Motivation
 

When I'm motivated to not drink, I will sit and think okay ... probably just hungry, lets eat first .. or my anxiety is just high because I'm over reacting to something .. lets sit and think this through rationally and calm down.

When I don't have that motivation though, nothing works. No amount of thinking rationally or trying to stop myself works ... I guess on those days my heart just isn't in staying away from a drink .. no motivation.

I think that is when I come on here, either to post or even just to lurk.
The motivation for me, sometimes this month has been, "if I do this, I'll feel like crap tomorrow and I really don't want to have to tell people on SR I screwed up"
I'm going with whatever works - also planning what's going on in my life so that I feel healthy, happy and busy.

I do think motivation is key. Can you come up with a firm plan to follow when your motivation is failing? Maybe putting down some specific ideas and things to do, it will help.

Volshen,

Sounds like you are still drinking.

Until you stop for a solid week, you are still physically addicted.

After that the suffering of the healing process begin. This is physical and mental.

I crave still at 18 months clean. I am still getting used to sobriety.

Respect booze as an addictive, slow acting, brain damaging toxin. Even in small doses, booze alters our mind. Why would we want that? Because we are addicted.

The short term, drunken euphoria is rediculous when looked at from an analyst view.

Booze changes how our brain operates for a long time. Why would we want that?

Because booze is highly addictive.

We can achieve our full potential, no matter what age we are, when we forget about our addiction and live life fully clean.

Like my sober wife says....forget about it. Move on.

It works.

i had no success with thinking

ive had some success with action

:tyou

Motivation to get my liver clean was sole reason for quitting at the beginning. Now I realize it's so much more than just internal organs healing, it's feeling good, it's respecting my choices because they are made while sober. It's dealing with grief without masking real feelings with wine. I'm finally gaining weight in a healthy way, finally sleeping soundly without needing to pass out. It's good.

Oh, you have motivation, except its motivation to drink. It pushes aside any reason to do otherwise. And why? Because your addiction knows it will be rewarded with drinking.

When you say no to drinking, completely, it doesn't take motivation to drink. It just takes commitment to your decision to get sober.

So maybe it isn't a question of motivation, but one of commitment. Why can't you commit to sobriety?

I have learned that rational thought has little defense against my irrational addiction. And it has little to do with motivation. I'm one of the most motivated people I know...until I drink. I'm pretty much a text book alcoholic....

Hi Volshen

If I depended on positive motivation I'd probably still be drinking.
For me action is key - whether I'm unmotivated or not it's vital for me to act in order to stay sober.

If you haven;t got a support group thats helping you stay sober, get one. If you haven't made enough changes to your life to reflect your desire to be sober, make more. If you haven't got plan - especially a plan for what to do when you feel unmotivated - get one.

There's really no magic to recovery - its hard work - especially in the early days.

If you're not fully committed to change yet - maybe that's a good place to start?

why not?

Such is the peril of one-day-at-a-time experimental stops from drinking. It's a daily "should I or shouldn't I" drink, back and forth, inner debate.

The only solution is to definitively end that debate, and to not rely on daily whims. For example, you may decide that you will simply never drink again, regardless of your motivation on any given day thereafter.

It really is that simple, and if you continue drinking, one day that choice will probably be forced upon you by raw, dread fear. The price for procrastinating that decision may be very high by then, however.

So, don't wait for a miracle, or for a moment of clarity. Create your own moment of clarity, by thinking about where you are headed, and be the miracle that you have always been.

My motivation has come from the slow acceptance that I am powerless over alcohol, and that once I start drinking, I cannot stop, which then can lead to severe consequences in my life. I have to stay away from that first drink to prevent the physical and mental addiction and obsession because once it sets in, I may never be able to recover again and will be stuck in that daily torture of trying to get my Day 1 but being unable to actually succeed in getting it.

I have some daily anxiety because I know I have this illness, and that I am one sip away from possibly destroying my life.

Free,

This is not your thread, but I relate to the daily anxiety.

The longer I stay clean, the weaker it becomes.

I am becoming the most calm and serene I have ever been.

Balance is returning.

Stay clean everyone, it gets better by the moment.

Thanks.

How are you doing Volshen?

D

Motivation to do my best for the people I am entrusted to assist is my goal point today. I have stepped back and taken stock of my frustrations towards my agency and refocused on guiding these individuals towards their own goals. I got lost in the quagmire of beaurocracy, I am now stepping back out to give my life purpose as I help guide others. Easier to think clearly now that I am sober.

I love this

Hi Volshen, motivation is an interesting topic to me. I firmly believe that if you can derive your motivation from within....you will win. But its very hard to do. There are different techniques out there regarding motivation, I hope you are able to find one that suits you. Once you do, there will be nothing standing in your way.