Class of April 2015 Part 9
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Canada
Posts: 691
Hi everyone, nice to see everyone here. I am still hanging in there, 7 months tomorrow! Weirdly I received a joke email from my dad about wine drinkers. I just emailed him back stating that was why I quit drinking...he must have forgot or something. Strange!
The other night I went out for dinner with a good friend that I haven't seen in ages, he was in town on business. I told him I quit drinking and he said, oh oh, what did you do? It was the first time someone asked me that. In my case it wasn't just one thing, it was a growing number of reasons. But, his question made me think that maybe some people must think some horribly embarrassing or bad happened that caused me to just stop. Oh well, let people keep guessing.
OMD, you don't need to be religious to be spiritual. I believe that there is something greater then me. As my thoughts become clearer, I am becoming more aware of what is happening. I believe we are manifesting all good things that is happening to us, and Inc, if a roll of quarters is a sign of good things to come, i'll take it! I find myself saying thank you to the sky when things go my way, and the more I say it, the more good things happen. What ever works!
The other night I went out for dinner with a good friend that I haven't seen in ages, he was in town on business. I told him I quit drinking and he said, oh oh, what did you do? It was the first time someone asked me that. In my case it wasn't just one thing, it was a growing number of reasons. But, his question made me think that maybe some people must think some horribly embarrassing or bad happened that caused me to just stop. Oh well, let people keep guessing.
OMD, you don't need to be religious to be spiritual. I believe that there is something greater then me. As my thoughts become clearer, I am becoming more aware of what is happening. I believe we are manifesting all good things that is happening to us, and Inc, if a roll of quarters is a sign of good things to come, i'll take it! I find myself saying thank you to the sky when things go my way, and the more I say it, the more good things happen. What ever works!
Quit 4/17/15
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pa
Posts: 15,150
Originally Posted by Cauliflower 
Hi everyone, nice to see everyone here. I am still hanging in there, 7 months tomorrow! Weirdly I received a joke email from my dad about wine drinkers. I just emailed him back stating that was why I quit drinking...he must have forgot or something. Strange!
The other night I went out for dinner with a good friend that I haven't seen in ages, he was in town on business. I told him I quit drinking and he said, oh oh, what did you do? It was the first time someone asked me that. In my case it wasn't just one thing, it was a growing number of reasons. But, his question made me think that maybe some people must think some horribly embarrassing or bad happened that caused me to just stop. Oh well, let people keep guessing.
OMD, you don't need to be religious to be spiritual. I believe that there is something greater then me. As my thoughts become clearer, I am becoming more aware of what is happening. I believe we are manifesting all good things that is happening to us, and Inc, if a roll of quarters is a sign of good things to come, i'll take it! I find myself saying thank you to the sky when things go my way, and the more I say it, the more good things happen. What ever works!
The other night I went out for dinner with a good friend that I haven't seen in ages, he was in town on business. I told him I quit drinking and he said, oh oh, what did you do? It was the first time someone asked me that. In my case it wasn't just one thing, it was a growing number of reasons. But, his question made me think that maybe some people must think some horribly embarrassing or bad happened that caused me to just stop. Oh well, let people keep guessing.
OMD, you don't need to be religious to be spiritual. I believe that there is something greater then me. As my thoughts become clearer, I am becoming more aware of what is happening. I believe we are manifesting all good things that is happening to us, and Inc, if a roll of quarters is a sign of good things to come, i'll take it! I find myself saying thank you to the sky when things go my way, and the more I say it, the more good things happen. What ever works!
Funny, I have gotten that "oh no, what did you do" or "were you forced to quit?" line from several people upon finding out that I quit drinking. I guess they figured I must have really screwed up big time for me to give up drinking! Up until this spring, I would have probably thought the same thing if one of my drinking friends suddenly announced they were quitting drinking. I could never have imagined a world where I would not be a drinker.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 560
Thanks Cauli, that's true. But I don't think I could adopt your approach of thanking the sky - I'd probably bump into something.
Anyway, had a tiresome day today and would normally have sunk a load by now but that never even crossed my mind earlier. Not bad huh!
Inc, damn right you passed the drugs test
Take care all
OMD
Anyway, had a tiresome day today and would normally have sunk a load by now but that never even crossed my mind earlier. Not bad huh!
