Good. Give it a shot. Plan what you are going to do tomorrow. If you feel it creeping up on you, come post in this thread instead of drinking.

I think if I could get away from alcohol for two weeks, I could turn this around.

Start with tomorrow.

buk 1000
I will post tomorrow -- I will truly try (one more time) to do this.

Hamartia,
i had to change my imagining. i'm serious. it's one of the tools i used a lot at the beginning, when i couldn't imagine a day without drinking...well, when i TOUGHT i couldn't imagine a day, or myself, without drinking. i imagined all kinds of scenarios and what i would be doing in them.
planning the day or morning or evening ahead worked well for me, too.
concrete plans.
and really getting engaged online and a weekly LifeRing meeting.
action. putting action behind the desire is huge.

here's a thread to jump into:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...y-7-until.html

Early Decemeber you went a week without a drink. That's how you do it. You do what you did then only keep that up every day.

Many times I started. I would go one week. Then drink. Then I would go a couple weeks…maybe three. Then drink.

Finally, I had enough. I kept going -- every day making the decision not to drink. Sometimes it was making that decision moment to moment. It's hard at first, but it DOES get better but you have to keep making that decision many many times in those first months.

I would say after a few months it gets a lot easier and after six months, even easier. After a few months, you start to REALLY experience how much you better you will feel (and look), so that's always motivation to keep up with it.

How else did I do it? I checked in here daily. I kept myself busy during those times where I usually opened the wine whether it be through exercising or taking a hot bath or, yes, eating. Eating helped to alleviate the immediate craving. What really made me keep going…remembering the anguish of the next day. The physical and psychological torment that just got worse with time and not wanting to experience that hell one more time.

Good luck. You can do this.

What is "LifeRing"? I know that I have to want to be sober more than I want to drink. I do want this so much. I just can't see myself getting past this. But, until I can, I'll fake it!

I felt the same way about AAers when I first went. I didn't want to listen to them tell their sob stories and feel bad for themselves. It is nothing like that! These are not weak people. You should try to go to more than a few meetings. If you keep going and work the steps you have a good shot at staying sober.

Thank you -- really, thank you. I feel like I have lost everything, and I can't find anything to just help me up the first step -- the first little step. I will use your advise and truly pray that I can get through tomorrow without a drink.

I second this. I did not stop drinking with AA. However, a relative asked me to take him to a meeting when I had been sober for 10 years. I was blown away. I'd never heard people speak so freely, honestly and confidently to each other. My relative soon stopped going to AA. I continued.

Maybe I should go back and try again. I think when I went before, I didn't want to hear what they were really saying -- I didn't want to be there. I didn't think I had a problem! (Getting up a 4:00 a.m. and pouring a glass of wine to help me go back to sleep is a problem)! Thanks.

If you're getting up at 4 AM for some wine, I highly recommend going to your doctor before anything. They can recommend the best course of action and perhaps give you some Rx to help withdrawals and alleviate your suffering.

Seeing your Dr can often be a good first step too Hamartia - especially if you're concerned about detox? :)

D

God bless all of you. You have thrown a rope down to me, I just have to close my eyes, pray that I can do this, and grab the rope. Thank you.

Your picture is very lovely. I feel like I have lost -- I feel like maybe it's too late for me to make these changes -- to try once again to be (maybe it's too late, but I'll try.

LifeRing is a recovery organization: LifeRing - LifeRing

i went to a meeting for a couple of years; it was exactly what i needed at the time. n
now, years later, i decided i'd do well to incorporate a spiritual approach to life into my ongoing sobriety and am finding AA to be the place for that.

If this is Day One - LifeRing

and check out http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ething-do.html for tons of stuff to do to fill up your first sober day :)

It's never too late. Read some of the threads on here and you will believe it.

Check in with us during today, Harmatia!

Woke up thinking of you -- stay strong.

I will stay connected today. I have to change my ideas or images too. As I go through the day, I loose myself-- my direction, and I totally forget about me -- what I want to really accomplish -- the person I want to be. Circumstances and people dictate my actions and direction -- not me. I have to take control -- take responsibility for my actions. This is not easy.

I love the poem "Still I Rise." I am going to find my book by Maya Angelou and read that again. I need to just fill my head with good, positive motivational stuff today.