Lol Amp. Thanks for the chuckle.

Makes me wonder. What other transferable skills I have gained.

Of course I can be really good at lying. But I'm trying not to lie any more. I like being me. Take me as I am or move on.

Pretending that everything's ok when in my mind I'm freaking out. Faking it till I make it.

Hiding things. Useful for Christmas gifts.

Finding prescription meds at any house. Very useful later for the apocalypse.

That's about all I can come up with in short order. There's gotta be more. Maybe not. Maybe it's supposed to be that way. There's not supposed to be skills we learned or gained from addiction.

There are definitely some important skills learned during recovery. Like just how important a good diet can be in our overall mood. How dark chocolate cures just about all mental ailments. I learned how effective meditation can be. Oh and how powerful good ol water can be.

The power of chocolate! I never had much of a sweet tooth back in the day but I do enjoy a bit of chocolate after dinner now. Not sure if it's because my body was used to getting loads of sugar through alcohol and needs to compensate or simply because chocolate is really, really nice.

Either way, I'm not much for vices these days so I don't beat myself up about a bit of chocolate!

Have a great day everyone!

Inc, sounds like you should be running for political office, lol!

Working a 7-5 shift today, as close as I ever get to a real job kind of shift. I will enjoy it today, before I begin a week of working until 1:00 ams. Have a great day everyone!

My main transferable skill from years of drinking is endurance. I really developed that, oh yes. The ability to keep going when drunk and tired, and the ability to keep going when sober and tired. Basically just the ability to keep going.

OMD

^^ Like

At one point, my wife said that I just looked like I was trying to "slog" through each day, trying to make it through the day. She had no idea of the amount of booze I was consuming. Always tired, always enduring...

Hola hola ayyy🐢. Hey guys, OMD, D, INC, Cauli, Swim. Typing from my iPhone 6s Plus so hopefully less typos.

I'm in the tropics (nearly). South Florida. A month now. I got away from that filthy city. 3 killed in gunfire Saturday and Sunday. It's the same thing every week. Besides the infernal noise and pollution. Seething anger beaming off of people in black rays. Sky there is simply grey with thick clouds now. The apartment is still up there, but I'm convinced, I'm dropping it.

Sunny and hot here. Unbelievable. I'm swimming in the ocean daily. Not quite crystal waters, but just fine. 75 degree water.

OMD, I'm wearing a Keen sandals, with the tiny inserts I got 20 years ago from the doc. I dropped my boots with heavy orthotics. I put those Keens on and haven't worn any other shoe. The new Arroyo II, is basically a hiking/water sandal with a removable sneaker type insert. Their most covered and comfortable sandal. And I'm wearing them with socks, judge me if you must :P. That's right, I just don't care!! Rebuilding feet with a small rubber ball that looks like a tiny basketball, and walking barefoot on the beach. My pain is going way down. OMD was right!!!!!

It also helps to be booze free. I really don't want it. I do think about just 'letting loose for one night.' :/ But I've done that I don't go back anymore. I still cant have it ever, but the amount of time in between, and the severity is getting longer and longer, and less and less.

That great new therapist is huge. I really miss him, but can Skype with him if I need to. He really started to get me to like myself.

I guess chipping away and not giving up, is a route. It's not as good as just 'bam!' thats it, but it beats the heck out of being an extra on The Walking Dead, only thinking of the next time I can get hammered... FUBAR.

I could basically fish, pick bananas and fruit off trees, collect muscles, and drink from green coconuts here, and never pay for food. I've been just grabbing stuff off trees. Drank 3 coconuts last night (more than a nice pint). The tree trimmers come and they drop all over the ground, you need to grab them then. So good for you. Bitter with minerals and probiotics.

Ok. Well I'm going to eat something and drink some coffee. Thought I'd say hi and luv you guys.

Peace out :D

I'm ON the beach.

Great hearing from you Johnny! So pleased you're doing well!

coffee needs to be next
I Had No Alcohol and No Coffee for 15 Months and This Is What Happened | Tobias van Schneider

Yeah Johnny!!!

Hope everyone is doing well. Out selling insurance today. Sun is shinning. Great day to be driving around. Of course nothing like FL! It's 41F today.

Hi Johnny!! So great to hear from you! I was just thinking about you the other day. I'm so glad you've found so much peace and happiness :)

Not there yet, but I'm moving forward. Change of location was absolutely necessary.

Great to hear from you Johnny! You're killing it and Lol at the sock sandal combo! At least you probably don't get pestered by the beach sellers :)

Stay well Sir and stay in touch.

OMD

Ps giving up coffee? Not in this life. you gotta live a little. Coffee, chocolate, all ok with me. And yes, I now have a fondness for chocolate too since I got less sugar through no drinking, I'll take that any day.

OMD

Since Johnny mentioned no coffee and shared that link, I've been giving thought to stopping. I still struggle with anxiety periodically. Overall I'd say my mood is 1000% better, but it's not very reliable or level.

I've got smoking, lots and lots of sugar, and more coffee than ever before going on. Between nicotine, sugar, caffeine....there's my problem.

Well, the big battle is the sobriety, so, let's face it... If we can kick the booze we can probably kick any of the others. You just have to want to enough....

Enjoy your coffee guys!! And chocolate. I have bad anxiety and tight muscles and tendons constantly. For me not to at least see how I feel for 2 weeks without it is kind (well completely) dumb. Just like a lot of things about me I'm trying to get past. One thing at a time. The psychiatrist says with my antidepressant and coffee I'm mixing 2 stimulants, he has a lot patients that just can't touch the stuff.

Then you have the folks who drink a lot of coffee and it's like nothing. Depends who you are I guess.

I've turned to fats. A while back I did great with the good fats and low carb diet. Now I'm eating cheese and uncured salami and pita chips all the time. Gonna have to curb that.

And THANKS everyone!!

It's a battle just living. And all that wasted time. I just can't escape thinking about it. Decades of sleeping all day and accomplishing nothing. It's hard to get over that.

Man Johnny...
You've come a long way buddy.

And yeah...I often think about all I've lost over the past few years. A little different than yours, but the thoughts are depressing. I have to make myself think of something else. Obviously the best to think about is now or the future. I have so much to be thankful for. I recognize and give myself the well due credit of what I've done to fix myself. I think that if I can do what I did, then I can do more.

That negative self talk to thinking of depressing issues from the past so no good whatsoever. I know you know that. It's more for my own good to type that out. I've gotten really good at quickly changing my thoughts and paying attention to my self talk when needed. Practice, practice, practice. The more I force myself to change, the more it happen automatically.

Today begins the nightly pre- Christmas Holiday grind for me. Being sober has cut my stress levels way down from previous years. It's a good thing because my wife is bat poop crazy about stupid things that really don't matter all that much. Funny that she is almost as big a stressor as my job, lol!

Cauli,

How you doin' lady?