eoj

man, just reading through these brought on a pretty strong urge to go out. wow. logging off for the day.

Anna

I hope you will be able to shift your perspective and find support at SR. I am always able to find inspiration here, and I hope you will too.

Dee74

Welcome eoj

Like Anna SR has been integral to my recovery. I look around and see inspiring stories, amazing people, and a million reasons to stay sober

D

Delilah1

Hi EOJ,

Why don’t you try out the 24 hour thread or Class of October 2019 threads. You will find lots of support on there.

DriGuy

Urge to go out and do what? Do you mean reading about recovery makes you think too much about drinking?

SoberRican

I got more ? Than answers on that one. Confused. . ?

fini

that used to happen to me sometimes, too. struck me as weird that reading about drunken misery and mess could have that effect on me, but it sure did, at times.
i remember once reading about a guy, drunk, smashing through a window, getting all cut up, and yep, it set off this bizarre response in me of wanting to drink.
what helped me in those scenarios was to mentally take a step back from myself and "see" myself having this reaction and seeing how wow unreal and sick this condition is.
having those reactions and urges certainly didn't mean i had to "go out", though.
but it sure helped to clarify how screwy the condition is.

how are you doing?

ThatWasTheOldMe

I just want to say that every time I've picked up a drink, it's been my fault.
If stress, anxiety, or negativity were the main reason to pick up a drink, I would have never relapsed. It was all me reacting to those emotions and situations.

By the same token, I also take credit for my periods of sobriety. I don't talk about it - not even on here really. But internally I credit myself.

Hevyn

Eoj - I hope you'll come back & let us offer you some encouragement. SR helped me quit after decades of drinking - we're here to help.

DriGuy

I've thought about this too. Getting heavily involved in recovery was vital for me, but there were some minor risks too. Part of recovery involves forgetting about alcohol as a desired outcome that produces contentment and relaxation, and that's hard to do when you focus on the dangers of alcohol. Focus on solving the problem also keeps you focused on the problem.

At first, focusing on the torment of drinking adds a motivation to keep up with recovery, but in the end, it keeps alcohol on your mind. Eventually, I intentionally dropped my guard, but only when I knew it was safe, and that I no longer needed to be hypersensitive to the perils of drinking, because I had developed enough inner senses that would only be activated when danger approached.

This seemed to be the desired outcome, and until I joined this forum, I could go months at a time without thinking about drinking. But the exposure to all this discussion doesn't strike me as dangerous. Drinking exists only as one of my past behaviors. Sobriety is the default, and doesn't require much maintenance anymore.