rove27

My husband and I just bought a new house. It is a charming colonial with everything I could have ever dreamed of. Has a front porch, front lawn and paved backyard, perfect for barbeques and parties. Yet all I want is a cigarette and a drink. I envision myself on that porch sipping my wine! I cant wait to have a drink while barbecuing.....Only thing is... I quit! I quit drinking and smoking for a few months now.....Yet at this very happy time in my life all I want is to use my drugs of choice......wine and marlboros.....

P.S: Stress is also a big trigger for me, but this time being happy seems like an even bigger trigger....Is this normal?

anykey

it is normal.

Why not get into flavored coffees or teas?

Congrats on a house!

HInt- do your landscape first.

Stoogy

It is perfectly normal in my experience, I drank whether I felt happy, sad or indifferent.

It's just a learning curve dealing with these triggers without going to our defaults.

Congratulations on your lovely new home.

ReadyAtLast

It's very normal to have thoughts like that. Now at 18 months sober I still get these thoughts but they are fleeting and not all consuming as they once were. I switch off the thought and and remind myself I'm not missing anything by not drinking and how my life is better sober.

courage2

It's perfectly normal. A big upcurve can be as dangerous as a down. I start to swing up and I just want to take it higher, make it last -- drinking/drugging come right to mind. I have to make an effort to teach myself to enjoy good feelings without trying to intensify them.

One thing that never comes by topping up a good mood with drink or drugs -- peace. Enjoy in peace!

Verte

Hey sober sister. Wine and Gauloises Blondes in my torturous vision of the past. . I stopped smoking in my early 20s an still cannot walk past a head shop without tasting them all these years later. That powerful.

Today's new and improved vision: fizzy water, carrot sticks and hummus (snack idea suggested in 'snack ideas' thread. Thanks!) with a Nicorette gum follow-up (losing the gum very soon and do not rec for your improved vision).

Suggestion: buy some new 'sober drinks' specific glasses to commemorate your new digs. Thrift shop, garage sale, local store, online shopping. My personal collection consists of 12oz. star etched glass. Lemon slice on the side looks stellar.

Your house sounds A-Mazing! I'd gladly come share my special glasses and sit on your porch with you if I could Congratulations. You're making some great memories there already to last a lifetime

You got this Rove. Stay strong.

360shoes

Makes perfect sense to me and yep, I agree it's normal.

Don't get to disheartened. That's the brain wiring I had to rewire. For years it's what I did. Happy? Go have a drink. Sad? Go have a drink. Stressed? Go have a drink. Makes perfect sense that right after I quit I would lean towards reacting the way I always reacted.

Not only did it make sense I would do that. I planned on it happening.

Here's the good news. Those very connections are the opportunities to break it. Every time I did not react like I always did....drink....the easier and better it got the next time it happened. Better in the fact that I found some pride in the fact I could do something different. And easier in the fact that when something really big happened, I had the practice doing something different.

So instead of feeling bad I felt that way, I just looked at it as life's way of handing me something I so obviously needed to practice. Saying no.

I can be happy and no, I'm not drinking. I can be sad and no, I'm not drinking. I can just be.

Just me. Hey, congratulations on the new house! That sounds pretty wonderful!