LoveForMe

I start to feel good and ready to work on my recovery and then before I can even do anything my mood is down again. I don't know how much more of this I can take...

Anna

Hi, It can be hard to stay motivated. What worked for me was to make a list every day, of things I wanted to accomplish. Then, if I could cross off a couple of things at the end of the day, it felt good. Try to keep focus on the day, on the moment. Having a recovery plan is also a great motivator.

Jtmlk

Anna is so right- when I’m down, depressed and demotivated I always say to myself- what’s the point of writing a list what a waste of time and yet on those days I do write a list and tick things off as I go along it really does help with motivating me and making me feel better

least

One thing I cannot recommend enough is gratitude. Make a gratitude list each day, morning and night. Find some person/event/thing for which you are thankful. It really helps me focus on the positives instead of the negatives.

Dee74

People are often depressed coming back from drinking again. I think it's important to realise this is probably just a short term thing - yr body and mind healing and returning to normal again.

Of course if you think its more than that, or you're finding it especially debilitating there's really no substitute for seeing a Dr

D

Ghoster18

I'm just going to bed.
Writing a gratitude list
There is s some resistance but i'm the one with the book and pen.
The to do list is great for self esteem.
I am still early on out from this slip but I'm doing things differently.
I too get De motivated.
There's a great thing I heard recently it says
Backwards motivation meaning I better not do that again or regrets generally doesn't work.
But forward motivation such as
Aspirations passions new experiences etc
Is a more useful mindset.
It's what I'm using because if I have backwards motivation I just feel flat!
G

DontRemember

I ran across a book I keep for writing out bills,chores,daily plans, ect.. last weekend. I'm not exactly sure how old it is(over a year) and I was obviously still drinking or trying to quit,because when drinking I rarely made lists and when quitting I was always unmotivated for a while. Anyways.. There's a 'to do' list in there and the first thing says;"Make a list." That's some laziness there! geez! But, it does come back after some time and as Dee said, if not I'd see a Dr.

JustTony

People have been kind enough to reply to some of my posts and comment how motivated, organised, honest etc. that I am. And I guess I do come across that way on a lot of my messages.

However I don't feel like that all the time. Sometimes I feel in a funk. Sometimes I think of people I have lost and the years I have wasted. Sometimes I just want to switch off my brain altogether.

I guess I'm saying - don't expect too much of yourself? You're human. You have issues and concerns like everyone else. But drinking to the point of oblivion isn't going to solve it - as sticking your head in a vat of acid wouldn't either.

Berrybean

In my AA step 1 work, I did a list of all the ways that drinking made various aspects of my life unmanageable (areas such as health,finances, career, relationships, reputation, etc) . When motivation and gratitude isn't easily forthcoming then I can reread my list and that motivation starts to get stirred up again.

Perhaps never wanting to return to hospitalization, black outs, and behaviour that makes you feel guilty (for a start off) mighy help. Why not do your own version of step 1. Just because you may not choose to go to AA doesn't mean you can't use some of the tools.

BB

doggonecarl

Easy to work on our recovery when we feel good. REAL recovery takes place when we work on it when we aren't feeling good.

FallingStars

I've learned from my own recovery that I rarely "feel" like working on it. I just "do" and then the positive feeling follows. Feelings are funny... they come and go without any logic to them. If you focus your recovery around your feelings, it is doubtful that you will achieve what you want. Good luck!