DisplacedGRITS

So i've had a little odd day today. I got back from my mini vacation last night and today has been the first day that i haven't had to be actively on guard against alcohol. Lo and behold, i have found myself experiencing minor cravings. Princess and the Pea kind of stuff. Instead of ignoring them, i decided to go deeper and ask myself why? I found that to be the happy destraction i needed to occupy myself while i was cooking and i've come to the conclusion that my mind had become accustomed to being so proactive against having alcohol in my current dwelling (the beach house on vacation) that when i returned to my sober living household, there was a void. Had i not delved deeper into my craving, i would have remained unnerved by it. Now, it's gone and i feel happy knowing the source. I'll keep this lesson in mind throughout my sobriety and i hope it helps me further down the road. I hope maybe it'll help some of you as well. Have a safe and sober evening everyone and remember, don't ignore your cravings. Your body and mind are trying to tell you something.

IndaMiricale

Welcome home and glad your vacation was a sober success.

Whats ya cooking I am a bit hungry

DisplacedGRITS

grilled salmon with dill and roasted brussel sprouts with almonds and balsamic vinegar. yummy!

mecanix

By following a thought or feeling back to it's source i find it can help in giving me some insight into what i need to work on to understand or change .
I also find with some examination the thoughts, feelings and urges i have reduce in their power , a very useful tool . I think, thinking like this helped me overcome the depression that stalked me in my early 20's .
I'm now going to conciously give it a try in some things that i've been feeling / dooing recently around food , so thanks for the reminder .

bestwishes, M

freshstart57

I think this is a great idea too. I call it making some space around the thought so I can have a good look at it. Some folks call it being mindful.

DisplacedGRITS

mindfulness has been an integral part of my sobriety so far. i try to be present and focused in everything i do now. it's difficult for me. i have a very active mind and tend to wander a lot. i always have, even as a child. going through this process of active sobriety is teaching me so much about how to handle life in general. how to be around people and be by myself. how to be happy with what i have and not envy other people. how to find alternative where once i only saw dead ends. before my vacation, i thought i could never go to a bar. now, i realize there are pool tables at bars and i really like shooting pool with my husband's family (even though i'm terrible at it). there's a great bar a block away from my house with a rotating art show and a nice pool table. my husband said he'd be happy to go shoot pool with once a week or so and we can get diet cokes while we play. i never drank at bars and they're not triggers for me so that's encouraging that i can go enjoy something that i thought was closed off to me.

i'm just so excited about life now. life as a recovering alcoholic isn't about rules and limitations. it's about choices and options. there's freedom in our choice to live sober. we just have to be willing to look for the alternatives out there and embrace them with a happy heart.

foodie1

Great post DG, thanks for the insight. And YUM dinner sounded good!!