Fortress

Ok, the pink cloud has reappeared right on schedule, and the countdown (8-10 days) for the punctual cravings begins...Oy. SOOOOO...today I: prayed and got on SR. I went to Carol D's craving thread (for the 2nd time). I got out my copy of Under the Influence, which I read~20 years ago. I hope that if I fill my days with thinking about sobriety, with telling myself "I just can't drink normally", when the cravings hit, I'll be able to do the things which will help me to not drink. I REALLY hope I'll be able to post when the cravings hit. The pink cloud makes everything easy now. Thank You, SRers.

MeSoSober

"I REALLY hope I'll be able to post when the cravings hit."

I wish I could bottle the mental and physical agony of coming off a binge and open THAT when cravings hit instead of a bottle of booze. I like what you said about filling your days with thoughts of sobriety. Vigilance. Mindfulness. I was just thinking about that today -- that I need to put sobriety FRONT and CENTER in my life. The fact that my default is not to have cravings doesn't mean I can just cruise on autopilot and expect to fight cravings when they DO hit.

january161992

Fortress

my experience not my opinion

i got sober during the bungee jumping fad ... remember that?

lotsa meetings
lotsa fellowship
lotsa service to others
lotsa bungee jumping and many other fun activities

the cravings never came

God bless

entropy1964

Do you think you're setting yourself up for failure by always saying out loud 'on day 10-11 I will have cravings'? What if you turned that around "I choose not to drink TODAY" and say that everyday? Try staying out of the future and out of the results. Pray every morning for a higher power to direct your action and do the next right thing. That helps me anyway.

entropy1964

Haha....bungee jumping. I did that in 89 off a bridge in california. So much fun. Totally illegal, but fun. I have friends that did it off the Golden Gate...at night. Climbed along the girders under the bridge. THAT is insanity.

january161992

i love this

Bubovski

I find that a morning meditation helps.
I consider the most gross problems with drinking and the repercussions.
It's so easy to forget the bad stuff and get trapped once again.

Dee74

I'm glad you're back Fortress

There are some more good ideas for recovery plans here:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ery-plans.html

D

EndGameNYC

I agree.

"I can't" used to be one of my favorite things to think and to say. I read a lot of things here that are of a similar sentiment: "I can never get past day three." "I never make it a full month." "I'm okay until the weekend comes; I can't help myself." Well, yes, you can. And that's the problem.

One would have thought that it's obvious why people can't do what they plan not to do. If you think you're going to fail, and especially when you place a more or less specific time limit between your last and your next failure to do what you want or need to do, then guess what's going to happen? I think the whole process, from start to finish, is eminently self-explanatory, and wonder how one can be surprised with the outcome that, by virtue of our own thinking and doing, is all but inevitable. This dynamic is also endemic to moral decisions when we refuse to bring ourselves to do what we know is right, a process that is almost exclusively based on fear, and sometimes out of spite.

These negative pre- and post- dictions are intentional limits on what we can and cannot do, and they tend to serve many purposes, most of which are, again, based on fear. It's helpful for some people to keep track of how many times they say or think "I can't" during the course of a day, and what that thought actually means. And the object of our negative thinking, i.e., what we need or want to change but tell ourselves we cannot, tends to reveal a lot about who and what we are, and what we're becoming. But only if you're paying attention. Why are we daily making the choice to limit ourselves or to condemn ourselves to crippling helplessness, particularly when it comes to important life-changing or lifesaving decisions? Why do we do this while we all so easily find the ability and the effort to do things that are self-defeating or destructive without much thought?

Each of us who accomplished something that we told ourselves and everyone else who would listen that we could not do contradicts our very way of thinking, leaves us open to many more significant opportunities in life, and challenges our own behavior. We "can't" know what we can do until we do it. And that's something that's entirely in our hands. The only relevant question to ask afterwards is, "What took you so long?"

Fortress

EndgameNYC, not sure where you got that I was saying "I can't". It's not in my post, nor is it implied, and I don't understand why you devoted the considerable(!) space and effort into responding to this. I have gotten cravings everytime I have tried to quit. To think they are not going to come is insanity.
Secondly, in my (albeit short)time at SR I have not dealt with any level of condescension at all, let alone the amount with which your reply fairly drips. I know that every time each of us posts or replies, we are doing it for the ourselves as well as the recipient. I know a forum full of only cheerleaders is not a good thing, and...we don't have that. If playing the "pompous to the newcomer" role helps your sobriety, by all means, have at it. I will work on developing my sobriety and intellect to approach your level, and then someday maybe I will understand how this will help me, and no doubt profit from it. You will forgive me if this takes some time.

Fortress

Sorry Frick, it has just happened over and over, I feel I need to acknowledge: the craving are going to come, and what am I going to do about it? Until now, I have not given them a thought, and then been "shocked" by their ferocity. I have done many of the positive things that are mentioned on this site. THE CRAVINGS COME. THEY ARE GOING TO COME. I would love it if they didn't come, but I'm tired of riding the purple cloud and coming to a halt. If I am living in the future, at least it will be the near future...