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Man... All kinds of good news coming my way. Yesterday, I wasn't told I was going to die from cancer. At least immediately. Later, I got a call from my boss promoting me to assistant Mgr with $2500 raise and bonuses up to 15k with 4k achieved lying down. Today, my boss pulled me aside and said a General Manager spot opened up and he wants me to have it and asked if I was ready. Came back later and said it was approved! Another $2500 raise with bonus up to 28k with 8k achieved lying down! Two promotions in two days! |
Well done Inc! It's funny, life's ebbs and flows. Proud of ya! |
That's made me so pleased, Inc! My wife just asked what I was smiling about so I told her! She sends her congratulations too! Think about where you were a couple of months ago when you were nearly back in the grip of addiction and then about what happened to you today! Life certainly is full of swings and round abouts! From night to day!!! Enjoy the moment!!! A valentine's day to remember. Hope you enjoy a celebration with your fiancee! |
Loving the feel good factor,today! An old friend stops by, people doing well, it's all good! Amp, we all get you. By the way SG I am totally over the moderation idea. Like in one of the SMART things that Inc posted - just reminiscing nonsense - remember what actually brought me here? Yep, desperation. I am not going back there - sometimes I just forget how different my life is. In fact, since bitching about my social life (none) I have taken steps there too. It's possible! One day this group will meet but even if it doesn't we are still together. Best wishes OMD |
Originally Posted by amp123
(Post 6332731)
Hey Canguy! Great to see you. I certainly missed you when you dropped off this thread. At the time you were saying that you found SR helpful but it didn't work so well for you in Australia because of the time zone stuff. Did you find some support mire local to you in the end? Sorry to hear about your job situation. I hope you've worked something out? Congratulations on getting through that first week and hope to see you round here from time to time! Take care! You're doing great. So few posting here now...... Yeah.....have signed on to the sober once again. I try not to see it as repeated failure....more a series of , uh, 'dry runs' for eventual sobriety. I've learned to enjoy being sober....learned how to do it, but just haven't yet quite learned how to make to make it stick like you guys have. The job? Its not the utter catastrophe that job loss is for so many. I've been freelancing on a pretty regular basis, love having time to pursue other things. Knew it was coming, so had planned for it. Right now looking to start new business, which is what I've always wanted. So its an opportunity really....I'm lucky. But .... going to work does provide structure, and the last 6 months have been well soaked. So have to get that sorted out or nothing good will happen. All the best and congratulations |
Amp. Thats super sweet! This is for real.... My fiance asked ME why I was smiling! Lol. Very kind. Of both of you. OMD. Thanks for your kind words too. Look into SMART recovery. Much of their program is about maintaining sobriety. I'm not that fat into it, but most of it is about building and maintaining motivation to stay sober. I know I need a little guidance on that too. Sometimes I want to let loose and party. Or I'll feel sorry for myself. I'm curious to see how SMART approaches the motivation factor. It's one of their 4 pillars that the program is based on: The 4-Point Program offers specific tools and techniques for each of the program points: Point 1: Building and Maintaining Motivation Point 2: Coping with Urges Point 3: Managing Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors Point 4: Living a Balanced Life Seems right up my alley and exactly what I need. Also OMD, I agree. Once you said we'll get together one day, I felt it. I can sense that will happen. That would be soo cool. Canguy... I can't express enough how glad it is to have you back. Keep swinging by please. And here's good news for ya...i also sense you will be part of our get together that OMD is going to coordinate and AMP paying for ;) |
I have continued to explore addiction and why I kept drinking for years after I realized that it was not doing me any good. Last night, I read an article about brain chemistry and addiction. Though some of it was over my head, basically, our brains develop neural maps that allow us to expedite certain behaviors. Jump on a bike, our brains have a neural map that kicks in so we don't have to give it a lot of thought. Pick up a toothbrush with our usual hand and we brush our teeth with nary a thought. (Try brushing your teeth with your other hand, it's strange and not at all automatic.) Our brains develop neural maps for when alcohol hits our system. We in fact train and rewire our brains to make us alcoholics. Our brains become conspirators in our alcoholic drama. These neural networks that we establish over years of heavy alcohol abuse never go away, they just kind of lie dormant, waiting to kick back up again if alcohol enters the picture. It's pretty scary stuff. That's why sobriety is hard at times. We basically are having to relearn everything all over again, develop new neural maps that bypass the ones we created with our addictions. I think integrating the physiological reasons for drinking along with recovery plans like SMART that Inc is investigating can only benefit us as we march forward on this path we embarked upon 20 months ago. Complacency is our enemy! Be strong and live life! Have a great day all! |
Something else that is interesting, is that you actually CAN exercise the brain and make new connections too. Much of our life, if not all of our waking moments, is in response to stimulus. The brain has formed these synapses through a lifetime of training. We see, smell, feel, and generally "sense" the world around us, then we react accordingly. As information, or instructions, move from one neuron to another, it passes through a void. This is where neurotransmitters, like dopamine, does its job: transferring the signal from a neuron to a receptor. If we use a synapse a lot, the neurons actually grow. They can grow to the point where they touch each other, which quickens the reaction time. And there you have an automated response. This system not only determines what we do, but how we feel about it. Therefore, just by repetition, you can not only change a response to a stimulus, but how you feel about it. For example, something I learned when doing my 30 day discipline challange was standing tall and putting my shoulders back a bit. Especially when talking to others. This was something that would enter my mind while talking to someone mostly. Well, a couple weeks ago, I caught myself doing that automatically as I was talking to a superior. See... When I put my shoulders back a bit, I feel more confident. A lot more confident actually. To the point where I can say, or do, nothing wrong. Same goes for me dwelling on the past. As soon as a negative thought of the past enters my mind now, I immediately become more aware of my surroundings. At first, I had to force myself to be in the "now" by taking deep breaths then purposely looking out at the weather if I could. Now, it's automatic. |
