hour right after work was my biggest trigger too, wanting to de-stress from my work day ... it helped me to have a plan for that first hour after getting home. You can do this!

Maybe if you're planning on starting social activities in week 5 you could add in some research to the earlier weeks - it takes a while to find out what's available.

I recently added on to my regular social activity with joining a choir in January (we're doing a concert in May which will be fun), and am re-starting tap dancing classes this week (with my old teacher from childhood as she still runs the adult class even though she retired from the rest of it). :D

That's awesome! Staying proactive will keep you moving forward!

Same here, I would come home from work and get myself some booze as a way to de-stress and pass out to sleep. One of the things which really helped me at the beginning was taking a different route home so I would not pass by the convenience store where I used to buy beer.