Does lack of motivation affect you?
61'st day sober as of:12/18/07
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Casper, Wyoming U.S.
Posts: 241
Does lack of motivation affect you?
Hi everyone
I rarely feel motivated anymore due to whatever damage alcoholism has caused (wether temporary or permenant) - even though I quit 34 days ago. I often wake up, make coffee and then "try" to get motivated by making a list of the things I want to get done that day and at first I get very excited by the idea that I have all these things I want to do but as the stimulating/motivating effects of the coffee begin to wear off, I soon find my motivation/enthusiasm waning to the point where I can't even find the motivation to spit in a tin cup. Very frustrating!!.
I have a large and popular support-oriented forum that has not been updated in ages and so this morning I made a list of all the "new and exciting" changes I wanted to make to it. I was going to change the theme, add a bunch of MODS, modernize the main/front page, add a bunch of videos, etc. However, as I finished my last cup of coffee and actually began to get started on these things, the motivation soon fizzled out like a dying fourth of July sparkler and I just sat there like a zombie staring at the monitor and thinking "wow, THAT was short-lived!".
I DO suffer from post-alcohol-withdrawal depression and I forgot to mention in my last post that I also suffer from Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (I was on Ritalin as a child) and so my attention span is ziltch, zero, nada.
Anyway, I guess I'll just sit here and waste away like a vegetable for the rest of my life...never getting anything done. I feel like some 102 year old man sitting all day in a nursing home waiting to die while spending my days just staring up at the ceiling. It REALLY sucks.
Thanks for letting me rant.
- IHaveChanged
I rarely feel motivated anymore due to whatever damage alcoholism has caused (wether temporary or permenant) - even though I quit 34 days ago. I often wake up, make coffee and then "try" to get motivated by making a list of the things I want to get done that day and at first I get very excited by the idea that I have all these things I want to do but as the stimulating/motivating effects of the coffee begin to wear off, I soon find my motivation/enthusiasm waning to the point where I can't even find the motivation to spit in a tin cup. Very frustrating!!.
I have a large and popular support-oriented forum that has not been updated in ages and so this morning I made a list of all the "new and exciting" changes I wanted to make to it. I was going to change the theme, add a bunch of MODS, modernize the main/front page, add a bunch of videos, etc. However, as I finished my last cup of coffee and actually began to get started on these things, the motivation soon fizzled out like a dying fourth of July sparkler and I just sat there like a zombie staring at the monitor and thinking "wow, THAT was short-lived!".
I DO suffer from post-alcohol-withdrawal depression and I forgot to mention in my last post that I also suffer from Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (I was on Ritalin as a child) and so my attention span is ziltch, zero, nada.
Anyway, I guess I'll just sit here and waste away like a vegetable for the rest of my life...never getting anything done. I feel like some 102 year old man sitting all day in a nursing home waiting to die while spending my days just staring up at the ceiling. It REALLY sucks.
Thanks for letting me rant.
- IHaveChanged
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,504
Hi,
I have had lots of motivation to do things, since I stopped drinking. However, sometimes I need to push yourself. Why not finish one thing you had on your 'to do' list, even if you don't feel like it?
It is possible that your depression will lift soon, as your body clears of the alcohol. It is also possible that you might want to talk to your dr about the depression.
I have had lots of motivation to do things, since I stopped drinking. However, sometimes I need to push yourself. Why not finish one thing you had on your 'to do' list, even if you don't feel like it?
It is possible that your depression will lift soon, as your body clears of the alcohol. It is also possible that you might want to talk to your dr about the depression.
Banned Troll
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 97
At 34 days sober I was to busy working the steps with my sponsor and going to AA meetings I didn’t have time to think. All my list consisted of was all of the above.
I have some symptoms regarding depression, some concentration issues (adhd) and some anxiety problems but for the most part as I put the steps into my life the symptoms have lessoned considerably. I still take meds, and will probably be on them for the rest of my life but recovery from alcohol and some of the things you mentioned didn’t start happening until I got into the meat and potatoes of the AA program.
