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One Year and Under Club Part 50

Old 01-08-2016, 07:29 AM
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Really great to hear, WWS! You've been working it thoughtfully. Dealing with the extra job stress seems to have made a difference for you. I also believe that committing to posting here daily is a help for some of us.

Key, you are sounding much more settled and more relaxed?

Amp, KIR, BF, BrighterDayz, Van and all of the Undies and Over-Undies, have a lovely day :-)
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Old 01-08-2016, 07:42 AM
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Good morning all!
Day 60 here! When you're marking time it sure crawls by, yet the older we get the years just seem to fly!!!!
I hope you have a great day everybody.
Great job BF!
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Old 01-08-2016, 08:51 AM
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Congrats on 60 days, KIR
Keep up the great work.
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Old 01-08-2016, 09:12 AM
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Have a great weekend guys!
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Old 01-08-2016, 09:13 AM
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Originally Posted by amp123 View Post
Have a great weekend guys!
You too, happy Friday!
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Old 01-08-2016, 06:50 PM
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Key - Good job on 160 days. For me having a framework to follow guides my decisions the right way, instead of my former crazy way!!

KIR - Congrats on 60 days.

BF - Great job on 30 days.

BrighterDayz - Hi and welcome!

Vandermast - Great to see you recommitting to sobriety.

Grace - Nice to see you here!! Great point about coming to peace with your past. Sharing my past with other alcoholics has helped me come to peace with the mistakes I've made. While I wouldn't want to repeat them, I don't live in regret either. I don't hate myself for them. I accept them as part of my journey.

WWS - I hope you have a decent weekend, even though you have to work.

Carlos - I like your 1/6 passage. In my early days and months of sobriety, that message was foreign to me. I had to keep telling myself sobriety was good. Now when I read those words, I feel like I could have written them.

Saskia and Toots - Good to see you. How's everything going?

I had kind of a weird day. Work is going well. I really enjoy my new role; in many ways the week flew by. This afternoon it ground to a halt when my boss had to let someone go. I had to pack up their belongings while they found out they were getting fired, then carry the box of items in plain sight of everyone in the department.

As I was riding the elevator back after the termination, I thought about drinking. My reaction was NO! Sobriety is the basis of all the good things happening in my life (just like the passage Carlos quoted). Today I wanted to conduct myself humbly and right. I didn't seek to attract attention or enlist others to soothe me. Instead I maintained my composure and professional demeanor and proceeded business as usual.

I realized relatively early into my sobriety that I needed to stay sober, but back at the beginning I would have been ticked off that I couldn't drink away this stress! Today I was grateful that when I thought about drinking, I didn't want to because I've got too much peace, serenity, and joy to lose!

It's a miracle, at least for me, to think of others ahead of myself. Tonight I went to a meeting to share my strength and my experience. The room was packed. My sponsor was there. The guy who gave me my first big book was there. A woman who once shared something that introduced me to the link between codependency and addiction was there, too, as were a couple of newcomers who are struggling. The thing we all had in common for that hour is that we were choosing to be sober and live right. Sharing the room with a bunch of drunks soothed me from the day's stresses and kept me focused on the principles that have deeply enriched my life.

I'm glad to be here, sober, and sharing with all of you, too!
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Old 01-08-2016, 07:05 PM
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Thats awesome Glee.
It really lets me know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I love all the peace that I feel that so many of you here have....especially compared to the angst of so many in my newcomers class . It truly helps me keep things in perspective. So thank you everybody here!
Have a great weekend!
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Old 01-08-2016, 07:25 PM
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KIR - I can only speak for myself, but I am not any kind of zen master, just a work in progress who leans on all of you to keep me on the right path.
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Old 01-08-2016, 07:50 PM
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Congrats KIR

Have a great weekend guys

D
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Old 01-09-2016, 01:18 AM
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Thanks for the support

Thanks to all undies posters who have offered kind words of support.

Sober today and grateful
V
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Old 01-09-2016, 01:23 AM
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Good going Glee. Continuing to make the right choices, I think, becomes easier with time.

It is interesting to see how what once would have been a knee jerk reaction (bad day at work = get wasted) slowly becomes a rational choice. That's how it's working out for me. It's becoming progressively easier to, when faced with urges, rationalise and discard the option of drinking.

