DaisyBelle7

Agreed!

DaisyBelle7

Suze, I was just on FB. One of my cousins whom I’ve never met (long story) is on my friend list. I knew he lived in Columbus, but I didn’t know where. He checked himself into his neighborhood... guess which neighborhood he lives in!! I was like, “where have I seen ‘German Village’ before?” You two are probably neighbors.

venuscat

OMG Daisy......this is getting Twilight Zone fantastic.
I would not be surprised if we lived in the same street.

MrWolfie68

Please stick around guys. It took me 1 1/2 years to make it back after relapsing in the summer of 2018. I so wish I would have limited that period to a little slip and returned to posting, etc right away. We are all here to support one another no matter what. That is what it takes to beat this illness as I have grudgingly come to understand.

dontlookbacchus

Dear Willow and Sobermafia

There is no shame in stumbling. Thank you for posting. When I relapsed I didn't join back with a sobriety group and regretted that. You are both such nice people, it will be great if you stay with us or join a new class. Whatever helps most. Just one day at a time
Both of your contributions have helped all of us also.

And thank you guys for your kind words. I am happy to not look like Brad Pitt ( ... that is a sentence I didn't expect to write when I woke up this morning
Although, didn't Brad recently talk about becoming sober after a long time? Good for him. Who knows, maybe he found his way to SR and was a secret classmate?

I am pushing through still. Routines and goals seem to help. So I avoid that feeling of endlessly treading water and not noticing progress.

Have a happy, safe and sober day classmates. Whatever day you are on.

dlb

MrWolfie68

Good morning to everyone.

I hesitate to share this, but I've been likened to Will Ferrell a number of times over the years.

I hope everyone has a great and sober day. I am heading into the weekend, and actually not apprehensive about making it through this time. Baby steps. Today is Day 52.

Willow00

Thanks everyone ❤️
I’m not leaving, I’m sticking around with you guys. I like you guys and I can’t keep joining new threads. I want this to be it. Sober me. I just feel bad for stuffing up again, I really thought I had it nailed this time, Jan 1 2020 and all that... but grief is a huge thing.

Suze your post made me cry In a kinda good way, because I know you get me, and the burden of grief is too big to bear alone.
And like I posted in November, I’ve got a plan. I know I need a better plan. I saw my doc, got a referral, and have an appointment with a psychologist to delve into the grief (and whatever else is lurking below the surface) to find a way forward without jumping back to alcohol as a crutch every time things get too hard for me to bear. I need to find new strategies. And most importantly at the moment, I need to find some inner joy and light. I will keep trying.
Thanks everyone for being here

jr67

Hello class.

Jr has a five-minute limit from typing the opening word of his posts (in this case, "Hello") to hitting "submit reply" until he breaks the logjam in a few work projects he's been avoiding. (My last post a couple of days ago listed a few of those projects, in jr-code form. No need for you to look back to see what they are, dear reader. The point is jr knows he has to stop avoiding the work, and with a major time-sink of a (rewarding) project coming up next week and expected to last two or three weeks, this, today, has to be the time to catch up on some of these old back-burner projects that have to be addressed).

Time's up. C u l8r.

Stay here, all you Yesterday-plus-one people, whether you are restarting the count today or tallying up personal records.

Lixie

Had to change my signature. Stumbled last night. Starting over today.

MrWolfie68

Sorry you stumbled Lixie, but sure am glad you came right back to post. I have found that very difficult to do in the past. No time like the present to build upon the success you have already achieved in the past month or so.

Willow00

I agree with Wolfie Lixie. No time limit like the present
I changed my signature too. I took off my sobriety date
But I’m still here and still trying ❤️

Lixie

Am I a bad person for feeling a bit better about my slip because others have slipped as well?

MrWolfie68

Willow, so glad your sticking around and fighting. That takes a tremendous amount of strength given all that you have been through. I can't even imagine having gone through all that and remaining sober this past year. You have got me thinking a lot about what I need to do to deal with life's inevitable hardships and I realize I have a long way to go in this whole process.

