Piglet22

I recently submitted my very first post, and since have struggled to stay on the right path. However, I still turn to this forum when in need of inspiration. Sometimes it feels as though we're not worthy to post unless we've been able to maintain our sobriety (or at least I personally feel that way), and I wish I wouldn't feel that way. It's during that time that we need help the most. I turn to you all today after a few difficult days, today being one of them. I've somehow made the decision that a drink here or there is OK, and yet it clearly is not. How have you all been able to stay on track? I'd love to hear some others stories here!

SkyeSea

I've stayed on track by reading..posting...reading..posting and taking it a day at a time - sometimes even 5 minutes at a time (the arcade games are handy for those moments)

cascademn

Hey Piglet, you are most welcome here no matter what stage of your recovery. I came on here the very night of my relapse in June because I just wanted to connect with people that understood. I managed to get past my relapse and stay focused due in great part to the support I got here. For some, that may not be the answer. I encourage you to explore all resources available to you whether they be face-to-face or SR. This is a serious disease and we know it. You will find no judgment here. Please stay with us!

Big Hugs,
Cas

doggonecarl

This is going to sound ridiculously simplistic, but I was able to stay on track once I accepted that I could never drink again. As long as you think a drink is okay, you'll drink. Your addiction wants that hole to slip through.

Once I accepted I could never drink, I was able to stand firm in my decision. That doesn't mean I didn't struggle. I did. But I didn't surrender to the urge to drink.

Once you accumulate some sober time, it gets easier.

Itchy

Piglet,
Most of us developed a plan and stuck to it as long as it worked to keep us sober. Then if it didn't we could add more support or change what isn't working for us to stay sober. For me it took a week inpatient detox to get sober. Then to stay sober took the support of my Docs, my family and best friends, counselors, lots of posts and reading here on SR, and a wonderful AA home group for the first three months, who I still visit now and again to check in on them and let them know I'm still fine too. I also did a lot of online reading of SMART literature and others.

What are you doing for local support? Any AA? Counseling? Are you using your doc and been brutally honest with him/her about your consumption?

We are a sober community, but have many members that might come back and post as they return from a relapse or as they work on their own recovery program.

All are welcome here afaik. But you are right in that this is a support resource for folks that have made up their mind to quit. I am sorry you are having a tough go. Let me know what you ARE doing.

And remember, if you always do things, the way you always did them, you will always get the same results.

So what are you doing now?

BrinnLinnx2

Only 9 days sober but I've stayed sober by thinking of all the bad times I've had while being drunk. When I get a craving I go for a walk or cook a nice meal, anything to take my mind off of drinking. When I get what feels like an uncontrollable urge to drink I simply think of all the times I've blacked out and made a fool out of myself. Also, waking up every morning feeling refreshed and not being hungover is pure motivation! Good luck on your road to recovery and take it one day at a time.

SkyeSea

Well done on 9 days

TomSawyer

I can relate Piglet. Sometimes I don't feel 'worthy' of going to AA meetings after a recent relapse. Sometimes it's hard for me to grasp that all of those people were once in my shoes, too.

Mizzuno

We have all struggled to one degree or another. It is perfectly acceptable to come on here and talk of the struggle and get support from others who have been where you are. This is not an easy road, as you already know. Itchy has made a good point in saying that "if you always do things, the way you always did them, you will always get the same results." (Itchy, 2013).
So, making a different choice is imperative. Some days are not easy and others feel effortless. The point is that you try to walk into a different direction. We are here for you and completely understand.

Anna

Piglet, I'm glad that you're continuing to try to live a sober life.

This disease is relentless, so please do not give up.

DoubleDragons

Hi, Piglet. I am very new to sobriety, too. (Sept. 29th) I am truly amazed at how well the one day at a time thing has worked for me. When I am thinking way ahead of time (sometimes I start worrying about how I am not going to drink at Christmas parties!), is when all my anxiety heats up and I feel like I can't keep it up. However, if I tell myself "just today, I am not going to drink," that feels manageable.

I struggle because I don't think I was super far into my addiction, so I never had any major consequences to deal with other than some embarrassments. My health, marriage, relationships with my children, my job are all good and intact. When I am reminded that alcoholism is a progressive disease by reading the posts here and watching my mother go downhill with alcohol, I realize how lucky I am to have not lost anything important to me, and I ask myself, is it worth the gamble to risk it?

