taking another shot at it, today is day 1!!

Wecome rr423!!! It's a great day to start.

Count me in too and I am on Day 2.

My bad time of the day starts at about 3pm and goes until about 7pm. I torment myself with thoughts of drinking. If I can get home without buying wine and shove some food in me, the thoughts go away.

I am scared though - I have had way too many Day 1s and Day2s.

Hey Lyddie - I'm totally with you on that bad time of day thing. Mine usually starts at about 5pm, when I begin thinking "I have enough time now to go to the store and get some liquor, and can escape into drunkenness tonight."

One thing about my drinking is that I would be very scheduled about it -starting basically at 7:30 every night. Once I make it past that time without drinking, it's kind of really easy.

So keep on getting home without buying wine, and stay busy - eating, or whatever!

Congrats on day 2.

Best,

JG

Come on Lyddie, we can do it. Driving home from work is a mone field for me, too. I know all the different liquor stores in the many different routes I can take home (didn't want the staff to know how bad my problem is, so I spread out my business. Still know the staff by first name, their interests, families, second jobs, dogs. How sad.) Anyways, we can do it. It is just getting through those really bad moments by just continuing driving. Not forever, just for those few minutes. Just for today, right?

I am starting day 4. Yay me!

Can I come too?

Its Day 2 for me and Im pretty nervous as tonight I have to work at the bar.
Its from 5.30pm until about 3 in the morning and the usual pattern is that I would be 3 drinks in by now in preparation, listening to extemely loud metal and drying my hair. I will be leaving the job in 4 weeks time as I cannot financially afford to leave before then, and I will never work in a bar again.

Today has been real tough, Ive never been someone who drinks before noon yet today I woke up with a physical craving for a drink at 7am, which I ignored.
Im scared but I have to do this, it shows me how out of control things had gotten. And to think that for a long time, I wondered whether I had a problem at all.
On a good note, I had really weird dreams last night about Glenn Danzig which were rather enjoyable...lol
Glad to be part of this group, good luck to you all and my thoughts are with you xxxxx

Hi my name is Christina and today is day 14 for me. This has been a long 14 days, but each day is a little easier. I think the more people I meet in sobriety, whether it be online or in person makes me a little more comfortable. Glad to be here and glad to have made it one more day without a drink.

Welcome Christina!

I agree about meeting more people for whom sobriety is a goal and struggle making it easier to deal.

I'm pretty cynical and aloof, but I find just having the support of the SR community to be surprisingly helpful.

I hope it's as beneficial to you as it is to me.

Best regards,

JG

I was just thinking, imagine one day when alcohol and drinking is not so widely accepted in society, how much easier life would be for everyone. How am I supposed to not think about alcohol when every second character on tv is drinking it/every celebration, it's there? It's just everywhere. And I rarely see stories about alcoholism in my favourite shows. I just want to be happy within myself without alcohol. I'm so smart in every aspect of my life, why can't I make the connection that alcohol is what is making me so unhappy in the first place???

lilyrose - if you can stay focused and get up sober time, the prescence of alcohol really ceases to be a problem, I promise.

I see people drinking but it doesn't register as anything important or significant to me anymore - it's just a thing some *other* people do :)

D

Hey welcome to Lyddie, Stacey and Christina!!!

I hope everyone is good. I have to admit I had some serious wine cravings tonight that I had to ride out. Got through it, but did not enjoy that. I have a danger zone of the same time frame as many of you --- 4:30 ish to 7:30 ish. That's it. And not even everyday, but that's the danger zone. If I can get beyond that, I'm usually fine. For some reason, today was a little rough. I hope tomorrow will be easier. It's a new day and I'll be waking up without a hangover again!!

I agree with you Lilly, that drinking is all around us and it's hard to ignore. I sometimes wish I was a crack addict (okay, kidding...) but then my addiction wouldn't be constantly in my face. Don't you love how all these characters on TV romantically sip red wine in big pretty glasses all the time? No one ever has a drinking problem and they seldom talk about hangovers, lack of good sleep, etc. It's all so romanticized.

Speaking of which, I love the movie the Hangover. Has anyone seen that?

traderjane - Today was a bit challenging for me too. I wasn't "craving" alcohol itself, but the carelessness it allows me to achieve.

I just concentrated on getting past my "danger zone" time of day, and here's to another sober one. Glad you made it too.

Also, The Hangover was great - but again, all fun and games with alcohol; everyone ends up happy in the end.

Oh - and regarding the portrayal of alcohol as harmless in popular media and society:

Maybe you feel frustrated by the rosy lens view of alcohol, it would help to look up some statistics on alcoholism in Eastern Europe and Russia. Not so glamorous.

Or look up the cost of alcohol abuse in the US from lost productivity, emergency room visits, car accidents, crime, etc, etc. I know it's not the most exciting way to get a balanced view on it. But at least you can prove to yourself that you aren't the only one who sees the negative sides of alcohol.

That is true, John!!! (about the movie "The Hangover"). I thought about the fact that they were all terribly hungover, but when their hangovers wore off, all was well with the world. No one was any worse off, no alcoholics in the bunch. In real life, I bet at least one of them would have a drinking problem!

I saw Hangover, as well. Sadly, it probably encouraged a lot of younger folks to go out and get trashed because it looks like you will have fun. I also had cravings tonight, which I got through. Cherry Water Ice Gelato saved the day. Tomorrow is another new day!

While on the subject of movies, I love the movie Sideways. One of my all time favorites. In that movie, the main character really does have a drinking problem and is most probably an alcoholic. He's not all that happy, either. I need to see that one again. Last time I saw it, I wasn't in this mess with alcohol that I'm in now.

Day 4, and I am past the danger time. During the weekend, I went to meetings at lunchtime, and that was all good. Tonight, I came home after work (highly aware that I was bypassing liquor stores). That was good. But then I was going to a meeting at 7:30. I was scared to go, because that is the height of my danger time. I was afraid I would end up buying a bottle of wine. And hell, if I was going to blow it at this point, it wouldn't be for one bottle of wine. The logic started as I drove, telling me that I might be late, that the room could be already full and I would have to sit in the middle, that I might as well call it off for the night... even at one point in the meeting I imagined stopping for wine on the way home. But, I made it through, made it home, another day. I will not regret that decision in the morning!

You hit the nail on the head there trader! And just like girls (including myself) think, well there obviously is a way to be as skinny as that and I'm just a failure at it, there is just a way to use alcohol in the right and appropriate situation and I'm also a failure at that. I can scare myself silly with the effects that alcohol has on the body. But my mind keeps telling me ONE drink has never killed anyone, but it always leads to one more and one more, no one ever tells u that part.

Hello June Group!

It feels so good to be part of this new group. I was reading your posts about the "danger zone" time. Oh goodness I can relate to that. Mine is 6 pm on the button when Judge Judy starts. The past few days have been full of surprises and one of those was that Judge Judy still makes me laugh just as hard when she slams her pen on her desk and shhhhhhhhh's people when I'm not drinking.

Every day for me is a bit different. I had a strong craving tonight around 7 pm so I went to the gym instead. Distraction is key! I like to remember that I am consuming about 1000 fewer calories every evening and burning about 700 more when I go the gym. Aside from the health benefits it sure feels great to lose weight. 7 lbs so far!

Good Morning June Group!

I made it through Day 2 and now it is Day 3.

And at the moment, I am feeling very hopeful. Thanks for all your support.