hopeful999

Hi -- I am on Day 3 of this journey and feel good. Yesterday, I had a craving for a cold glass of Chardonnay as I often do after work. I resisted the temptation, distracted myself and did not drink at all. When I woke up this morning, you can bet I was glad I made that decision. So.... since that was such a good decision to make yesterday, I think I'll do the same thing again today. I get it now! You don't have to plan out your whole life or even your whole week. You just have to decide what you are going to do TODAY. And the good stuff is reinforcing, so you want to do it again. I am such a planner that this "one day at a time" concept was previously tough for me. Now I see that it's the only way to go.

tommyk

Good job.

Anna

Well yes, I was such a control-freak, I thought I could plan out the rest of my life. I had to give up that notion when I began to recover. Staying in the moment is definitely not easy, but it helps to relieve the anxiety of what might happen in life.

SillyBilly

So glad to hear that hopeful!! It really makes a huge difference when you keep your mind in the moment and only focus on today. Well done!

That feeling you get when you ignore the urge to drink is very powerful, and it will only keep growing. Keep it up.

hopeful999

Thanks for all the support. I have to say it was much easier today to avoid drinking ... I wonder why? I took my kids to get ice cream at this pizza place where they had large bottles of red wine. For a minute, I wanted a glass, but after I got home, forgot all about it and haven't thought of it since. I'm wondering if I should be called a "winealoholic" as opposed to an "alchoholic." I have no interest in hard alcohol at all (I am grossed out by it!) and cannot drink more than a couple of beers. But when it comes to wine, that is where I am weak and frankly, out of control. No matter what you call it, it's destructive behavior. I know I'm not supposed to think more than a day ahead, but I'm actually looking forward to this weekend to do some yoga classes and watch some movies, two things I love to do but been TOO busy drinking to do in the last few months! Life is definitely worth living... I have so many hobbies and interests that I have been denying myself because I was drinking too much. Thanks again..

NewBeginning010

I love your post... thank you! Congrats on your sober time ;-)

NB

Dee74

Like you say, Hopeful999, no matter what you call it, it's destructive behavior.
I'm so glad you doing this day by day and keeping active - thats half the battle won.

I was a control freak too - I wanted it done and dusted in 2 weeks and the whole of life mapped out after a month. LOL. No way.

I find it much easier now to be where I need to be, at my own speed
Keep it up!

D

eddie73

hopeful999, I was very weak when it came to wine as well, I wont go into the detail as u know it already. The bottom line is that because we cant walk away from it after 2 glasses, and leave it for the rest of the week until the next time, we cant drink it at all. The nice idea of having a cosy drink of wine is just that, an idea. Unfortunately this idea comes in a package deal with brutal hangovers, endless bottles of wine add infinitum.

hopeful999

eddie73 -- what an extremely helpful post! You are all too correct about that! What sounds like a nice cozy glass of wine at home for me ends up being a horrible, drunken nightmare. I am actually in the process of associating a "nice glass of wine" with those brutal hangover feelings, which I still remember quite well. Thanks for the reminder and for relating.