trikuza

I had made it to around 9 months sober. It seemed like it had gotten so easy to turn down drinks. I was confident in my sobriety and It felt amazing having a clear head 7 days a week. I was proud of myself and loved my sober lifestyle, and felt like I became a version of myself that I had forgotten about over all the years of drinking.

Then I blew my sobriety last St. Patrick's day. So for over half a year I have been right back at it, being an incoherent drunk . As horrible as I felt every week after embarrassing myself, I still felt a hold on me and couldn't convince myself to come back to sobriety.

I've finally had enough and i'm fully committed to sobriety again. It's day three and I'm feeling very optimistic once again.

I guess I'm not a newcomer. I've just been drunk long enough to feel like one.

JK130

Welcome back!

SoberLeigh

Welcome back, trikuza; sorry to hear about your relapse but glad to hear that you have recommitted to, and are feeling optimistic about, sobriety.

You had nine months sober so you already know that you can do this.

Do you have a plan in place to avoid the temptations of holidays?

trikuza

Thanks guys!

@SoberLeigh

Hmm I haven't planned ahead much. I'm a Christmas fanatic and i'll probably be ice skating and stuff like that lol. Hopefully ill spend more time with my family.
I must admit, the thought of drinking spiked egg nog next to a fire always sounded great so I've gotta be careful.

I have a high-stress job and I have taken on more responsibility with my last raise. I wasn't directing my stress anywhere else and all it just built up until I had some rage blackouts.

JK130

Planning for stress reduction is such a good idea. Exercise is great. And...Ice skating in santa monica?

Dee74

I'm glad you're back trikuza

I second Leighs point about making a plan - it was obviously very hard for you to come back to recovery this last time - the last thing you'd want to do is go 'out' again over Xmas.

There some great info here on making recovery plans, dealing with cravings and finding support

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

D

trikuza

Haha yeah we do have a rink set up in Santa Monica right now. There's a chance that i'll get a tan while doing it, though.

And yes I have definitely stepped up my exercise!

trikuza

Thanks Dee, I'm going to take a look at this and figure it out. The hardest part is that some of my old friends that moved away come back to town around Christmas.

And I do recall seeing you around the forums the last time I was here!

FeelingGreat

Hi trik, work out whether sobriety is your No. 1 priority, because you're going to have to say no to some tempting invitations with the festive season coming up. Can you do that? Can you tell your friends that you're not drinking, or that you'll have to skip a meet-up this year because you don't want to be tempted?

It sounds like ATM you're letting life happen to you, whereas you can control the the amount of temptation you have to face for the next few weeks. It is a dangerous time.

If you can get through December sober you have a great start to 2016.

Soberwolf

Welcome bk Trikuza

Yogini1603

Welcome back.

Nine months is great and I'm sorry that you relapsed. You've got a lot of support here.

I know you said you've got a stressful job, will you get any time off over Christmas? The rest could really help.

least

Glad you're back, working on sobriety again.

On The Road

9 months is an awesome accomplishment...But I'm concerned that you still think fondly of a little nog by the fire. That should should be a huge warning sign that the AV has found a weakness in your armor. Please think about that as you form a new Plan.

PurpleKnight

Welcome back Trikuza!!

The key therefore is going to be St Patrick's day next year, what's going to be the plan to be a "non drinker" . . . it was something I had to get my head around and plan accordingly!!

Zebra1275

Then I blew my sobriety last St. Patrick's day. So for over half a year I have been right back at it, being an incoherent drunk .

I have a high-stress job

I must admit, the thought of drinking spiked egg nog next to a fire always sounded great so I've gotta be careful.

Here's what I would be stressed about if I were you. Based upon your recent drinking behavior, if you drink that eggnog you might not sober up again until the end of August.

I know this from experience.

To paraphrase the actor Robert Downey Jr. . . . "I can't drink today, I have plans for summer."