Class of December 2010 Part 9
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Diego
Posts: 4,451
Well hello there, VC. Great to see you!
Caught a bad break yesterday and someone stole my phone, laptop, and wallet out of my car. Luckily insurance will cover most of the losses. I'm out several hundred dollars (ouch), but for a while I thought it would be a LOT more. And you know what? I never once wanted to drink over it. If anything, as I cancelled credit cards, closed bank accounts, changed passwords, met with a claims adjuster, and gave my report to a cop, I took solace in being sober. It feels good to take care of things, instead of using it as an excuse to get wasted and wallow in self pity.
Caught a bad break yesterday and someone stole my phone, laptop, and wallet out of my car. Luckily insurance will cover most of the losses. I'm out several hundred dollars (ouch), but for a while I thought it would be a LOT more. And you know what? I never once wanted to drink over it. If anything, as I cancelled credit cards, closed bank accounts, changed passwords, met with a claims adjuster, and gave my report to a cop, I took solace in being sober. It feels good to take care of things, instead of using it as an excuse to get wasted and wallow in self pity.
perpetual optimist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Montana
Posts: 2,959
Oh man R&A, that stinks! It's so much work anymore to make sure your identity is not compromised!! Keep an eye on things my friend.
I remember a long time ago in Florida....I went into a 7-11 to get a soda. Someone took my little fanny-pack thing that was on my car seat. I would have liked to have seen their face when they opened it in some alley only to find a Hostess Twinkie. LOL.........but boy I still felt violated.
Anyway, take care guys and gals!
I remember a long time ago in Florida....I went into a 7-11 to get a soda. Someone took my little fanny-pack thing that was on my car seat. I would have liked to have seen their face when they opened it in some alley only to find a Hostess Twinkie. LOL.........but boy I still felt violated.
Anyway, take care guys and gals!
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 1,149
I thought you could get a permit to carry concealed Twinkies in California?
Kidding aside though R&A...it's a good thing you are insured ...but that still sucks.
Still hangin in here. Sober has kinda become the new reality for me.
It's nice.
Kidding aside though R&A...it's a good thing you are insured ...but that still sucks.
Still hangin in here. Sober has kinda become the new reality for me.
It's nice.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Diego
Posts: 4,451
You guys all sound great! 
Life still has its ups and downs for sure, but even on a really bad day I'm able to say, "Well, at least I'm not trapped in that sad, scary cycle." And that makes all the difference in the world!
Life still has its ups and downs for sure, but even on a really bad day I'm able to say, "Well, at least I'm not trapped in that sad, scary cycle." And that makes all the difference in the world!
Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,071
(((Hooped))) Sobriety does look good on you!
LOL VC, I love the image of someone going to all that trouble to steal your fanny pack and then unzipping it only to find a twinkie... Actually the company that makes them just filed for bankruptcy, so it might be a collector's item by now
R&A, I'm so sorry about what happened to you! It sounds like you handled it well. While I was reading about all the stuff you had to do afterward I realized that it would have taken me a week or more to do all that when I was drinking. I just had no air in my balloon whatsoever.
I'm having a rough couple of days. I can feel my resolve weakening and I'm worried it's going to be a problem. I haven't drank, but I want to. Up until now, I feel like I've been able to 'will' my way sober, or at least benefit from my inertia. I think it's probably time to start looking at a program with some structure.
LOL VC, I love the image of someone going to all that trouble to steal your fanny pack and then unzipping it only to find a twinkie... Actually the company that makes them just filed for bankruptcy, so it might be a collector's item by now
R&A, I'm so sorry about what happened to you! It sounds like you handled it well. While I was reading about all the stuff you had to do afterward I realized that it would have taken me a week or more to do all that when I was drinking. I just had no air in my balloon whatsoever.
I'm having a rough couple of days. I can feel my resolve weakening and I'm worried it's going to be a problem. I haven't drank, but I want to. Up until now, I feel like I've been able to 'will' my way sober, or at least benefit from my inertia. I think it's probably time to start looking at a program with some structure.
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 1,149
GFCO I've been having a rough time lately too and must admit I've 'thought' about drinking. But thats as far as it will go....'thoughts'.
Drinking would do absolutely nothing to make my situation, or yours, any better, easier, or more beareable.
It's hard enough being sober and watching my mother slowly fading away.
Drinking would not help.
Not one bit.
That first drink would taste like liquid misery.
Hang in Girl.
Drinking would do absolutely nothing to make my situation, or yours, any better, easier, or more beareable.
