Commitment
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,439
Commitment
I've been walking a bit this week trying to get back some endurance and strength in my bad leg.
It reminded me of times gone by.
I remember when I was a drinker nothing stopped me drinking.
I once walked through a tropical storm to get booze, I fell through a glass topped coffee table and still drank, I fell down a flight of stairs and had blood literally gushing out of my nose and still drank.
Like drank.. immediately.
I drank when I had a fever, I drank when it was my last $20 in the world and even I drank when I had somewhere to be - like a friends wedding (I didn't make it to the wedding).
I was a very committed drinker.
150%
To stay sober I've had to be every bit as committed to not drinking.
I often see people saying they are weak - and I felt that way too - but really...there's a strength in all of us.
It takes a strong resolve to be that devoted to something - it's just a shame it's something like self destruction...
We just need to re-direct that strength in positive healthy ways
Why not use that drive, that stubbornness that commitment - and free the right part of yourself?
Feed the part - the good part - that wants the madness to end, and the part that wants change.
It sometimes seems like a Herculean task but however big the mountain might seem, it's the little choices we make every day that sets our ultimate result.
I promise that everyone here will get out of their recovery what they put in
D
It reminded me of times gone by.
I remember when I was a drinker nothing stopped me drinking.
I once walked through a tropical storm to get booze, I fell through a glass topped coffee table and still drank, I fell down a flight of stairs and had blood literally gushing out of my nose and still drank.
Like drank.. immediately.
I was a very committed drinker.
150%
To stay sober I've had to be every bit as committed to not drinking.
I often see people saying they are weak - and I felt that way too - but really...there's a strength in all of us.
It takes a strong resolve to be that devoted to something - it's just a shame it's something like self destruction...
We just need to re-direct that strength in positive healthy ways
Why not use that drive, that stubbornness that commitment - and free the right part of yourself?
Feed the part - the good part - that wants the madness to end, and the part that wants change.
It sometimes seems like a Herculean task but however big the mountain might seem, it's the little choices we make every day that sets our ultimate result.
I promise that everyone here will get out of their recovery what they put in
D
Mini Novel Post Writer
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Maine
Posts: 3,649
Thanks for the inspirational post Dee!
I know a while back there was a phrase going around on here. "You have to want to be sober more than you want to drink.". As much as that sounds upsetting to some nothing could be more true.
I quit so many times and put myself and many others through some horrible things until I finally got it.
It has nothing to do with being weak. It has to do with 100% complete acceptance that there will never be an excuse to drink. No possible circumstance, ever. You don't have to dwell on that daily but the moment thoughts come creeping into your head it has to take the forefront. The sooner this is done the better the success and the quicker the cravings leave.
I loved my alcohol. If you told me there would come a day I hated it I would have laughed at you. I hate it now. I accept it's ok for others but not for me. I know it will never fix anything, only make things worse or delay me from getting past what I'm dealing with. I'm finally free (coming up on 14 months) and life is far better than I could have ever imagined. I'm realistic that I must always stay mindful but the rare and random thought of alcohol is almost a joke now. THIS can happen for YOU too.
As long as you allow possibility to leave its foot in the door the longer it will take and the harder it will be.
Accept, DO!
You CAN do this, you are far stronger than you think!
I know a while back there was a phrase going around on here. "You have to want to be sober more than you want to drink.". As much as that sounds upsetting to some nothing could be more true.
I quit so many times and put myself and many others through some horrible things until I finally got it.
It has nothing to do with being weak. It has to do with 100% complete acceptance that there will never be an excuse to drink. No possible circumstance, ever. You don't have to dwell on that daily but the moment thoughts come creeping into your head it has to take the forefront. The sooner this is done the better the success and the quicker the cravings leave.
