First Sober weekend in a while
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 67
First Sober weekend in a while
Well I had my first sober weekend in a long time this past weekend. And when I say sober I mean no alcohol at all. Not one glass of wine or anything. In the past I didnt get drunk every weekend but I would have some wine with dinner or go out and have a few drinks. Unfortunately some times "going out" led to blacking out, more times than I care to admit, which is why I have come to the conclusion that I cant be going out anymore. At home I have control. I can stop at one glass. Or not drink at all. Going out is a different story. Its like I become posessed and I cant drink slowly or be satisfied with a few drinks. I have to pound my drinks and throw in shots and that is what gets me in trouble. Since I have been doing a lot of reflective thinking about what my problems and triggers are I have come to the conclusion that going out is my problem area and is where I need to stop. So with that being said I had my first weekend home in a long time. I turned down invites out and stayed in with my fiance. It was so nice! We watched movies, cleaned the house, worked out, caught up on reading, and slept! Legit sleep! It was so nice. It wasnt tourture and I really didnt think about not being out. I just enjoyed new things, which really arent new at all I just havent done them in a while. So here's to another week of getting my life back on track. I have already started making a list of activities I want to do this coming weekend to keep me out of trouble!
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Mo
Posts: 39
That is awesome that you were able to stay home AND enjoy it! This will be my first sober weekend in almost 4 years. I'm nervous about it, because I will be alone. I don't drink by myself, but if I go out I drink a lot with friends. I will def want to go out....hate being by myself.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 67
Hey Lab,
Why dont you try going to some public places so you wont feel so alone. Go hang out at Barnes and Nobel and enjoy some coffee and a magazine or book. I like going there when I feel alone. Or see if any of your friends want to come over an cook dinner or watch a movie. Surley there is someone you know who would want to do something that doesnt require drinking. You dont even have to advertise you are not drinking if you dont feel comfortable doing that yet. Say something like "I just want to take it easy this weekend" or "Im watching my money this weekend." I said things like that to my friends this weekend and they didnt even question it.
Why dont you try going to some public places so you wont feel so alone. Go hang out at Barnes and Nobel and enjoy some coffee and a magazine or book. I like going there when I feel alone. Or see if any of your friends want to come over an cook dinner or watch a movie. Surley there is someone you know who would want to do something that doesnt require drinking. You dont even have to advertise you are not drinking if you dont feel comfortable doing that yet. Say something like "I just want to take it easy this weekend" or "Im watching my money this weekend." I said things like that to my friends this weekend and they didnt even question it.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Mo
Posts: 39
I do need to get out there and do other stuff. I've been so use to the "regular weekend" that I forget about so much constructive stuff I could be doing. Ugh....just dreading it though. Thanks for the suggestions!
Sober since October
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: In the world in my eyes...Somewhere I've never been before...
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Hi, Sara23. It's great you could make it through a weekend. I do hope I will be able to do the same this time.
Lab. I am scheduling for myself and my friend a route with interesting places to see. And I will be driving all the way. So, there is no way I can have even a sip of alcohol. I am planning to start off early and come back late, so I will just have time and energy to brush my teeth and go to bed. Maybe, something like that could also work for you? Besides, in this case you can alway tell your friends "Sorry, no alco for me, I am driving".
Lab. I am scheduling for myself and my friend a route with interesting places to see. And I will be driving all the way. So, there is no way I can have even a sip of alcohol. I am planning to start off early and come back late, so I will just have time and energy to brush my teeth and go to bed. Maybe, something like that could also work for you? Besides, in this case you can alway tell your friends "Sorry, no alco for me, I am driving".
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Inbetween dances
Posts: 548
I'm nervous about Friday night, I may be home alone, if so I'm going to the 7pm aa meeting at my home group. Ad maybe take a couple people out to eat or something! Anything to keep away from the poison!
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,308
Hi Sara,
It's great that you have become aware that your drinking is not healthy or normal.
I drank alone a lot because I could not trust myself to drink when I went out. I would actually be very anxious in social situations and would knock back the drinks to get to a level where I didn't feel anxious and could begin to enjoy the social event but the feelings of being relaxed in company became more elusive as time went on.
I realize I don't actually like to go out and drink and would prefer to do something with people as a way of socializing as opposed to sitting around and just chatting.
CaiHong
It's great that you have become aware that your drinking is not healthy or normal.
I drank alone a lot because I could not trust myself to drink when I went out. I would actually be very anxious in social situations and would knock back the drinks to get to a level where I didn't feel anxious and could begin to enjoy the social event but the feelings of being relaxed in company became more elusive as time went on.
I realize I don't actually like to go out and drink and would prefer to do something with people as a way of socializing as opposed to sitting around and just chatting.
CaiHong
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 526
i'll have to voice the same thing as others have said.
there's absolutely nothing normal about having to have a few drinks on friday/saturday/sunday.
i will never try to convince anyone that happy hours after work aren't at all how you are supposed to spend your time. i figured this out for myself, you seem to be doing the same thing, and those that need to understand it... hopefully will understand sooner than later.
what happened to going to the gym? watching a movie? going to a park? walking your dog? doing some volunteer activity? coming up with the next million dollar idea? renovating your house? spending $20 on something useful, rather than a bottle of wine?
the list of non-alcoholic activities is endless and you can find many positive things to do. it's very hard to get to them while sitting in a bar, however.
there's absolutely nothing normal about having to have a few drinks on friday/saturday/sunday.
i will never try to convince anyone that happy hours after work aren't at all how you are supposed to spend your time. i figured this out for myself, you seem to be doing the same thing, and those that need to understand it... hopefully will understand sooner than later.
what happened to going to the gym? watching a movie? going to a park? walking your dog? doing some volunteer activity? coming up with the next million dollar idea? renovating your house? spending $20 on something useful, rather than a bottle of wine?
the list of non-alcoholic activities is endless and you can find many positive things to do. it's very hard to get to them while sitting in a bar, however.
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