Well done Ghostface, you are doing fab. Day 3 nearly done here, will be waking up ready for day 4 hangover free and ready for the day ahead.

Hey Ghost, how'd you d o?

Hi all,

Today i woke up sober which feel great, no hangover. Plans for today are gym, working on my business, developing new skills and reading. Im amazed at how i know what i should be doing and now is that im following up since alcohol is not in my system. The beers and cognac has hold me back so much in life and it has turned into a love and hate relationship.

Recap from yesterday, its been month since i've been to the gym due to me loosing my license so i got a ride. Walking in i was going through mild anxiety but managed to calm myself down once i got in the locker room. The workout was great and something that i needed to do for the longest to relieve some stress. Once i was done, i walked back home which was about a half mile.

I got home, got some work done on my business and ate dinner. I had a few late night calls from my drinking friends which i did not pick up since it was 2AM and i was in bed by 11PM. Cravings have not been that bad this weekend , and when they do arise ive been able to tell my AV to "shut up, im not drinking today."

Let's see how the rest of today unfolds

Day 5 sounding positive and determined - good to hear it, Ghost.

I'm disappointed to tell you guys that I slipped up on Sunday night. I got anxious and thought to myself to have one beer. Well, one beer turned to maybe 8 and a fee shots in a go go bar.

Missed work on Monday and felt the guilt of failure. I made it to work today and back on day 2. I learned that no matter what, I can't take that first drink. I lied to myself claiming that I'm only having one drink which never works for me. I also learned that I need to stay away from all these establishment if I'm going to succeed in this journey. I already got invited to a club on Friday which I'm going to kindly decline and focus on what's important right now, my sobriety.

Perhaps you need to consider a more formal plan to keep you on track in the early days?

What is a good plan that you would recommend?

There are many. A good thread to read on the subject is linked at the end of my reply.

There are meeting based recovery programs ( AA, NA, Smart, Life Ring, Etc ). Call your local drug/alcohol assistance resource/center and they will most likely have a complete list of all the programs available in your area. You can also look in the classifieds of your local newspaper or even in the phone book, almost all of them are listed there too

There are self help methods like AVRT and lots of books and literature that goes along with them. Check out the secular forums here to learn more or go to your local library and check out some books

Taking it a step further, there is Inpatient and Outpatient rehab programs - very structured, daily meetings that focus on many of the items described above. Obviously inpatient is more intense and requires a much bigger commitment than outpatient which usually meets for a predetermined period of time several days a week.

Counseling is also an option- with addiction specialists or therapists. Obviously there is a cost but most insurance will pay and there are sliding fees for those without insurance in many cases.

SR is also an option- you could join a class thread or a weekly/daily one and spend more time reading/writing here.

One, some or all could be of help...keep an open mind but know that getting sober requires a committment and action on your part. Simply "not drinking" is not a sobriety plan.

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...at-we-did.html

Wow! Im looking back at this from the many slips i had and i don't know if i should be happy or ashamed to say that im back on day 3.

For the past 48 hours i had to attend a drunk driving course where i stayed in sort of like a half way house with 40 other drunk drivers. To say the least, after lectures and movies i came to a conclusion that alcohol is really a dangerous substance. The course was $321 so i made the best of it and learned as much as possible even thoe i did not want to be there but it was court ordered. At first i was angry but truth be told, i saw this as an oppurtunity to get sober but this time be real serious and be accountable instead of making excuses.

My family is over drinking beer and whiskey and i actually declined every drink they offered me.

I was evaluated by this program and was told to attend ARP "addiction recovery program" and im even thinking of attending AA. At the 48 hour program there was people from AA and it amazed me how they also turned their life around through sobriety. I see this al possible with the right support so im going to dedicate myself to post more and help others as much as i can,

Ghostface keep up the good work I know my life is light years better sober

It's 5am in NJ USA and I'm walking on my way to work happy about my fourth day of sobriety. But i wasn't happy last night. I had family members over and one keep asking me "what's wrong?" "You should have a drink." As I watch everybody drunk and enjoy themselves, I'm sitting down with a mad stiff face and anxiety worrying about how difficult this might be.

I had to feed my mind that alcohol is a poison and I should not indulge no matter what. I also just focused on the present and told myself "I will not drink today." That help me a bit but I'm not going to lie, as soon as I went to lay in bed, tears rolled down my eyes. Maybe I was envious of my family drinking and not be able to participate

At 4 days Ghostface its best to avoid these situations don't beat yourself up about it anyone would find that hard I know I would

Your doing great bud

It's not going to be easy GF. You may need to remove yourself from some of those situations for a while until you get some sober time under your belt. You mentioned you might try AA - have you been to a meeting yet?

Not yet and It kind of freaks me out. I had guest speakers come on my 48 hours course and that is the closest I been to a meeting. I'm very shy and at times I have to force myself to speak with strangers but I'm considering on going. Today is a closed meeting so I'm not sure if I'll be welcome.

I'm also not sure what to expect as a first timer

I believe closed meetings are for alcoholics only ,
I'm sure you'd be welcome :)
All there for the same reason .

m

The only requirement for AA is a desire to stop drinking.

Closed meetings just mean that everyone there identifies with having a problem with drinking. Open meetings are open to anyone, such as family members, friends of drinkers, clergy, therapists, kids, etc. You would be welcome at the closed meeting. You don't have to talk - just say you are just listening.

Almost time to go home so I'm making sure I check in once I leave work and upon home arrival. I would drink on Monday since I would usually be to hungover on Sunday so I would make up for it the following day. It was a sick way of thinking .

My plan for when I get home is to hit a home workout, chest and back, pay some bills and do some reading. This is way more productive than drinking and wasting time.

I've been thinking alot and it's probably from sobriety, or my mind still fog. I feel excited about being sober but at the same time I'm scared. I keep telling myself don't worry about if you are not going to drink in the future or the mistake in the past just focus on the now, it's the only thing that's real and that matters.

I identify my triggers for Monday which are going to the liquor store, seeing my friends and calling one of my girls. I must avoid all and go straight home and work on me.

I'm following someone else plan that I read here and they used to check in 6 times a day and It's helping so far, I just need to be aware and tell my AV that om in control.

Thank you for listening

I'm not sure if I've given you this link before GF but it's a keeper...take a look :)


https://store.samhsa.gov/shin/conten...0/SMA-3720.pdf

D

Hey GhostFace - you got this. I like that you're dealing with the here and now. Focus and kick some a**.

Thank you all for the encouragement, it's safe to say that i managed to get through today without a drink and i feel great. I went through my plan which was to:

• Workout
• Pay bills
• Read for at least 30 minutes
• Post on SR

I've been avoiding these simple task like paying my bills and forced myself to drink so i could forget about my debts knowing well that they are not going nowhere until i resolve them. Hitting my workout made me feel good about myself, gave me energy and hope on my sobriety. It also forces me not to drink (i been to the gym drunk before and trust me, it's no fun lol).

Thoughts keep running thru my mind like, "I cant wait for Thanksgiving to drink a bottle" or "Im going on vacation in a few weeks, how are you going to stay sober?" I just try to focus on not drinking right now and worry about that when that day comes. What has me worried a bit is that when i leave the country for vacation, im going to run into alot of alcoholic family members and being in a island were majority of the people drink, and that's what is expected of me. Plus internet is limited so i have to count on myself not to drink.

On another note, thank you all for your support and thank you dee74 for that link, i got some reading to do!