thelonghaul

I think this will be the first friday in 2 years i won't black out and I'm pretty stoked about it. Not here to toot my horn. 5 days sober is nothing, I know that, but I feel good about it nonetheless!!! wanted the drink but went for a run instead. how do u guys fight the urge?

Jeni26

In the early days, the Friday urge was intolerable. I remember thinking about alcohol all day at work despite being super-busy.
I would do my usual food shopping on the way home and check in with SR on my phone in the car before going in. I would avoid the alcohol aisle at all costs. When I got in I would unpack my shopping still thinking about the absence of wine and vodka in the fridge.
I would try to hit a meeting or get straight into my pjs to stop myself from going out. I would have an early night. I would stay on SR reading and posting. I would do ANYTHING really to stop myself drinking. Mainly, it would be the thought of wasting yet another Saturday hungover and useless, wrapped up in misery and anxiety that would stop me from doing it. I hated those days, watching my kids come and go, getting on with their lives, as an observer rather than a participant.

Saturdays are so different now. They are wonderful. I love waking up with a clear head full of plans.

Well done on your 5 days. Hang in there. It honestly does get easier x

Midlifecrisis

5 days is not nothing, it's awesome! A'd hard!

Dee74

It will get easier thelonghaul - I felt the pull of Friday nights for 2 decades...now I'm never bothered

It took me a while to get there - I can;t lie about that, but now I have a life I love, I do things I love to do, I be with people I want to be with, and drinking never enters my mind.

You'll get there too - have faith - stick by SR over the first few weekends - community support is very very helpful

This 'urge surfing' technique was useful for me in dealing with cravings too

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...e-surfing.html

D

thelonghaul

Jeni, what u were saying, that bit about being an observer rather than participant. That puts it into perspective for me. i can remember all the saturdays i missed my buddies going surfing and i couldn't come bc i was "sick" in bed, really just shivering with the anxiety of not having my fix, that cold feeling in me from a night spent blacked out. I kno in my heart i like participating in the sobriety more than the party. Thanks for the wisdom Jen

Jeni26

Keep thinking about all those trips out with your friends you will be able to do now....your life is just opening up.

A sober life is a great one. You won't regret your decision, I guarantee it xx

David10

Fridays are the worst for me to, staying in with a big glass of ice cold 7up and and a couple of dvds helps a lot.

LostinWA

sugar :/

RocketQueen

I actually took up cross stitch when I quit (an odd hobby for a person my age to have imo lol) I started a big project to put up in my daughters room. Generally, I work on that on a friday night. Keeps my hands busy while i watch tv or something equally uninteresting.

fantail

Just had my first real Friday... I quit 9 days ago and last week I was too sick to even think about being social. Tonight I had some friends over and they were all drinking wine. Oh my god! It was so, so hard. The way I got around it was announcing to everyone many times over that I'm doing an "experiment" with no caffeine and no alcohol for 90 days (I'm still too cowardly to own up to the full extent of the problem or tell people that I'm done for good). I told everyone to BYOB and I would have tea available. I went out and got 5 kinds of decaf tea, a bottle of ginger beer, and a bottle of lemonade.

If I hadn't told them I wasn't going to drink, I'm not sure I would have stuck to it.

Oddly enough, they left two beers and a little bit of wine and I'm not at all tempted now that they're gone... but it was really strange to be in a social situation that normally I would enjoy by getting tipsy and not being able to. I'm definitely going to need a long term strategy for this.

mecanix

For the first two months i put myself into lock down ,
work -> supermarket (running past the alcohol aisle) -> home , dinner then get into bed as soon as possible as once the doona is snuggled under my chin no way am i getting up again for anything .
Once i felt i'd broken the habbits and ritual involved with drinking i felt happier cutting myself some slack and knew i had a routine i could go back to that was a "safe" footing for getting through days sober .

Bestwishes, M

Del

Thanks Jen for the post,an observer rather than a participant....I'm trying to find the words all along thanks for doing it for me

FeelingGreat

Friday nights are a sort of magnified after-work urge. I've been sober since April 2012 and I still felt like a drink on the way home last night (Friday night here). I do know I can overcome the urges now and look on them as a regular visitor I just ignore. But it was really hard to start with.
I had some nice take-away like Indian, something sweet and substitute drinks. Also went for a wander through the shops, which I know isn't relaxing for most SR people! Maybe bought something cheap. It's like you're giving yourself a reward for the week.
The best reward ever is waking up the next morning clear headed and proud of yourself.

Threshold

How did I fight the Friday urge in early recovery. Honest? I pretended it was a different night of the week.

Instead of "Friday" mindset, I acted like it was a Tues or something. I mean, to the point where, if that's what it took, I'd watch a DVD of a TV show that was on a different night of the week. Or come home, do some chores and do what I'd do on a weeknight, break the cycle, break the conditioning of behaviors that went together with weekend thinking.

It helped, and yup, it was a challenge because I was living in a dormatory situation and Friday the party started early and didn't stop till Sunday night.

soberclover

Good comments here. Friday really sucks for me too but as it is Saturday morning at this time I can say I am relieved to not have decided to drink. I can participate in today rather then observe as earlier stated. I will go watch my son at a robotics competition that he has been working really hard at. I, too, have picked cross stitch back up again as my eyes can focus again clearly! Thank you for this post and the feedback; it has been really helpful for me!