Stress... Acceptance, Change and Wisdom.
Dismember
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: The Mitten, USA
Posts: 1,641
Stress... Acceptance, Change and Wisdom.
I've been dealing with this unpleasant situation for a couple weeks now. Wont get into all the details except that I have a bag with several hundred dollars worth of stuff at an airport lost & found and I've been trying to reclaim it for two weeks now and haven't gotten so much as a peep from the airline.
Alright, alright, I know that I do not have magical powers to force a major corporation to correct it's customer service. I wont get my stuff back because I get stressed about it. There's the accepting what I cannot change, and the courage to just keep pestering them politely.
But today I feel extra stressed, and I've got alarms going off. I don't have any desire to drink over this, but I can't be naive, it's entirely possible that the urge might come and it's not far to the liquor store. I know my head.
Sponsor isn't answering, no biggie. It's not feasible to get to a meeting today. But I need to connect with my whole program right now (my AA/DBT/RCC.) And I know that when I write my thoughts down and share them it means I'm being honest.
I'm an alcoholic, but today I just want to be an alcoholic with stress, not an alcoholic who wants to drink. So I suppose it ought to be "God grant me the serenity... and if you can pull some strings at United that would be cool too."
Alright, alright, I know that I do not have magical powers to force a major corporation to correct it's customer service. I wont get my stuff back because I get stressed about it. There's the accepting what I cannot change, and the courage to just keep pestering them politely.
But today I feel extra stressed, and I've got alarms going off. I don't have any desire to drink over this, but I can't be naive, it's entirely possible that the urge might come and it's not far to the liquor store. I know my head.
Sponsor isn't answering, no biggie. It's not feasible to get to a meeting today. But I need to connect with my whole program right now (my AA/DBT/RCC.) And I know that when I write my thoughts down and share them it means I'm being honest.
I'm an alcoholic, but today I just want to be an alcoholic with stress, not an alcoholic who wants to drink. So I suppose it ought to be "God grant me the serenity... and if you can pull some strings at United that would be cool too."
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,456
That kind of waiting drives me mad too - but after you make the daily round of phone calls/complaints I think you have to let it go.
It's a skill I've yet to completely master myself, but I know absolutely it's the healthy approach.
This doesn't need saying but I'll say it anyway lol - you know as I do drinking won't get your bag back - and more than that it won't lower your stress in any meaningful way....you'd just be more p'ed off you drank.
D
It's a skill I've yet to completely master myself, but I know absolutely it's the healthy approach.
This doesn't need saying but I'll say it anyway lol - you know as I do drinking won't get your bag back - and more than that it won't lower your stress in any meaningful way....you'd just be more p'ed off you drank.
D
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: The Great Outdoors
Posts: 1,992
Those b@stards lose my luggage time after time. 3 TIMES I TELL YOU! Southwest is the airline I deal with. No compensation either. After losing my bag they should fly my @ss anywhere my heart desires! We are talking make-up..clothes..stuff I am bringing home after shopping. The added perk..After I land I get to drive 300 miles from the airport home. With no make up. No clothes ..long story short..now I only take carry on. That will teach them!
Dismember
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: The Mitten, USA
Posts: 1,641
Indeed. I think once I wrote that out I'd had enough of thinking about it.
I tend to disagree with a lot of people in recovery when it comes to handling stuff like this. I know that a lot of AA ideology tells me I should not get angry over things. I feel like in a situation like this it's okay to get a little angry, it's motivating. Thing for me is, yes, I need to know when to turn it off. Something I am only starting to learn to do.
Getting drunk would be a catastrophe. I'd probably end up calling the airline again, saying things that would lead to me getting on the government's No-Fly list. And I have an important flight to take in a couple weeks.
I think I intended this to be sort of a positive, "sobriety works" post. I am grateful that I am better able to handle stressful stuff like this without automatically going toward drugs and alcohol. And I like feeling like I actually "get" my emotions and thoughts these days. Sometimes they act like spoiled children, but what 29-year old man is going to be bossed around by children, you know?
I tend to disagree with a lot of people in recovery when it comes to handling stuff like this. I know that a lot of AA ideology tells me I should not get angry over things. I feel like in a situation like this it's okay to get a little angry, it's motivating. Thing for me is, yes, I need to know when to turn it off. Something I am only starting to learn to do.
Getting drunk would be a catastrophe. I'd probably end up calling the airline again, saying things that would lead to me getting on the government's No-Fly list. And I have an important flight to take in a couple weeks.
I think I intended this to be sort of a positive, "sobriety works" post. I am grateful that I am better able to handle stressful stuff like this without automatically going toward drugs and alcohol. And I like feeling like I actually "get" my emotions and thoughts these days. Sometimes they act like spoiled children, but what 29-year old man is going to be bossed around by children, you know?
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,518
It IS a fine line, I think.
Sure, it's okay to be annoyed about lost luggage, and angry when they don't return your phone calls. And, I think it's good to stand up for yourself. But, then you really do need to let it go. I think that's where the acceptance part comes into play. You'll get your bag back, or you won't. Either way, it's what is meant to be.
Sure, it's okay to be annoyed about lost luggage, and angry when they don't return your phone calls. And, I think it's good to stand up for yourself. But, then you really do need to let it go. I think that's where the acceptance part comes into play. You'll get your bag back, or you won't. Either way, it's what is meant to be.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Tampa
Posts: 178
On the positive side, you're a survivor who has coped with letting an addiction or two go. If you must, kiss the bag goodbye and know in your mind, no drug or drink in your belly will help baggage find it. If you have to part ways with it, you can do it. You've alreay aced parting ways with an addiction you may very well have sold off the belongings in the bag for, peice by peice... at one point.
If it comes back, that's fantastic. If is doesn't, it's not taking you with it to that lost bag party in the sky... or warehouse, or where ever...
If it comes back, that's fantastic. If is doesn't, it's not taking you with it to that lost bag party in the sky... or warehouse, or where ever...
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