Simplicity4114

Hi All,
I found this website and signed up a couple of weeks ago but this is the first time I'm reaching out. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right but I do know I'm exhausted...everyday and I'm ready for a change. Today is my Day 1. Any advice for the first steps in this journey?
-Simplicity4114

Soberwolf

Hello & Welcome Simplicity

Having a plan will really help you & making full use of the support by reaching out whenever you feel the urge or crave of drinking are my top tips

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...at-we-did.html

Nice to meet you

Dee74

Hi and welcome simplicity

I think the task initially is pretty much not to drink. You'll find a lot of support and good ideas here.

Have you tried quitting before?

D

Easy2slip

Congrats on day 1.
That is the huge first step.

In my first few days... I tried not to have too much on my plate. I watched a bunch of movies in my free time. There are so many great movies I have never seen.

D122y

Welcome simplicity,

Your analytical mind is the part that keeps you from drinking.

The emotional side will try to get you to drink for good and bad reasons...e.g. mad at your boss...friend coming over....wife cheating on you....work promotion...etc.

The analytical mind has to say...I know what could happen once I start drinking....1 turns to 5.....I binge eat...drive drunk...get in a fight w my wife...miss the gym....get high blood pressure...get anxiety and stressed from drinking...etc...

So basically, you have to figure out how to...happily...fill your new life w out booze.

AA is a place many go to spend time w non drinkers. The whole AA vibe is about staying clean. It is a sobriety emersion. A sobriety obession. There were a lot of emotions flowing at the few meetings I attended. It is a definite way many addicts stay clean.

Working out is another. Although, I find working out lonely. I'm surrounded by mostly silent self absorbed people. I am jealous of the people that have workout partners that seem to be having a great time. I am still trying to get this figured out.

I also do jiu jitsu. This is a great work out and interactive. It is a great way to spend 2 or 3 hours in the evening. I consider many of my jj partners my friends. Although most of them drink booze sometimes. So, that gets difficult sometimes. Plus, wrestling w people is not for everyone.

But, there will always be... alone times. Whether at home, traveling, wherever...

Those are the times I used to drink. Usually around 3 to 6 pm until bed time. On weekends earlier.

Special events on tv..e.g. super bowl...special days...new years...etc.

They are all triggers to drink.

Now, during those times I do things like...surf the web, read and post on SR, tv, video games, cook, clean, obsess over nonsense, etc.

The key for me, once through the physical addiction, is making a sober life style. A sober plan. Otherwise, relapse can occur more easily.

I...play the tape....I try to remember, alcohol fries your brain. It is a slow process. It makes us deal w life in an alcoholic way. We want to deal w life in a normal way.

I drank to get drunk since I was 5 years old. My whole life has been dealt w using a mind that was altered by booze.

Now 1 year clean, life for me is the same. Nothing surrounding me has changed. I am changing in how I live and react to life. I now react w a clean brain.

I am less emotional, more difficult to frustrate, laugh easier, have more confidence, and energy.

I am surviving, not yet thriving. Not sure that I will ever thrive, but I will survive. It will be sober.

I still have anxiety. It is getting better by the moment though.

Keep checking in and posting. It has helped me get this far. It can help you too.

SR saved my life.

Alcohol is poison. Don't believe the hype.

Simplicity4114

Hi D,
Thanks for your response. Yes, I have tried many times before.....8 days, 1 day, 30 days-over the past year. Thankfully, I have never experienced any physical withdraws from alcohol but it is definitely my go to for all occasions. Happy, sad, stressed, bored.....you name it. I feel kind of lost. I've been doing this for so long that I have sort of lost myself. I sort of feel like I'm even kidding myself that I can do this....may sound sad but this has been my normal for the last 8 years....

thomas11

Exactly. Many of us know that all too well. What helped me (and it was hard) was to create a new normal. I'm a structured habitual person and honestly I can't imagine doing my old routine. For example, right about now is when I would start drinking and would not quit until Saturday night. There is nothing stopping me from starting drinking right now, but I can't do it.

Dee74

no not weird at all - that sounds pretty much where I was when I came here

This is a great community - the support here really helped me get through those initial period of learning to live without drinking.

We have a Class of April support thread you may be interested in?
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...art-4-a-5.html

D