Hello to all waking the part of righteousness. Today is day 94 for me of no alcohol. Even more importantly it’s another sober day in the past year which has seen a drastic reduction in relapses and overall use. I truly am getting more well.

Mental health is still proving to be issue. Last week I got very sick taking a supplement recommended by a friend. That sickness had me on the ropes but I’m back to fight again today. In two days I’ll bury my best friend. And tomorrow I’ll take my final
exam in the first of 24 5-week courses to complete my MBA. So good things are happening. As they will continue to do if I don’t choose alcohol as a crutch. I had some close calls this week but feel good today. How is everyone else feeling? Something bad, something good and something to be grateful for?

Good morning to all! Thanks Slaying, for leading off this morning.

I love those foods that Dusty mentioned. Mmmm.. rice pudding and custard - I grew up with them and still enjoy as treats. I am 1/4 English and 1/4 Welsh so perhaps that's why, although that was my father's side and he was absent when I was growing up. Hmmm.. :c024: Mom was Czech and Finn, but perhaps they like those foods too! We always had dessert, haha, part of my sugar problem now I think. I am thinking of going low carb/no sugar starting in a few days. As soon as my current supply of San Pellegrino is gone.

Do hope that all are recovering in your family, Dusty.

Gabe, where are you? I Shall? Alba? Hope all are well.

Just saw your post, BABM. Thanks for checking in and sorry to hear about the supplement issue. Great job on your MBA program.

Feeling sad about all the people sick and dying of Covid still, when we know how to stop it. Feeling good that I have my health and have not lost anyone close to me. I am truly grateful for everyone here on our team, you all inspire me.

Congrats on all your fantastic sobrieties guys. :scoregood:c011:The power of group support truly is amazing.
Thank you Slaying, I do feel a lot better. I'm grateful that you guys are all so motivating and inspiring, it gets me up and keeps me going.
BABM, congrats on finishing your first 5 week course. That must be hard work, with everything else going on. I hope all will go well on Thursday.
adv, intersting to hear that you've got a bit of Welsh in you. Both my parents were born in a part of Germany which is now Poland. During the war they had to escape and luckily my nan decided to go west, otherwise I might have been Russian. Nothing against that, but it's too cold there ha ha.

Day 3/180 :deeonwards and upwards.
Grateful for a beautiful bright half moon tonight.
Grateful my lunch for tomorrow is ready waiting in the fridge.
Grateful for a long walk with the dogs on warm-ish later summer evening.
Dusty and Gabe, thinking of you :grouphug:

Dear dwindling crew and team - I wish I could share my supplies of custard and various other treats with you - but my children have eaten most of it which proves to me they are on the mend and, I hope, will be back at school next week meaning, finally, the now 8 weeks of child care will end. It also means ( I hope I am not speaking too soon) that the vaccine I have had is working as I am still not showing any symptoms.
Congrats on day 94 BABM and I hope you stay close here for extra support while you face such tragic and testing times over the next few days.
Advbike your cultural heritage is fascinating!
I do hope everyone is ok - I think about our team, hoping and praying we all make it - I am grateful we are all here, even if some of us are missing for the moment, I look forward to catching up soon.

Good morning, we're blessed with another beautiful calm morning. Once again the weather forecast got it completely wrong, but in a good way.
My day 4/180 I won't be drinking and I won't be binging on sugar today.
Great to hear from you Dusty and I'm so pleased for you that you're kids are on the mend.
Have a good day friends.:hug:

hello Team 180- Day 66 here- feeling good. Just slept thru the whole night for the first time in has to be....ok, first time ever. Wow does that refresh a person. Went to bed feeling a bit "off" as I decided to get deeper into A.A and get a sponsor. This entire A.A thing goes entirely against who I have been and who I think that I am. Asking for help, exposing my vulnerabilities, feeling very uncomfortable. After so many tries to quit, so much damage done, so many relapses- it is more than time to get out of my comfort zone. Some of my peers stories are truly mortifying, I was never that bad my brain screams at me. My addiction counselor seems like a very smart, relatable, great guy. He tells me it works. I will give it my all as i want to be sober more than I want to drink. I'm pretty sure that unless I jump in I will convince myself that I can drink when I KNOW that I cannot. thanks for listening.

Good morning small crew.. haha. Busy busy here.

Dusty I'm glad you're not suffering any ill effects from the virus. Sounds like the kids are fine, based on appetite, lol.

Elke I might start my sugar quit today but I'm still debating it. I really need to do it, but I still have 3 cans of San Pellegrino Aranciata in the fridge. Funny, I would pour booze out without hesitation..

Slaying, I totally get the thing with the other AA-ers. My ego would have a field day with that one "Dude, you only drink a few at a time,, what are you doing in this church??.. now let's get outta here.." But the fact of the matter is I am just as alcoholic as they are because ANY alcohol at all keeps me in my addiction, ruins my sleep and brings on the shame and anxiety. Fact of life. Pretending otherwise is my addiction talking. So I'm glad you are taking the steps you need to.