Finally, I have changed a lot of my health habits (eat more healthfully, do yoga and meditation regularly, go to bed earlier) so I feel better and my body looks better. I quit Diet Coke because I no longer wanted to put "poison" into my body. So I remind myself that alcohol is far more of a poison than Diet Coke, so it needs to stay out of my temple!!!

You can do this. Keep your mind strong and focused.

longbeachone

Anyone who says that they stopped drinking for good the minute they decided that they had a problem is either lying or a superhero. It took YEARS for me to finally quit for good. The days between the decision to stop drinking and the actual stopping had to be the most difficult of my alcoholic career (for lack of a better term). In fact, I hear this lament so often that it's almost normal alcoholic behavior. It's as if you decide to stop drinking because of the myriad of problems it causes, and suddenly your average alcoholic turns into Nicholas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas".

Like many things in life, the journey to sobriety is not traveled along a straight, paved highway, complete with lovely scenery and great music on the sound system. It's more like riding to hell with Cruella DeVille, stopping every five minutes for an unending stream of roadblocks and obstacles. It's a miracle any of us make it safely to sobriety!

You are absolutely right when you say that posting only once you've achieved sobriety is a huge mistake. It's like asking for directions once you've already arrived at your destination. It also doesn't provide any support to the thousands of people who find solace and comfort in the knowledge that they aren't alone...there are others out there suffering from the same awful problems and humiliations.

So, Piglet, please post as much as you can. Not only will it help you, it will help fellow sufferers as well as those sober folks who must constantly be reminded of the dangers that await them if they decide to "try just one drink...to see if they can handle it now".

alphaomega

Oh my goodness - NO !!! This is a forum by addicts for addicts.

People post even when drinking.

You are so worthy. SO WORTHY. This is how we learn and get edumacated on our disease.

Post away dear one.

Lean on us.

XO AO

Dee74

SR is for those struggling Piglet - don't let your addiction tell you otherwise

D

pinkdog

Hi Piglet, please don't feel unworthy to come here. You are a worthwhile human being. We all are. When you are tempted to drink, think it thru. Thru the swaggering, swaying, unsteady course it will take. And the guilt and shame that will follow. Not that tempting then. I'm glad you are here Piglet. Stick around.

hypochondriac

I felt the same way Piglet. I came here in October and didn't quit til the end of February. I actually avoided this place in that period, in part because I was still drinking and I felt bad about the times I had posted here while drinking, but also because I knew that the reasons why I hadn't just quit were excuses. Even before that time I had tried to quit for years. I did find it really tough but a part of me avoided this place because I knew I would have to stop drinking. That was good for me in a way because when I finally started posting again I knew it would make a difference and I knew how powerful the support here is. The fact you're still posting means you're more honest than me and you really can do this Please keep posting x

Hevyn

Hi Piglet. I'm glad you're here and not giving up.

I loved SR as soon as I joined - but I wasn't quite ready to let go - it took me a few months. I knew I was going to get free, I just needed the courage to do it. We have to be ready.

I had no choice but to stay on track. My life was on the line - I was drinking all day & losing everything. Hopefully it'll never come to that for you. I'm happy to see you reaching out and trying again. You can do this Piglet.

MythOfSisyphus

I stay on track with a zero tolerance policy towards booze. There's no 'just one", just a binary state for me- drunk or sober. One will never be just one and once I start I won't stop til I'm out of booze. I managed to stop once, I may not be able to if I start again.

Obviously it would be best not to drink, but if you slip and do drink it won't help you to stay away from your support at SR. So please post, drunk or sober, successful or floundering. Support in your quest to get sober is what SR is all about!

Piglet22

Thank you all for your replies. It's great to have so much support and see that I'm not alone. **Hugs**

phoebe64

Piglet, this is my 3rd try using SR! And I come here because I know I can get support here. I have relapsed and been welcomed back with open arms. I have gotten great advice and help when I am thinking of drinking, and it helped me to take pause and not drink. And, yes, there were times, in the past where I was reading and posting while drinking and still got much support and encouragement and advice on hoe to stop.

It is a process. If it were easy, there would not be any alcoholics or problem drinkers, right?

I really suggest posting before you drink. I have been very pro-active with that this go round. I really wanted to drink a few times and came here and let it all hang out. And I put off drinking and got help staying sober.