It's hard enough being sober and watching my mother slowly fading away.
Drinking would not help.
Not one bit.
That first drink would taste like liquid misery.
Hang in Girl.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Diego
Posts: 4,451
I get the thoughts sometimes too. Just yesterday it came to me as the kiddo and I headed home. A drink sounded really inviting on a rainy afternoon. But I played the tape, as Dee says. I saw myself waking up the next day, depressed and disappointed. Most of all I just reminded myself of the many times I stood in my kitchen late at night, wishing I could be where I am now, pondering the very real possibility I'd just sink into deeper misery, day by day, year after year, until I finally drank myself to death. That memory usually kills the mood, ya know? 
Look, I'm single and have been for a while, so there's sort of a constant background feeling of loneliness or incompleteness. Sometimes I feel it more, sometimes less, but it's always there. I also have quite a few unfulfilled ambitions. Some I'm starting to actually take action on, after years of simply thinking about them... but lately I feel like my life is at a bit of a standstill.
But all of that stuff is just part of the human condition, when you think about it. Good times, bad times, more good times, more bad times. It's not like there's some threshold we cross where the roller coaster stops, and we get to spend the rest of our lives feeling like everything is predictable and perfect. Ups and downs, ups and downs. That's how it's always been, and how it always will be.
But you know what, GFCO? I knew you when you were drinking, and your rough times back then were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay worse. I know you had moments of being a happy drunk—we all did—but that wasn't the baseline. You were a sad, scared person who was desperately hoping for a different life. Were you hoping for a perfect life? No. You were just hoping to be able to break out of the endless, exhausting cycle of alcoholism, and to deal with life on life's terms... just like you are now.
It's great to cruise through good times. But we really admire people for the way they respond to bad times. And that goes for how we feel about ourselves. The rough times are also the times when we can take the most pride in ourselves. You've accomplished something miraculous. Remember that.
Look, I'm single and have been for a while, so there's sort of a constant background feeling of loneliness or incompleteness. Sometimes I feel it more, sometimes less, but it's always there. I also have quite a few unfulfilled ambitions. Some I'm starting to actually take action on, after years of simply thinking about them... but lately I feel like my life is at a bit of a standstill.
But all of that stuff is just part of the human condition, when you think about it. Good times, bad times, more good times, more bad times. It's not like there's some threshold we cross where the roller coaster stops, and we get to spend the rest of our lives feeling like everything is predictable and perfect. Ups and downs, ups and downs. That's how it's always been, and how it always will be.
But you know what, GFCO? I knew you when you were drinking, and your rough times back then were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay worse. I know you had moments of being a happy drunk—we all did—but that wasn't the baseline. You were a sad, scared person who was desperately hoping for a different life. Were you hoping for a perfect life? No. You were just hoping to be able to break out of the endless, exhausting cycle of alcoholism, and to deal with life on life's terms... just like you are now.
It's great to cruise through good times. But we really admire people for the way they respond to bad times. And that goes for how we feel about ourselves. The rough times are also the times when we can take the most pride in ourselves. You've accomplished something miraculous. Remember that.
Administrator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,445
Like the guys said, everyone has 'dips' GFCO...the important thing is to not just watch yourself slide into the abyss...I did that enough.
I dunno what you do to 'shore things up', but nows a good time to do it
D
I dunno what you do to 'shore things up', but nows a good time to do it
D
Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,071
Thanks Hooped, R&A, & D I think that just admitting to someone else that something's not right has taken some of the pressure off. I feel like I'm accountable to you all so it helps to share here. I'm having a hard time figuring out what's wrong, but I know I'm not going to drink, no matter what.
I think that just admitting to someone else that something's not right has taken some of the pressure off. I feel like I'm accountable to you all so it helps to share here. I'm having a hard time figuring out what's wrong, but I know I'm not going to drink, no matter what.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Diego
Posts: 4,451
Two words: Alabama Shakes. I'd heard the buzz and just caught their live show—that band is going to explode when their album comes out in a couple of months. The woman who fronts them is amazing. Like seeing the second coming of Janis Joplin.
I leaned on the bar for part of the show. I had been standing away from it, but drunks kept bumping into me. So for the first time in my life, the bar was the safest place to be. Nice to finally find a good use for one of those.
I leaned on the bar for part of the show. I had been standing away from it, but drunks kept bumping into me. So for the first time in my life, the bar was the safest place to be. Nice to finally find a good use for one of those.
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