BABM - thoughts are with you today.

Duplicate post.. - wow is this messed up..

Duplicate post..

I love what AA has done for my life.

Congrats on 66 days Slaying, that's fantastic work. You sound very determined and for sure you can do this. You want to be sober more than you want a drink. There you said it. You can do this.

I quit smoking n 2004 with the help if whyquit.com. It's is an amazing place of information about addition. They had a milestone colour scheme.
1 month = Green, 3 month = Bronze, 6 month = Silver and 1 year = Gold.

So Slaying, I'm still working to get to Green but you're heading toward the Bronze batch, keep going my friend.

Adv, talking about my giving up smoking. Just before my quit I smoked every last cigarette in the house, I went through all the drawer etc and then finally I chucked out 15 ashtrays, yuck. Only then I was ready to quit. Enjoy your Pelegrinos and also think about if you're ready for 2 quits at the same time?
This podcast is about how the food industry influenced our food choices over decades (with sugar and carbs), it's an eyeopener and one of my favorites https://www.dietdoctor.com/diet-doct...dr-gary-fettke

Sober thoughts for us all xx

Congrats slayin, BABM Elke and everyone else hitting a milestone today :)

D

Day 18/180. Just got to multiply it by 10😍

Should make the team finish line by end of February 2022

You're doing utterly fantastic, Free!

Congrats on 18 days Free, fantastic :c011:keep it going :hug:
With my 60th luming earlier this year I started thinking about my retirement and the things I can do. I've worked most of my life, even had a decent carrier in London. When I moved to Wales I called it 'semi retirement' although I'm still working full time it's not even half the stress I had in London. I'm working for a private hearing aid provider as a branch coordinator, basically reception, appointments and admin. We're a great team and I enjoy it. So a few months ago I signed up for a university course to get a Hearing Care Assistant qualification and with that I can do a training course for micro suction, which is ear wax removal. This is something I can keep doing in my retirement. The course started this week, so I'm back at uni, although it's all online. Amazing. And a huge motivation to stay clean and sober.
Grateful the chiropractor fixed my partners trapped nerve today.
Grateful to have a visit from a family friend today.
Grateful I could join a friend's fast to celebrate Yom Kippur today.
I hope you're all well, good night :grouphug:

Sounds like you're doing really well, Elke. Thanks for the links and info on diet. I hope that you are able to make the changes that you want. Nice that you got out of London - what a hectic, jammed place it is.. but exciting at the same time! I had a similar point in my career trajectory when I was working in San Francisco, managing a huge team, going to school and traveling.. I look back and don't know how I did it. I eventually changed careers and got out of the rat race, and moved to the beautiful Pacific Northwest to seek a more peaceful existence. Great job on creating a more peaceful and meaningful existence for yourself too. And the classes are fantastic - it's so important to keep learning and keep our skills up.

I am a bit out of sorts lately - cutting back on sugar caused me to ramp up my caffeine I think, or the lack of serotonin has caused my sleep to be worse the past few days.. anyway, I seem to be getting caught up in some compulsive thinking loops and not getting much done, which is very frustrating, so my stress and anxiety are growing. I used to drink to take the edge off and break the cycle when it happened. Not sure if it is my OCD or if I am experiencing some PAWS symptoms which would be weird because I've had very little to drink at all this year. I'm at no risk of drinking at this time, probably more likely to eat a rich dessert, lol, but it's very disturbing to see how quickly things can get off track. And that upsets me too. Maybe some exercise this evening will help, I have been doing less of it lately with all the projects..

Hope everyone is doing well.

Yep advbike, that thinking can come out of nowhere. It’s like all chemicals or thought patterns changes. But as quick as it comes is at shocks as it goes if we stay the course.

Thanks for your kind comments adv. If you've cut down on sugar and starch you might have a bit of 'keto flu'. The symptoms can be headache, foggy brain, irratability, fatigue, difficulty sleeping etc. Lots of water and a top up of electrolites might improve it. Just saying...
I love it when you write that you're at no risk of drinking. Congratulations, that just sounds wonderful to me.

BABM good to hear from you, I hope you're ok after the tough few weeks you've had.

Sober thoughts to everyone. :hug:

It is strange what throws us off kilter. Those feelings of anxiety or panic, general malaise and feeling fed up, those feelings seem to come from nowhere and catch us off guard. Stress creeps up and suddenly all the optimism and determination has drained away.
I felt very 'off' today. I sympathise with the running to coffee advbike - I do that a lot - Some days are just difficult, and inevitably there will be times when it's hard to feel full of vim and vigour! Accepting that and not sweating the small stuff is helpful. A good day is just around the corner, or if not good day, the at least a better day.
Elke you have some great plans and you sound so motivated - its great to read!
BABM hope you are doing ok, such big stuff you are having to deal with. I do hope you keep believing in your self and the amazing journey you have embarked upon.
Best wishes to everyone.