What do you have to lose by following through with your recovery?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 8
What do you have to lose by following through with your recovery?
Hi everybody, great forum and great site, got just over 90 days clean from opiates. ahhhh, life is grand!! my first post here. currently in a outpatient program and my counselor asked me an interesting question last night that kind of left me short of words.
What do you have to lose by following through with your recovery??
not, "by not following through with your recovery"
but, "by following through with your recovery"
So my question is what do you have to lose by following through with your recovery?
Take care everybody
What do you have to lose by following through with your recovery??
not, "by not following through with your recovery"
but, "by following through with your recovery"
So my question is what do you have to lose by following through with your recovery?
Take care everybody
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,512
Hi and Welcome,
Good for you with 90 days clean!
By following through with my recovery, I lost the illusions I had built about myself. They fell away from me, and what was left was my soul.
Good for you with 90 days clean!
By following through with my recovery, I lost the illusions I had built about myself. They fell away from me, and what was left was my soul.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: New York City
Posts: 221
I may lose:
the horrid guilt of being a dick while drunk and not remembering it.
the sick nauseous feeling in the morning.
my racing heart when I'm trying to sleep. So loud it can wake me up.
the depression.
knocking many years off the end of my life.
May lose the opportunity to get fired at work for being hungover all the time.
List can go on and on.
the horrid guilt of being a dick while drunk and not remembering it.
the sick nauseous feeling in the morning.
my racing heart when I'm trying to sleep. So loud it can wake me up.
the depression.
knocking many years off the end of my life.
May lose the opportunity to get fired at work for being hungover all the time.
List can go on and on.
Guest
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 42
Lots of terrible things. Some highlights:
I'd lose -
But also:
I'm new to this, so I guess there's things on both sides still for me. It was a really good exercise to do though. Thank you.
Jayne
I'd lose -
- drunken binges that break the hearts of those I love
- crippling anxiety and depression following a bout of drinking
- tension in my marriage over my drinking
- sinking to ever-increasing lows
- the shame. Oh man, the shame.
- having to account for missed commitments, work and other important obligations
But also:
- I'd lose my reason/excuse for not making some decisions I need to make in my life - I can always say "Well, until I am sober I can't act on this or that"
- A great way to punish myself, sabotage myself and/or force emotions to the surface that I otherwise deny - like grief for example
- The hope that I can drink normally again someday - which I am still trying to shake
- The escape that is so immediate - faster than any therapy, anti-depressant, exercise, meeting or meditation. And easier.
I'm new to this, so I guess there's things on both sides still for me. It was a really good exercise to do though. Thank you.
Jayne
Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: New York City
Posts: 221
I forgot to mention the ~$7300 my wife and I were spending on spirits each year. Not to belittle recovery for it's own right, but that's A LOT of cash! This reasoning helped us quit cigarettes. Here in NYC, a pack of American Spirit smokes are $10, which is about 7300 too!
Two bad habits that cost us about $15000, not to mention the health savings in the future, and the lost income from side effects of booze and smokes.
Two bad habits that cost us about $15000, not to mention the health savings in the future, and the lost income from side effects of booze and smokes.
Thriving sober since 12/18/08
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 3,115
Someone once, a while back when I first joined said something that stuck with me.. it's simple... and likely a well known phrase but..
No one ever regrets not drinking (or using.. etc).
So true.
No one ever regrets not drinking (or using.. etc).
So true.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 8
glad you got a lot out of this Jayne2-great list. these posts gave me a list of quite a few things i would lose.
paranoia
feelings of guilt and shame
dopesick feeling
depression
jail time
hopelessness.......
hey palemale never thought of it in $$$$ point of view, I spent many thousands on drugs over the years, and cigs, which i am currently trying to kick, the chantix isn't working so well.
anyway thanks to all, more replies appreciated.
paranoia
feelings of guilt and shame
dopesick feeling
depression
jail time
hopelessness.......
hey palemale never thought of it in $$$$ point of view, I spent many thousands on drugs over the years, and cigs, which i am currently trying to kick, the chantix isn't working so well.
anyway thanks to all, more replies appreciated.
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,784
I will lose my delusion that drinking all the time is alright. I will lose waking up feeling horrible. I will lose the possibility of having an accident with my car and hurting someone. I will lose some of my self hatred. I will lose the feeling of being 'lost' and afraid.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Dayton, OH.
Posts: 879
Hi and WELCOME to SR! Congrats on your 90 days! What a great question too!
What have you got to lose if you follow through with your recovery?
Well, I'll lose an EMPTY bank account, excessive overdraft fees, getting high in a house full of strangers (or just one stranger who tries to talk me into sexual favors for more drugs), lying to my friends and family. I'll happily lose staying up for days at a time and not eating. Lose the fear of being caught with crack in my truck. Lose the guilty feelings I have after spending a weekend getting high and blowing all of my money!
Wow.. I'll lose all the bad stuff associated with being a crackhead in actuve addiction. I REALLY LOVE those kinds of losses!
WOOT!
What have you got to lose if you follow through with your recovery?
Well, I'll lose an EMPTY bank account, excessive overdraft fees, getting high in a house full of strangers (or just one stranger who tries to talk me into sexual favors for more drugs), lying to my friends and family. I'll happily lose staying up for days at a time and not eating. Lose the fear of being caught with crack in my truck. Lose the guilty feelings I have after spending a weekend getting high and blowing all of my money!
Wow.. I'll lose all the bad stuff associated with being a crackhead in actuve addiction. I REALLY LOVE those kinds of losses!
WOOT!
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