1st Weekend without Alcohol
 

This is day 4 for me...Taking it one day at a time. It is a great feeling when I first wake to realize I am not suffering the effects of drinking..
I want to make it 30 days..something I have not done for many years. The last 2 years it has been atleast 5 nights per week and I know it is getting worse. I need to make it better.

I am concerned for this week end. I have an ever increasing desire as the day progresses to drink and I really am not liking it. I almost gave in a couple of times this week.

How do others get through the week end and make the debate in your head go away??

Thanks Jim

Congratulations on Day 4 soberjim. I get through the weekend by staying busy and I recognize the "debate" in my head for what it is -- something inside me wants to take all of my money, ruin my life and then kill me. Gleefully. It's like a cancer that can talk. As long as I take my daily "medicine" of AA and prayer/meditation with my Higher Power, I don't have to drink and it's liberating to have the power of choice again. Break your weekend routine. Like if you used to watch football and drink beer, turn the tv off and go rake leaves. Something along those lines. Hope that helps.

--Fenris.

Weekends are tough for me. I get bored, and that's a big trigger.
Fenris gave some excellent examples of what to do.

Come and post here, go to church and pray for sobriety and have you considered hitting an AA meeting.
Use all the tools at your disposal, and think through that first drink and where it leads.

Best to you.

Jim ... Don't think about the weekend as a whole, break it down into manageable units. Get through tonight ... even an hour ... minute at a time if necessary.

A pattern I'm seeing through my reading here is that it's important to learn to live in the moment. If I begin to think too much about what I'm going to do when I get home, I begin to get anxious, and the "need" for a drink increases. If, instead, I focus on just right now I find it calming.

I'll be thinking about you this weekend. You can do it.

Hi Jim

I stayed pretty close to SR my first few weekends...use the support here, if you have no other recovery group or real life support.

I also made sure I didn't find myself in the middle of the usual weekend drinking fests...and sometimes, if I had to take things hour my hour, or even minute by minute, that's what I did.

It was tough sometimes, but the sense of accomplishment on Monday morning was well worth it :)

You can do this Jim :)

D

I'm on here now Jim because I'm thinking about drinking too much today. Usually at this time, I'm having some vino. I am keeping busy, calling friends, reading posts here, cleaning, cooking etc. A trip to the bookstore or movies on weekends helps too as there's no alcohol there. Stay strong

Lets both of us do this together. My first weekend without a 24 pack each night.

This is day 4 for me

I want to make it 30 days

Don't try to make it 30 days. Try to make it 5 days. After you do that, try to hit 6.

There is a trite saying in AA, "one day at a time." Once that sunk in, and I started to live my life that way, things got easier.

Jim if you have not done so read the personal stories in the Big Book , or the thread on this site for people with a year or over to tell their storey.

There is a hump to get over, it is painful to experience, and can seem insurmountable at times but life is much easier on the other side

Stay busy! If you live in nice weather, go out. Enjoy nature and spend your time in a place where drinking just isn't an option and wouldn't be appropriate even if it was. If you are stuck indoors, check into SR whenever you have a craving. Read some of these stories and you'll remind yourself that you are ready to be done with this lifestyle. If you cook, check out a new recipe, something with a lot of prep work. Build a model, read a book, dust off that old guitar and start living! Good luck, from a fellow Jim in recovery.

Thanks everyone for your advice and support.
Very grateful.

Jim

Hang tough, not sure where you are in Canada, but a good walk outside at night with a clear head makes being sober all the better!