Inc, damn right you passed the drugs test
Take care all
OMD
Quit 4/17/15
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pa
Posts: 15,150
Another day of crazy holiday retail in the books. This time last year I was drinking heavily to relieve the stress and "relax" quickly after work. Not drinking has allowed me to sleep a little better and of course, not feel like dirt waking up the next day. My anxiety levels are way down from last year.It sounds funny to say it, but I never before considered how stressful being an alcoholic really was. Life is so much easier to deal with when you are not either smashed or trying to recover from being so every single day.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Spain
Posts: 2,004
Hey guys! Just posted this on the One Year and Under group but really want to share this happy story with you too:
Hi guys!
An amazing thing just happened. I was sitting in my office at my language school and a delivery guy arrived with a huge bouquet of beautiful flowers. This struck me as really odd as it was nobody's birthday or any thing like that. We didn't want to open them because we thought it might be a mistake or something so we phoned the florist's who is in Barcelona (over a thousand km from here). Anyway, he said they were sent by John Smith (not real name), a teacher at a local language school. You won't believe how happy this made me feel! I opened the package and inside was a note reading:
Dear Friends,
This year I give thanks to you for helping me pass one of life's exams.
Happy Thanksgiving,
John
So, I'll start at the beginning. On Monday the 20th April this year, after a boozey, messed up weekend, I decided to give up drinking. It was something that had been coming for some time but I hadn't quite got it right. On that particular Monday I redoubled my resolve and decided that, whatever happened, I wasn't going to drink that day. Well, that particular day turned out to be a day from hell as one of my teachers, an American called John Smith, failed to turn up to work. We couldn't get him by phone either so, after working his shift for him, I decided to look up his address on our records and try to find him. He hadn't been working for us very long but I'd been mentoring him and I was worried that something may have happened to him as he seemed to be a really professional, organised and dedicated guy.
I was really surprised when I arrived at his address to find it was a halfway-house for people overcoming addiction or just out of jail. I talked with the manager who said that John had been overcoming an addiction issue but had been due to move out the following week. He was devastated because he'd seen that John had gone back onto the drink and was refusing to come back to the house. if he didn't come back in 24 hours he would lose his place and wind up on the street. The manager couldn't believe it because John had been doing so well in every sense. I, of course, couldn't believe it either. I would never have suspected that this was his "home" situation. I just knew he was divorced and lived alone.
I drove around looking for him that evening but didn't find him until 2 days later. He was in a mess. Seriously lost. He'd been in a fight and his clothes were messed up and he was wasted though it was only mid-morning. I bought him coffee and food and got him into a local hostal and then one of our secretaries who trained as a social worker managed to get him onto a state funded rehab program a couple of weeks later which he thankfully took up. I met up with him a few times and talked to him about recovery, I explained my own situation too. Maybe it helped. He came by to say thanks one day in July and he was kind of cleaned up but I hadn't heard from him since. I didn't know how it had worked out for him... until now!
One of the reasons I've been able to be so dedicated to my own recovery was because I didn't want the same to happen to me as had happened to John. I'm so happy that he's doing ok and that he has found employment. Life really does give second chances!
I just thought I'd share this here because it shows that miracles can happen. Each one of us in our own way can continue to prove that point!!!
Hi guys!
An amazing thing just happened. I was sitting in my office at my language school and a delivery guy arrived with a huge bouquet of beautiful flowers. This struck me as really odd as it was nobody's birthday or any thing like that. We didn't want to open them because we thought it might be a mistake or something so we phoned the florist's who is in Barcelona (over a thousand km from here). Anyway, he said they were sent by John Smith (not real name), a teacher at a local language school. You won't believe how happy this made me feel! I opened the package and inside was a note reading:
Dear Friends,
This year I give thanks to you for helping me pass one of life's exams.
Happy Thanksgiving,
John
So, I'll start at the beginning. On Monday the 20th April this year, after a boozey, messed up weekend, I decided to give up drinking. It was something that had been coming for some time but I hadn't quite got it right. On that particular Monday I redoubled my resolve and decided that, whatever happened, I wasn't going to drink that day. Well, that particular day turned out to be a day from hell as one of my teachers, an American called John Smith, failed to turn up to work. We couldn't get him by phone either so, after working his shift for him, I decided to look up his address on our records and try to find him. He hadn't been working for us very long but I'd been mentoring him and I was worried that something may have happened to him as he seemed to be a really professional, organised and dedicated guy.
