ScottFromWI

That's good news. Care to share it with us? It's really the most vital step in your recovery. Missing out on your drinking buddies follies and not caring is good, but it's not a recovery plan in itself. That floor still be some pink cloud effect too.

tomsteve

I was told to ride the pink cloud knowing that, as with hard times,too,
this,too, shall pass.

11+ years in and I still get em from time to time

steve-in-kville

Can't tell you. Its a secret. Next someone will steal it.

NYCDoglvr

With 25 years of recovery I still find I have mega denial and rationalization and I assume you do too. I would go to lots of meetings and share. No one knows if they will ever be able to stop next time.

ScottFromWI

Getting sober was pretty serious business for me, and for a lot of others here too. I understand humor can be part recovery, but don't forget you are only 6 days out from your last relapse and we are here to help you.

steve-in-kville

Seriously though, after that last relapse I was pretty shaken. I stopped living like the next trigger, temptation or relapse was just around the corner. And I started living my life for what I am now. No more obsessing over it, no more counting days, no more reasoning with "the voice." The voice has no say in what I do. I do what I do.

Action wise, I have plenty to keep busy. Have a list/schedule of things to do through the winter until garden starts. Plus I plan to keep busy cooking & canning.

Like I said, its a rough draft at this point.

soberlicious

Sounds like my plan. I put it behind me and never looked back. Sometimes life is great, sometimes life is hard...and there is plenty I am not in control of-but putting alcohol in my body is something I have complete control over. Leaving that behind for good has been the most freeing thing I've ever done. Lots of people say "never" is too daunting...however, I find quite the opposite. I don't placate "that" part of my brain by letting it think "maybe tomorrow, just not today." No way I'm having that convo every day. I also stopped being afraid and started believing in my ability. I did not want to be a slave to "my recovery" the same way I was a slave to my addiction.

Good for you for tossing fear aside and living. I became a nondrinker almost 10 years ago and I will never go back to who I was before. A plan doesn't have to be complicated to be effective. Lots of us decided that starting to live the way we wanted to was all the plan we needed.

I love your words, formerbeerlover <3
I feel the same way...peace of mind looks pretty pink on me too.

Sidenote...AVRT also has a name for the flood of positive feelings that can accompany the decision to quit. They call it the Abstinence Commitment Effect or ACE, and it is meant to be enjoyed, not feared.

Algorithm

Your last relapse, or your last and final drink?

There is a difference.

That's good, but that voice usually appears to be you, and one of its prime functions is to conceal its existence, so the ability to recognize it must therefore be learned.

You mentioned after your last "relapse" that you were going to read up on AVRT. Did you ever actually get around to doing that?
To me, this reads very much like the voice, unrecognized.

Is your abstinence a rough draft? Another experiment to see how it goes?

steve-in-kville

Point well taken!

August252015

^^My thoughts exactly.

My dad used to say I was "trying to do it my own way." The reality was I wasn't trying at all - but his point would have been true for a long time, had I actually tried to stop. Once it was boiled down to one accepted focus- never drinking again- and AA came into the plan, everything was simplified and my brain and "ideas and plans" exited stage left. And I got sober and am staying that way. All activities, healthy habits, time-occupiers, self-improvement etc etc ad infinitum stem from that one thing.

Ken33xx

For me the pink cloud was the fact a desire to drink was gone and so were the problems directly related to drinking. I`ve never forgotten where I was when I entered the rooms of AA and I have always been appreciative of my sobriety.

Life has its share of ups/downs but no matter how rough life gets I can never fool myself into thinking I drink will help. But am I trudging the road of happy destiny?

Don`t really know about that but my life is moving forward in the right direction.

Imo, I think it's important to remember that what constitutes a "pink cloud" varies depending on the individual.

Done4today

I want my pink cloud back. Life is good now but my pink cloud gave me the happy joyous and free described in the book without work. I will just have to work for my happy, joyous and free moments now.

SnazzyDresser

very well put

Outonthetiles

I'm still on it, and I don't see a reason it has to end. Everything is better now. Things aren't perfect and I'm glad they're not....life would be boring that way. But overall, the pink cloud has stayed with me at 300 plus days.

August252015

^^^What OOTT said. If anyone wants a snapshot of what life looks like from the class of Feb 2016, I think you will find this to be a good description of how we are living our lives and what we are finding as our new realities.

Outonthetiles

I can't tell you how great the Feb 2016 class has been for August, me, and a bunch of other people. Life changing. Life saving. It's been that important to us.

CLAS

I'm on the Pink Cloud right now, and compared to being drunk and scared-I'll happily take it!