Toots said recently that occasionally she is faced with the "poor you, what a shame you can't drink" attitude. Her response was to say that she can drink any time she wants but chooses not to. It's all about each person making the right decision for themselves. It was when I got past the first months in sobriety that instead of just batting back the urges I got to make a choice. That choice isn't always an easy one to make though these days it normally is. I know what I want which occasionally means not doing something I feel like doing. If you keep winning these little battles, you never know, you may just win the war!!!

Anyway, I'm going to stop blarting on now!!!

Have a great Saturday everyone!
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Old 01-09-2016, 05:11 AM
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Have a great weekend Undies.

Stay safe and sober and be happy.

Love to you all

G. xxx
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Old 01-09-2016, 05:57 AM
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Originally Posted by amp123 View Post

Toots said recently that occasionally she is faced with the "poor you, what a shame you can't drink" attitude. Her response was to say that she can drink any time she wants but chooses not to. It's all about each person making the right decision for themselves. It was when I got past the first months in sobriety that instead of just batting back the urges I got to make a choice. That choice isn't always an easy one to make though these days it normally is. I know what I want which occasionally means not doing something I feel like doing. If you keep winning these little battles, you never know, you may just win the war!!!
Well said, Amp! For the first three months or so, it was a matter of battling back urges when they threatened to sweep me over. I was at war with booze. After that period, it definitely became a conscious decision on my part not to drink. As you said, the choice wasn't always easy at the time, but each little battle I won helped me continue on the path that I am still blazing through these uncharted lands. At almost nine months sober, the choices almost are automatic-don't drink! It is much, much easier at this point than at the beginning. I experienced a mental transformation like you described that started in the three to six month period, and that has only grown stronger since.

For those with ninety days or less sober, stay the course. In all honesty, it will get easier to do the right thing and lead a better life.
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Old 01-09-2016, 06:20 AM
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Amp, well said! You described something I haven't been able to describe adequately - the power of choice. I don't do well when I feel forced to do something (or even feel pushed to do something I don't want to) and that tends to provoke the rebel in me. After being sober for awhile I went from feeling I "should" and "ought" to be sober to I "want" to be sober. Huge change in perspective and motivation.

Glee, as I read your post something popped for me. I used to be an awful gossip and didn't like that about myself. I'm gradually becoming more respectful of others as I become more respectful of myself.

Have a lovely day, Undies.
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Old 01-09-2016, 06:25 AM
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KIR, I agree with your descriptions of this thread. I find the positivity and watching all of us develop and grow in our sobriety to be inspiring. Sometimes I find it difficult and frustrating to read the Newcomers' thread yet I also find that helpful to remind me just how difficult this journey is in the early days.
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Old 01-09-2016, 12:56 PM
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I think that's key, Saskia... When you realise that you really don't want to drink anymore it all changes. To distinguish between feeling like doing something and wanting to do it is important. The more often you draw that line the less likely you will feel like doing something that, in our cases, is likely to bankrupt us, smash up our relationships, leave us destitute and eventually kill us.
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Old 01-10-2016, 06:23 AM
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Good morning everyone. I did have a rough day at work yesterday and probably will to day too. I am going through a lot of thoughts now about having not just one drink, but several. It's the same old trap, isn't it?

I just need to get through today and hopefully I should be OK.

Thanks for everyone for all of your support.
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Old 01-10-2016, 07:38 AM
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WWS, yes, the AV does tend to stick around and rear its ugly head now and then. Think it through. If that's not enough, do you have a good f2f support person to talk to? If not, coming here is good too. Since it's the weekend, I'd recommend posting on the Weekend thread or a new post in Newcomers if you need to. Best to get ahead of it. You're doing so well and you are so worth it!
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Old 01-10-2016, 09:11 AM
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WWS - So insightful of you to come here to share your challenges with cravings.

It helps me to remember that just because I have a craving doesn't mean I have to act on it. My sponsor says "move a muscle, change a thought." In other words, distract yourself!

Later, when you are feeling ok with sobriety, work on recovery. It puts reserves in the tank so that when you hit the next rough patch, you can efficiently access those tools!
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Old 01-10-2016, 09:28 AM
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Glee, great way to think of it - reserves in the tank :-). Thanks.
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