I was really surprised when I arrived at his address to find it was a halfway-house for people overcoming addiction or just out of jail. I talked with the manager who said that John had been overcoming an addiction issue but had been due to move out the following week. He was devastated because he'd seen that John had gone back onto the drink and was refusing to come back to the house. if he didn't come back in 24 hours he would lose his place and wind up on the street. The manager couldn't believe it because John had been doing so well in every sense. I, of course, couldn't believe it either. I would never have suspected that this was his "home" situation. I just knew he was divorced and lived alone.
I drove around looking for him that evening but didn't find him until 2 days later. He was in a mess. Seriously lost. He'd been in a fight and his clothes were messed up and he was wasted though it was only mid-morning. I bought him coffee and food and got him into a local hostal and then one of our secretaries who trained as a social worker managed to get him onto a state funded rehab program a couple of weeks later which he thankfully took up. I met up with him a few times and talked to him about recovery, I explained my own situation too. Maybe it helped. He came by to say thanks one day in July and he was kind of cleaned up but I hadn't heard from him since. I didn't know how it had worked out for him... until now!
One of the reasons I've been able to be so dedicated to my own recovery was because I didn't want the same to happen to me as had happened to John. I'm so happy that he's doing ok and that he has found employment. Life really does give second chances!
I just thought I'd share this here because it shows that miracles can happen. Each one of us in our own way can continue to prove that point!!!
Quit 4/17/15
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pa
Posts: 15,150
So I stopped at the liquor store to pick up wine for the Thanksgiving dinner we are hosting Thursday. Thanksgiving in the US is a holiday full of drunkenness. I was listening to the radio driving home from work and some police chief was talking about how he would have twenty extra officers on DUI (drunk driving) patrol Wednesday night and Thursday and how it was one of the busiest periods all year. People really let loose because they only have a three day work week (except us poor retail workers!) and I think also because people are stuck hanging with family members who drive them crazy so they drink lots to make it through. I, of course, always partook in the above festivities with embellishment. Getting back to my original point before my tangent, I was laughing to myself about buying two bottles of wine for dinner. This is for seven adults. Two bottles-seven adults. This is how normal people drink. I will probably have wine left over. In past years, I'd have a bottle downed before the turkey hit the table and another one finished before the dishes were finally washed. Then it was off to beer or rum to get serious. Not missing those days at all. I am glad that I can finally look back at myself and laugh at my drunken foolishness. I can't get that time back, but experiencing each new calendar holiday sober this year has been an eye opening experience.
Have a great day everyone! Drive safely!
Have a great day everyone! Drive safely!
Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 2,412
Originally Posted by stargazer016
Then it was off to beer or rum to get serious.
I hated going to other people's for Thanksgiving because I didn't have a stash of alcohol I could hit on the side. At least my brother would have some liquor out and would make a drink or two. I was the best at topping off my drink when nobody was looking. That's not an easy feet either because the the bottle would be in the kitchen. Takes some special skills to do that on Thanksgiving.
It took years of practice to get that good. In my case I had practice from stealing pain killers from family and friends. Most people keep those meds in the kitchen. Usually the door closest to the sink with the door closest to the garage door, if they had one, as the 2nd most popular spot.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 2,412
A lot to be thankful for this year. That's for sure.
You know...this insurance thing just drives be crazy. Things were going super strong last week. I was starting to think I made a bad choice of going back into retail. I know if I found the right market / counties to work, I'd do very well. But just didn't have to money to test out areas.
I had one sale that was going to net me $2,000+ in commission last week. But then the deal fell through once he found out Veteran Affairs office was going to offer him discounted life insurance since he's 100% disabled. Got that news last night. So i'm back to being super exited to having a normal job. lol. I start on Monday.
You know...this insurance thing just drives be crazy. Things were going super strong last week. I was starting to think I made a bad choice of going back into retail. I know if I found the right market / counties to work, I'd do very well. But just didn't have to money to test out areas.
I had one sale that was going to net me $2,000+ in commission last week. But then the deal fell through once he found out Veteran Affairs office was going to offer him discounted life insurance since he's 100% disabled. Got that news last night. So i'm back to being super exited to having a normal job. lol. I start on Monday.
Quit 4/17/15
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pa
Posts: 15,150
Happy sober Thanksgiving to all! I really am thankful for making my decision in April to try to break the bonds of booze. Hugely thankful that I got the chance to save my life before I totally drank it down the drain. While pouring wine for my guests today, I will feel joy , not remorse, that I will be enjoying sparkling cider instead.
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