This is a very interesting article a out creating new neural pathways (changing habits). I especially like how she describes exercising. Where we feel great about it at some point because all we see are the positives. But then negative thoughts can take hold, like that it's boring, or that I have to push hard, etc. https://www.truevitality.com.au/articles/creating-new-neural-pathways-2/ |
Great article Inc! |
I think a physiological explanation of where we've come from and where we are going is terribly interesting and, with an extra dimension of knowledge, comes further understanding. I'm sitting in a recording studio right now for the first time in over two years. My band and I are planning to put a record together. No particular timeline. As long as we want or need really! If today turns out to be a drag maybe it will just turn out to be a single!!! In the past at this stage I would have been hanging out with the sound engineers sharing a couple of laughs and beers and generally distracting away from the object of the exercise! Today I'm focussed and enjoying the process of creating the track with the group. It's good to be me today ;) |
good for you Amp -best wishes :) Hope everyone has a good weekend :) D |
Sounds great Amp! How did it turn out? Thanks Dee, you also! |
Wow Amp. Love it! Great day to be me too. Had a very exciting day generating sales. My team rocked it today. Highly energetic. I was jamming tunes on a 700watt receiver with tower speakers, center channel, and 400watt subwoofer. Lots of fun. Everyone was in a buying mood today. My store was #1 in the region when I left work at 830pm. It's a great day to be me! |
Awesome day Inc! It's been a great week for you! |
Great to see everyone doing well! Enjoy the rest of the weekend! Best wishes OMD |
Very mild weather this weekend, more April than February. Unfortunately, will be working all day once again. Have a great day all! |
Best wishes for a great Monday everyone! |
Indeed. Remember Monday is a fun day! Yesterday I wrote a long post about my plans for recording with the band, the importance of staying connected to the things I enjoy and how my life without alcohol has had an impact on almost all the things I care about... So on the bright side you've been saved from hearing me rambling on interminably! Have a great day! |
Amp, I presume the recording session went pretty well then? |
I'm so busy! Can't imagine trying to do this drunk. I'd fail for sure. |
Originally Posted by stargazer016
(Post 6340295)
Amp, I presume the recording session went pretty well then? For me it's not about the record once it's out. It's more about the journey. The essence is not really about proving a point or gaining commercial success. It's about creativity and remaining connected to the things I care about and maintaining relationships beyond my immediate circle. The studio is an environment in which I can finally feel comfortable again. More so than at live shows for now, I think although we were invited to participate in a competition for a place at a festival this summer and I somewhat spontaneously threw our name into the hat. If we won we'd earn enough to make the record, but of course, this may involve treking up to Extremadura this summer and actually playing at the event!! Anyway. I like being a part-time musician again. It was like I lost myself and all the parts of me when I lost the booze and I'm slowly reassembling!!! Anyway... Hope you're all having a good week! |
That's great that you are reconnecting again with your music, Amp! I think we all probably all followed the "threw the baby out with the bathwater" line of thinking. In our eagerness to create a new sober self, we presumed that anything that existed before sobriety was either no good or at the least damaged. There are many things in our lives that "were us" before drinking took over. I think it's taken me the full 20 months to somewhat sort through what is still important to me from my previous life and what was just alcoholic thinking and behavior. Being sober has opened my mind to all possibilities, including the one that many things in my past life are still important today, and have nothing to do with my addiction and make me still who I am today. Enjoy the day all! |
Yes. That makes a lot of sense SG. I'm thinking along very much the same lines ;) |
Me three. Great posts. I'm so fortunate to be part of this family! |
My "weekend" is over and I barely felt that I had time off. My kids were off Tuesday so my wife conveniently scheduled a bunch of appointments that I could run the kids to. Yesterday, we had a mandatory management meeting at work. Though it only went a couple hours, adding in the long round trip commute, it pretty much blew the majority of my afternoon. Then a counseling appointment for my son until late last night. Some weekends are just like that I guess! Our unseasonably April weather is continuing today. Though our winter has been very mild compared to most, this warm week to has helped to cheer up my soul. Constant cold and gray skies do wear me down around the edges at times. Best wishes for a great day everyone! |
Lol on the conveniently set appts. My day off started with a surprise conference call that I took at the gym. Followed by calling my asst mgrs for 90min and follow up call with my boss :/ Thankfully, I'm still in my honeymoon phase and everything is still fun and exciting. That was followed by some nice 1on1 time with my fiance. We had lunch together, then shopped for a wedding band for me. Last week I suggested we each get a book to read at night instead of TV. We hit a bookstore today and each picked one out. We'll swap when done. Hers was a book on mindfulness which looks interesting. Mine is titled "get your sh*t together" which looks REALLY interesting. Doing a little homework now making a Mgr schedule through April while she's at an appointment. So far, not too bad of a day off :) |
Hello! Yes, totally agree - time to pick up where we left on the things we enjoyed, just minus the booze. Can't believe we're heading into another weekend and the end of the second month of 2017. March already looks pretty grim. Better than no work though. Inc when's the wedding and I assume we will all get an invitation :) Right, onwards and upwards, folks. Best wishes OMD |
Actually, we don't have a date. Originally we were looking at Maine in the fall, but now the Carolinas. This will give us a chance to leave the girls with Grandma. Ya'll wanna pick a date for me? So far, we're looking at 6/15/17. I think 4/20 would be a good day. But we're not ready. |
I don't think 4/20 is a date that you will want to remember as your wedding date, lol! |
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