oldwriter

When my head hits the pillow in a little bit, it will mean I've made it to my seventh sober night. The weekend was rough because all of my triggers for drinking were going off like popcorn in a blast furnace.

The weekday evenings aren't so bad except that this week I have to work 10 hour days M, Tu, W, and Fri because my lousy temp job doesn't pay for holidays. I was kind of stressing out about that on the drive home this evening and, along with it being a cold and cloudy day, the AV was whispering that a drink would be nice.

Yeah, maybe, but I like it when I can wake up in the morning and say that I've been sober another day. I know this thing won't be linear. I won't just get better and better each day. I'll step on some landmines and walk into some brick walls.

I just wanted to "celebrate" my meager little week without booze.

G'night.

DreamCatcher17

That is huge!!!! Congratulations!!! Keep coming back!

least

Congrats on the first of many sober weeks! Keep going, it gets better.

MissOverIt

7 Days is big stuff. Congrats and keep going!

Ghostlight1

Good night and sweet dreams. You should be proud. A week can seem like a long time, but you made it.
Best to you on day eight.

MythOfSisyphus

Congrats! Nothing meager about a week, it's maybe the toughest week to deal with! My first three days sober were an ordeal. Luckily it gets easier and better as you go along.

JK130

For me, recovery kinda has been linear - slowly progressing from "really rough" to "mostly don't think about it". I did not need to dodge landmines or brick walls, but got a few too many invitations to pity parties, especially in the beginning. It will take awhile, and I wish you well in your journey back to health.

LiveLikeGold6

Lol at the popcorn blaster. That is a great analogy! Anyhow, congratulations on 7 days those are 7 more than you had before this :-)

oldwriter

Well, I slept about six hours, but then work up around 1:30 a.m. and couldn't sleep anymore. Finally got up at 3:15 a.m. or so and am noodling around on the web waiting for the gym to open. Just some light cardio this morning, but will hit the weights again tomorrow.

PinnacleOR

Congrats on a week, OldWriter, that's huge. I am on Day 26. I had the best sleep last night since since...I can't even remember when I slept through the night. It's almost like a miracle.

There are a lot of things in my life that can set off all sorts of frustrations - my commute, my drab office building, the fact that I live in a new place and have few friends, the money I have squandered drinking and with poor decisions, the fact that I am single, I am overweight, my car is old...and I can go on. Of course that's me looking at the half empty glass. I have started practicing a daily gratitude routine in the morning and it really helps me battle the resentments. I have all the food I need and want, I have a good job, I live in a beautiful place, I have a supportive family, I have heat and a roof over my head, I have done some great things in my life, and so on. I usually pick three things for which I am thankful and say them out loud. It really helps me keep things in perspective. The gratitude list forum here is a good place too.

Hawkeye13

The insomnia was the hardest thing to get through for me--even harder than the very strong physical withdrawals.

I read the entire "Game of Thrones" set and wrote in a journal. This was long
before TV series was made, by the way.

Hang in there--take lots of hot showers, gentle walks, and plenty of herbal tea.
It gets so much easier and that first night of real glorious sleep makes it all worth it

oldwriter

Drinking "detox" tea now. Just finished dinner. The missus made me a couple of sushi rolls. Going to slowly wind down the evening but not sure by doing what? I used to watch TV and movies on DVDs and drink, but now that I'm not drinking, all that sounds really boring.

The alcoholic voice spoke to me as I was leaving work. Before I don't have to work tomorrow and have the day off, it was whispering that I should buy something for tonight and tomorrow night.

Thing is, in addition to how I'm afraid it'll affect my liver/bile ducts, there's the realization that if I drink tonight, I'll have to face sobriety again tomorrow night, only I'll have the additional guilt of having failed.

On the other hand, I can wake up tomorrow morning sober and lift "clean" at the gym.

I'm okay for now, but it's those few minutes when I'm driving home from work that I have to resist temptation.

Oh, last week I interviewed for a job, a good one, and today I got a call, not saying I got it, but that I was still in the running. Guess they wanted to update me before Turkey Day. They should make a decision by the middle of next week, and I really hope it's for me. I'd love to say goodbye to my temporary-contract slave job

Pray or wish me luck, which ever you do.

Thanks.