Lixie, not bad at all. There is a certain comfort in knowing you are among others that have gone/are going through many of the same issues you are. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of slips I have had in the past few years. This is a tough battle indeed.

Hope you two have a good day as tough as that may be. I know how you feel. I have been there.

dontlookbacchus

Lixie. You can do this. I am so happy you are staying in our group. All of us share similar challenges and have screwed up in the past. We can learn to do this togther.
Wolfie has said it better than I can. It is great you are staying in the fight with us Willow.

This is all about our future.
And building up tools to get through life without sabotaging ourselves from happiness.

dlb

fishkiller

willow So glad you are staying!! read, post, cry, laugh, whatever it takes!
I have a good feeling you will make it. Never give up

Lixie sorry you stumbled also. Very glad you too are staying and working through it. Admitting this and jumping right back on it shows strength and we all know this requires gobs of it.

It does not make you a bad person to find some relief knowing you are not different than anyone else.
Just recognize it for what it is and don't let it become a way to justify having another drink.

congrats on 52 days wolfie!

good morning to the rest of my favorite class!

Keep on fighting!

PS: I must admit the AV has been lurking close to the surface these past couple days.
As I have posted before my daughter and her family are coming to live with us very soon. Her husband drinks and we have had a couple benders when they have visited.
The ole AV has been using this and throwing snapshots of sitting on the deck with a cold beer with the SIL on a warm summer day.

These are fleeting moments but you all know how it feels. MMM cold beer

Then my Anti AV kicks in and throws out the big picture of me sitting in the chair either passed out or close to it with the sun still high in the air and the grandbabies running around wanting to play but grandpa can't or won't get up.

I'd rather be this guy with a cold glass of iced tea ready for anything.

Have a great day all!

fishkiller

bacchus I know what you mean about needing goals and routine.
I am retired and need structure or I will just fade away. Hard on these cold windy days to get out and start something but it always feels good once I do.

Cityboy

Morning class. Something I like about what I do is the lack of routine in that some days are at home in front of my computer, some days are mostly driving around checking projects, and of course some days are doing actual work. In fact I think the only constant routine has been the inevitable stop for beer/wine in the afternoon. The variety keeps things interesting but makes it difficult for things like going to gym, eating properly, and meeting wife for lunch dates, all of which probably would have been deterrents for drinking.

Cityboy

One of my greatest fears right now is the thought of slipping back into the old cycle of dependency. The thought of slipping a night or two here and there is not really a fear but I've just heard too much testimony about terrible relapses. It is reassuring to know that I won't be cast aside if there is a slip up.

I've also thought about what would constitute a slip up. A glass of wine with dinner? Trying a glass of some new craft beer? As has been discussed before, probably better not to tempt fate.

Along the same lines as something fishkiller said, General Stanley McChrystal did a TED TALK that was very good. In it he discusses 9/11, his experience at operations command following it, but he also talked about his training as an airborne officer. One war game exercise in particular that he discussed was a complete setup for his entire unit to be wiped out. He said that he felt like a complete failure following the exercise, but his CO told him that he had done great. Then he said something like "you are going to fail at things sometimes, but that doesn't make you a failure."

venuscat

Of course not....it's just human nature to feel comfort in the fact that we are not alone.

Onwards together love. s xxxxx ❤️❤️

venuscat

Contemplating a relapse is a warning sign for me dear Cityboy.
If my head is doing that, or doing the mmmmmmmmmm beer thing fish, I would up my recovery plan....literally get off my butt and start going to a meeting around the corner every day.

Romancing the stuff as we head to warmer months is an easy thing to do....but like you said dear fish, you need to play the tape through....and get to grandpa passed out and perhaps a wife who is very very upset with you.

I am not sure why you can't tell your son in law that your house is an alcohol-free zone. If he wants to drink he can go to a bar. Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh, but that is absolutely what I would do. s

And you guys are awesome.....just saying.