Lrdz7173

Hi guys,

What i do wen i have lots of spare time and feel like drinking? I really want to stay away from the urge to drink alcohol. Any suggestions???

least

When I was in early recovery I used to come to this site a lot, read and post, to keep from drinking. I also used to walk my dogs when I had cravings. (the dogs liked that)

Do you have any hobbies? Find something to do with your time to replace drinking. There's lots to do out there in the sober world.

veryready

I'm with least. In the first few weeks, especially the first few days, I would just read and post here until it was time to fall asleep. My hobbies were triggers fro me, so at some point there was just teeth grinding until the cravings pass. Try to find a little time here learning about urge surfing and other methods to get through cravings. Hang in. It's worth it.

Lrdz7173

Thanks least and veryready!!! You guys give me great ideas on what to do with my time. Today is day three for me lets see how it goes.

Bruce292

What I did was walked a lot. I picked up a book that I loved and started reading. I kept music playing. I also made little lists that I would keep in my back pocket. Every time I thought of something that would be a good distraction, I'd write it down. I also took a lot of hot showers and went to be early.

visch1

Welcome and hang in there, it's an effort of one day at a time, sometimes one minute at a time. I filled my non work time with a lot of face to face AA meetings and after meetings coffee/ice cream meetings till all hours. I got INTO and quite active with several groups and would talk with other members as often as needed about feelings and things that triggered our want to drink issues. It was a different way of life from what we were used to and a lot of years later it's still working. BE WELL

Lrdz7173

Great advice, i will try to get involved in something that interest me. Thanks for the support!!

DrakeCKC

Congrats on day 3! I am but 54 days and I still need to do things to keep me off the bottle. Get outside, walk, go somewhere you have not been, take a drive... things I have done to keep focused.

soberclover

I suggest staying away from people, places, and things that might trigger your desire to drink. Getting your hands on a copy of the AA Big Book is also great. I often read from that to get inspiration as well as to remind myself that I can't drink (some times I think that I could handle "just a few").

light13

The times I have stayed sober were the times that I filled my time with activities I'd given up because I was too concerned with drinking or hung over: running, yoga, exercise generally, cooking, cleaning, knitting (super hard to do well while drinking).