Scared I'm not going to make it through the festivites
 

Hello.

I'm 36 days sober. I had a horribly stressful day at work, just got home and have 2 parties to go to, am horribly unprepared.. still have to prepare an appetizer for one of the parties and wrap some of my kid's gifts. I feel that I'm being stretched too thin and this is the ultimate test. If I have will power enough to go 36 days (I believe this is AV talking), shouldn't I be able to have will power to have 2 glasses and then switch to water so that I can take the edge of what has been a horrid day and enjoy myself OUT for the first time in months?

I know what the answers are going to be. I know what I should do. I don't know if I'm going to make the right choice.

Merry (?) Christmas Eve everyone. :a108:

I'll get the tough answer out of the way :)

There's no "should" or "shouldn't" in the equation, we're all built differently, there is no one size fits all!

The parties though can be enjoyed without alcohol though, and think of the no hangover tomorrow morning!! you can do this!! :)

It's not worth it Suekie. Take some deep breaths, get yourself together and tell the AV to **** off. You can do it!

Think about your day1 and how you felt. You know where that first drink will get you, back to square 1.

You can make it. Just take deep breaths

Suekie, I totally relate to wrapping the kid's gifts and wanting a drink. My ritual used to be a bottle as I wrap. I'm sitting here at SR with unwrapped gifts as I write this. But for me, I want to see the smiles on those little guys faces tomrrow morning with a clear head. When I give them a hug in the morning and say, "Merry Christmas, boys," I do not want to worry if I still stink like booze, I want to look at the tree and say, "I wrapped those gifts sober." Sorry for the blast of pathos, I know you are different, but I know you must want something similar. You can do it Suekie. We'll all get through the holidays together.

Now, I'm going to heat up some tea, put on A Christmas Story, and wrap some damn gifts-that cost way to much frickin money :)

This works like charm for me!! When the AV arrives to bother, I imagine it as a little ugly pest and tell it to **** off and die and it usually leaves immediately, leaving me laughing.

I may be crazy but I'm sober.

:)

Hi Suekie,
I'm three years and three months sober. I had a horribly stressful day at home, one son estranged and the other left town for his new career in Denver. Here at home we'll have Xmas dinner tomorrow I feel that I'm being stretched too thin and this is the ultimate test. If I have will power enough to go 3.5 years (I believe this is AV talking), shouldn't I be able to have will power to have 2 glasses and then switch to water so that I can take the edge of what has been a horrid day and enjoy myself OUT or staying in for the first time in months by drinking? I know I can enjoy myself sober too.

I know what the answers are going to be. I know what I should do. I don't know if I'm going to make the right choice.

I said should! Sorry, if you don't should on me, I won't should on you.

What is your advice for me?

Never mind, I don't drink and have enjoyed myself out many times. I never wake up regretting my fear from not knowing exactly what happened.

I hope you're still hanging in there, Suekie! You can do it.

Don't fall for this like I used to for way too many years, Suekie

Don;t mistake abstinence for control.
It's not the same thing at all

If anything abstinence is, or should be, the recognition that we have no control over alcohol.

I'm sorry for your stressful day but the way to make things even more stressful would be to drink.

Resist - the satisfaction you'll feel by staying sober is immense, I promise :)

D

Phone to the parties and say you've got a cold , one is doing the rounds at the moment …

you don't have to be perfect you just got to get through sober, people will be upset ? people will be disappointed ? yeh well let them be because you got to look after your health and well being and keep sober as your No1 priority . That would then give you a bit more time to wrap presents …

sobriety tops then all the other stuff … and if you don't wrap the kids presents up ,put them in piles throw a blanket over the top and tell them they are only allowed to do a lucky dip and have to guess what it might be before pulling it out :)

Stay with it , bestwishes, m

Try to use the tool of deflation. Look at how many times you have used the word horrible and horrid. That is the alcoholic's way of blowing small things out of proportion into something "horrible". And horrible gives us only one way out: drink.
Gifts can be wrapped in minutes. Appetizer trays can be picked up at the supermarket, or just bring a bag of crackers and some soft cheese. Or skip the party if it is going to make you want to drink. It won't be the end of the world.
What we must do in early sobriety is start to believe that things aren't horrible. And, they really aren't!

You can do it. It;s only a day xx

Well I made it through. Christmas Eve actually was easy. I was so tired from my "horrendous" day at work that all I was thinking about was getting home, getting the rest of the presents wrapped and going to BED. The hardest day by far was Christmas Day. My mom and her husband came over. I don't get along with my step dad. In fact, we aren't even on speaking terms. I was miserable with them here and after they left I wanted nothing more than to kill all the tension that was built up after their very long visit with a bottle of wine. I didn't. I went to bed. Now a few days later I'm very happy I abstained. I made it through the tough week at work and now I have a 5 day weekend on the horizon.

Thank you SR. I really don't think I could have done it without this place. Day 39 and going strong!!! :)

Thats great news Suekie - I knew you could do it :c014:

D

Good Job Suekie! Way to hang in there. We're all in this together. Onward!

Yay!!