This is already starting to feel great.
 

On day 5 right now. Went out for tapas with some friends last night. Everyone was drinking wine but i wasn't even remotely tempted. My plan was to go home before they moved on to dance as i thought that would be too tough but when it came to it i quite fancied a bit of a dance so went along for an hour. I actually had fun sober and left them to it at about 3am, had 9 hours sleep and have woken up so fresh this morning i couldn't possibly regret not drinking last night.

:) Happy Saturday, everyone.

Messy

That is fantastic, ML!

Just be cautious. Keep remembering exactly why you quit--the misery you felt-- especially when you're around people who are festively drinking. When we're on the "pink cloud" of early recovery adrenaline, it's easy to forget exactly how bad drinking was for us, and we are gradually lured into thinking, "a couple wouldn't be so bad..."

Not to say that that would happen to you, but just be on guard!

Great job ML. Like gilmer said, never let your guard down. For a while, I would cautiously avoid those situations that would increase your chances of drinking. That AV is relentless and will pop in any chance it can.

Awesome job on staying strong.

Awesome messy! Btw...love your name! I find, so far, my few times going out amidst alcohol not very tempting. I'm grateful for that.:-)

^^^^This.

Still, keep it up, messyliver! You made great progress...keep on going!

Thanks guys. I know it won't always be that easy, i was just so glad that i was able to have a decent night sober. The problem is with living in such a small town is that we are one massive friendship group and the only thing really to do socially is to go out for tapas/drinks/dancing etc. I'm trying to think of other things to do that don't include alcohol whilst not feeling like i'm excluding myself from the whole group as that would be incredibly lonely in such a small place.

So far i have
-joined a hiking and activity club
-Made a pact with a close friend to stay in either friday or saturday night to have a series marathon/popcorn night.
-decided to spend more money on good ingredients. I love cooking but have found myself becoming increasingly cheap in order to have more money to go out and **** it up but now i'm indulging that more :)

If anyone else has some good suggestions then feel free to share xxxx

these sound great!

Well done on 5 days

Hey MessyLiver (Love that screen-name!), congrats on five days!
I'm going to once again coin a phrase from another member, because it really does seem to be one of the most important keys to success. At least it was for me. It will have to be individualized, but the basic principle remains the same.

From reading some of what you've been doing, it looks as if you're well on your way. Nice job!

When I was younger, none of us knew how to cook.

I'll bet some of your friends would love it if you would teach them how to cook. Could you choose one dish every couple weeks and ask some friends over and teach them? That would be so fun. Maybe go to different houses, have a small contribution to your cooking class to help pay for ingredients...I don't know how you would work it - but I would have loved someone in my group of friends teaching me some skills.

Feels good waking up sober, doesn't it. :)

Me and some of my friends have been discussing having a dinner party once a week acctually to try each others dishes so i'm quite looking forward to showing off what i can do. The only problem is i'm pretty sure that would include wine for most people. I'll have to see what i can do!

Great stuff Messy!! Keep pushing through!! :You_Rock_

Feeling super lethargic tonight. Meant to be going out to meet some friends just for an hour or two to get out of the house before they all start drinking but i've never been so tempted to put my pyjamas on and watch the xfactor. I never ever want to stay in and can't remember the last time i did on a Saturday night so this is totally unlike me.

Also have a hike lined up at 9am tomorrow to eradicate any tempt at all to drink :) xx

Fatigue comes and goes in early sobriety. I always honor how I feel, staying in and watching TV sounds pretty good to me.

Sounds like you're making really good choices and plans. I found when I would get too comfortable and secure in my "not drinking" I would slip that very day. Right now I'm focusing on making choices that flush with the lifestyle I've committed to. If I start getting antsy or thinking too much I go back to just focusing on not drinking that day. Have fun on that hike!!

I made it out for an hour, just to say hello to everyone and i'm home and back in my pyjamas by 11.30 lol. Wish i hadn't bothered really but i guess it was good to get some fresh air.

I have a pounding headache tonight. Pretty sure my alcohol withdrawals are fully kicking in. This should be fun lol x