Trees39

How do you all beat the 'complacent' feeling..

You start to feel better, it's been a few weeks, it wasn't that bad, maybe this time you can limit it....

What do you do to keep yourself aware and alert to never drinking again?

Thanks

Dee74

Reading some old posts might be useful Trees?

D

FreeOwl

I come here. I read my own posts. Iook at my own journals from back then. I read others' stories... especially the constant stream of newcomers. Their stories are my stories. I go volunteer in service at the hospital now and again. I drop by an AA meeting. I keep the stories close by keeping close to the stories; my own and those of others.

And then I look at my TODAY with eyes of Gratitude and I focus on cherishing that.... and it makes me never want to let go.

least

The last time I drank scared the crap out of me. I've never forgotten how bad I felt when I woke up.

I look at my life today, peaceful and content, and I know, with all my heart, I will never go back to that hell.

kevlarsjal

I try to remember my last days of drinking, how I lied about, how desperately i tried to hide it, how I couldn't leave the house without drinking before and how I had to carry booze with me all the time.

Plus there's my boyfriend who witnessed both, my last night of drinking (I didn't want to drink, especially not THAT kind of drinking and especially not in front of him, who's a recovering alcoholic himself) when I had to get up again after going to bed just to down a small bottle of wine and how I argued with myself for over an hour about it cause it was all I had at his place (cause he of course never kept any alcohol at home) and I feared getting up the next morning without having any booze around.
And my first night of detox, where I went through hell, was hallucinating, didn't know what was going on, my whole body was shaking, I cried, laughed, acted like a total mental person. Cause he too, did witness all of that, it's much harder for me to play it down or trick myself into thinking it wasn't that bad.

PhoenixJ

We all have different ways. I try to look at how much better life is WITHOUT drinking. I have enough physical reminders of the negative. The negative stuff can get overwhelming for me. Journal, SR, meetings, distraction (art), writing, watching heaps of doco's on anything new- like the NASA Juno stuff.
Who dunnits, anything to massage the thinking muscles. Plan what I am going to do.
THAT word - mindfulness- breathing-blah. Positive self talk- which works, eventually. So if someone asks 'how are you?', I try to remember not to say 'not bad' but 'I am okay'. Positive thinking not only changes thinking, it rewires the brain and creates good chemicals- to replace the addictive reinforced ones.

Unwound

I wrote this post to try to deal with this issue. Might work for you.

Grymt

At that point I found that going to AA as often as I could, at one time 3 meetings a day for 30 days, very helpful. I think keeping busy and not drinking and doing what is suggested and learning to face everything that comes is good.

MIRecovery

For me I find it more helpful to see how good it is. All I know for sure is life is so much better than it was

thomas11

To be perfectly honest, its because I realized I was running out of time. I wasn't 25 anymore. I want to be remembered for more than being an awesome party guy. But I wasn't an awesome party guy, I was an alcoholic.

tomsteve

my past is the greatest posession i have.
if i forget it ill repeat it

Sober369

A good friend of mine told me I should write it out, not only some of the bad times, but also the times I decided not to drink again, and what happened during the day or so before I drank again anyway. I haven't started on it yet, but I plan to have it done by tomorrow night. Also, going to AA helps me a lot. Reminds me. And coming here helps, too.

AnvilheadII

by committing every day - i will not drink/use today, NO MATTER WHAT. and i will support my recovery with WHATEVER IT TAKES.

Aquafina

This helps me.

I had a bad blackout fall a month ago. 2 bad facial abrasions, and a nasty sprained ankle. I crawled for 2 days. Called a friend for crutches to get an xray. BP 170/119 and my doc just starred at me. I refused detox.

When I made it to xray they ask if I was there for a MRI. I was so embarrassed.

That gave me 9 days sober.

icefisher

Thinking about passing out in my car at a park at 3:00 in the afternoon. Then took 4 days to sober up in that jail cell, while shaking and hallucinating. It was awful! I knew deep down I was on a path to death but finally snapped out of it. Just hope I never get complacent again. Moderation just doesn't work for me. One dumb little thing that I like is looking at the day counter app on my phone every morning. I keep my police report(s) handy for reference also.

Trees39

I appreciate everyone sharing. You are keeping me on track.

Part of my plan is to ask for help from SR community if I feel myself slipping away with my AV .. it's working!

Thanks

MissPerfumado

I actually don't feel the need to remember how bad it was, because there are 3 things I believe with 100% certainty:

1. I am an alcoholic.
2. Drinking will kill me.
3. All it takes to return to active alcoholism is ONE drink.

Scruffanie

At the moment all I have to do is remember how powerless I am with alcohol and the damage that first drink can do. AA meetings help me to remember.

Gottalife

My memory is obviously useful in motivating me to take the actions I needed to take to get and stay well. But it was totally ineffective as a defence against the first drink. I don't stay sober because I rmemeber how bad it was. That would be fear based sobriety. I stay sober because I live by certain principles that have resulted in the obsession to drink being removed. It doesn't occur to me to drink anymore than it would occur to me to eat rocks.

My past is my greatest assett and no more so as when I can use it to help others. In that way it brings pleasure and satisfaction, not fear.

MeSoSober

"Part of my plan is to ask for help from SR community if I feel myself slipping away with my AV .. it's working!"

Complacency is a HUGE problem for me, I think in part because as a binge drinker, in the past it was frequently easy for me to go days or weeks with no urges or only slight cravings. What I've learned is whether I "feel," on any given day, like I need to be on SR reading and posting or not, I NEED to be here. When I'm feeling complacent, coming here and reading -- horror stories, or encouraging comments from my December 2016 classmates, or whatever else -- almost always restores my motivation.

I also typed up a "Sobriety Statement" for myself, outlining all the awful problems drinking has caused for me, and posted it on the inside of my closet door.

I'm glad you asked this question, because just typing this response has helped ME get motivated to enjoy another SOBER day!