I loved my alcohol. If you told me there would come a day I hated it I would have laughed at you. I hate it now. I accept it's ok for others but not for me. I know it will never fix anything, only make things worse or delay me from getting past what I'm dealing with. I'm finally free (coming up on 14 months) and life is far better than I could have ever imagined. I'm realistic that I must always stay mindful but the rare and random thought of alcohol is almost a joke now. THIS can happen for YOU too.
As long as you allow possibility to leave its foot in the door the longer it will take and the harder it will be.
Accept, DO!
You CAN do this, you are far stronger than you think!
Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: US
Posts: 264
Dee74
You are so inspiring and so non judgmental. I have not been totally alcohol free these days. I was 100% sober for 4 months but have been drinking a few here and there. I know I have to stop completely before it creeps back to full days of drinking. I am trying every day to not have a drink. I have had about two a day for two weeks now. Today will be day 1 again. I know I can do this! I refuse to go back to those awful days.
Thank you again for your posts!
You are so inspiring and so non judgmental. I have not been totally alcohol free these days. I was 100% sober for 4 months but have been drinking a few here and there. I know I have to stop completely before it creeps back to full days of drinking. I am trying every day to not have a drink. I have had about two a day for two weeks now. Today will be day 1 again. I know I can do this! I refuse to go back to those awful days.
Thank you again for your posts!
Guest
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: UK
Posts: 2,256
Thanks Dee ... for this awesome post and all the other posts that have helped me immeasurably over the last few months xx
Ps I never used words like "immeasurably" before I got sober. Sobriety is making me smart
Ps I never used words like "immeasurably" before I got sober. Sobriety is making me smart
no matter what!
Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 666
So true. Thank you, Dee, for this inspirational and insightful post, and for all you do for everyone here. I've appreciated your counsel from afar for all the years I've been lurking here. (Think about all the people you've helped without even knowing it!)
Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: middle of nowhere
Posts: 2,849
Dee, thank you for your wise words and inspiration!
I am a stubborn chick too.
I stopped giving up on myself last year. I grabbed hold of the people, places and things that could support me until I could figure out how to stand on my own sober legs.
We can all do it you're right, because we're all stubborn.
Thank goodness for our stubborn streaks! Just have to learn to use them the right way!
I am a stubborn chick too.
I stopped giving up on myself last year. I grabbed hold of the people, places and things that could support me until I could figure out how to stand on my own sober legs.
We can all do it you're right, because we're all stubborn.
Thank goodness for our stubborn streaks! Just have to learn to use them the right way!
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
Very wise and to-the-point, Dee. Thank you.
I have had a similar experience and would only add that, I think, there also needs to be a substantial shift as far as the source of commitment goes, our addictive thoughts/behaviors vs working on recovery. At least for me, the work of recovery involved re-discovering, or in some aspects discovering for the first time, these healthier sources of motivation. Also connections to the world in new ways. I was very much a commitment phobe in my youth, and then it backfired and developed into the addictions and obsessions (drinking a major one, but I had others as well). I've found that it takes a radical shift in perceptions (both self and the external world) to make sobriety and recovery last. I agree that it seems like a Herculean task at first and also sometimes after considerable time sober. But I generally feel, like you also suggest, that completing this task in smaller ways, in the everyday, reinforces the commitment greatly and cements it with time.
Thanks for the reminder again
I have had a similar experience and would only add that, I think, there also needs to be a substantial shift as far as the source of commitment goes, our addictive thoughts/behaviors vs working on recovery. At least for me, the work of recovery involved re-discovering, or in some aspects discovering for the first time, these healthier sources of motivation. Also connections to the world in new ways. I was very much a commitment phobe in my youth, and then it backfired and developed into the addictions and obsessions (drinking a major one, but I had others as well). I've found that it takes a radical shift in perceptions (both self and the external world) to make sobriety and recovery last. I agree that it seems like a Herculean task at first and also sometimes after considerable time sober. But I generally feel, like you also suggest, that completing this task in smaller ways, in the everyday, reinforces the commitment greatly and cements it with time.
Thanks for the reminder again
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