Step 1
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol that our lives had become unmanageable.
Sound familiar? I’m sorry you’re having a rough time it’s only been a few months for me but I did what was suggested and my life is getting better.
I have some symptoms regarding depression, some concentration issues (adhd) and some anxiety problems but for the most part as I put the steps into my life the symptoms have lessoned considerably. I still take meds, and will probably be on them for the rest of my life but recovery from alcohol and some of the things you mentioned didn’t start happening until I got into the meat and potatoes of the AA program.
Step 1
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol that our lives had become unmanageable.
Sound familiar? I’m sorry you’re having a rough time it’s only been a few months for me but I did what was suggested and my life is getting better.
61'st day sober as of:12/18/07
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Casper, Wyoming U.S.
Posts: 241
Funny thing is, I keep thinking that I'm "so recovered" from this (like I'm not even an alcoholic and never was) when the truth is that even after 34 days, I'm still a "babe in the woods" as far as my detox is concerned and I still have a very long way to go before I'm even close to "normal" again (that is, if I ever even get there).
Now I have no doubt that some of you will probably think I'm nuts (and thats ok too) but this morning I decided to break the monotony and do something really wild and crazy today and so I brought my pet goat in the house. Almost immediately I felt better (who say's animal therapy does'nt work?...lol). Next, I got dinner out of the freezer (meatloaf with bacon strips, mac and cheese and a veggie), took a Klonopin (for whatever reason, it seems to help a lot with depression) and now I'm just sitting here planning the rest of my day (whatever that will entail).
- IHaveChanged
Now I have no doubt that some of you will probably think I'm nuts (and thats ok too) but this morning I decided to break the monotony and do something really wild and crazy today and so I brought my pet goat in the house. Almost immediately I felt better (who say's animal therapy does'nt work?...lol). Next, I got dinner out of the freezer (meatloaf with bacon strips, mac and cheese and a veggie), took a Klonopin (for whatever reason, it seems to help a lot with depression) and now I'm just sitting here planning the rest of my day (whatever that will entail).
- IHaveChanged
Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: California
Posts: 358
Need4Change... I know what you're talking about. I'm only on 14 days, but I was saying to an AA friend that I don't have an ambition anymore. His reply was that I have enough ambition to stop drinking, and that something I couldn't do for almost two decades.
So, don't discount how motivated you are to stop drinking. That's really an amazing feat.
As far as the other stuff goes, I find that I get intimidated by ALL THE STUFF I have to do. As in: A LOT OF STUFF. I'm trying today to list three things and really concentrate on them.
I'll let you know how it goes. Best of luck, and don't get down on yourself. You're doing an amazing thing.
So, don't discount how motivated you are to stop drinking. That's really an amazing feat.
As far as the other stuff goes, I find that I get intimidated by ALL THE STUFF I have to do. As in: A LOT OF STUFF. I'm trying today to list three things and really concentrate on them.
I'll let you know how it goes. Best of luck, and don't get down on yourself. You're doing an amazing thing.
61'st day sober as of:12/18/07
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Casper, Wyoming U.S.
Posts: 241
Hey thanks folks. Well, I did get to play with feet today and that was VERY exciting!. I trimmed hooves, claws and nails for most of the day. Toe-jam city here I come!! 
Then my neighbors arrived home with their 7 "keeds" running through everyone's yard and screaming like wild indians while their 4 fathers and two mothers drank beer, blasted the stereo and played with "them thar 5 pit bulls" (which get loose about every other day).
Ah, life is grand...
- IHaveChanged
Then my neighbors arrived home with their 7 "keeds" running through everyone's yard and screaming like wild indians while their 4 fathers and two mothers drank beer, blasted the stereo and played with "them thar 5 pit bulls" (which get loose about every other day).
Ah, life is grand...
- IHaveChanged
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