Dee74

Congrats to those celebrating a win and commiserations to those who supported other candidates..

For this thread though I'd ask everyone to try their best to keep to the topic of election results and drinking.

It's not being 'PC' or practicing 'censorship' - this is a newcomers forum and recovery is our focus.

I figure there are plenty of other places to argue politics.

Dee
Moderator
SR

Gilmer

Amen, Dee!

Gilmer

.

HelenofTroy

I feel sick. The only good thing is I never even thought about having a drink.

Juno11

I feel very sick and disillusioned. Same, Helen.

Delizadee

I will admit that when I saw the results at 6 am that I had a fleeting thought about drinking.
I have a friend down in the US (canadian) who said things we really bad where he was last night. One guy told him "One day there will be a wall for you, Snow Mexican!" as horribly offensive this is, of course I am a Canadian and find that very funny. But, shake my head sadly.
I guess last night the Canada Citizenship & Immigration website crashed. (true story)
I'm technically single if anyone's looking to marry their way into Canada
Just trying to lighten the mood. I was hoping to see a female president.
We're all worried up here what it's going to mean for us too. Mostly for our neighbours. I think the whole world is on uncertain ground.
We have strength, hope and love together in sobriety! Let's keep remembering that

wpainterw

Thanks, all you wonderful friends, for all your gracious, courteous and supportive replies. We all realize that for us, our prime job is to avoid alcohol and be cautious even with prescribed drugs. This morning I am ready to go on whatever may come. Often I think of the Brits, those stalwart people, who, in their "darkest hour", were led by Wnston Churchill :

"But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour."

Fondly,

Bill
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________\

The Gate of the Year

“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’
And he replied:‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.’
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.”

* * *

From a poem, popularly known as "The Gate of the Year" by Minnie Louise Haskins, published in 1908, the original title having been "God Knows", part of a collection titled “The Desert”. The poem was quoted by England’s King George VI in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire. Hitler had invaded Poland and England had entered the war with Germany These words. engraved on brass plaques, remain fixed to the gates of the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the King was interred. When Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) was also buried there in 2002, the poem was read at her state funeral.

August252015

OK. A few things.

I simply cannot stand fatalistic, "oh my God the world is ending" sentiments. I hear equal amounts from both sides in my world. Yes, equal- because I live in a world where I consider people of good moral character, intelligence, and attention-paying friends. And some of those- clearly, many- are why Trump won.

The clear statement is that America- enough of the country- wanted change from the Washington establishment. Enough so that many people (according to exit polls, lay people conversations, all kinds of sources) voted for someone they liked less than they disliked the other.

Now, what to do? Live. For us, stay sober. Quit b*tching. Focus on your local government. Did I mention stop b*tching? Whining and moaning and us blaming anything or anyone- for anything bad in our lives- is just like our "victimhood" in active addiction.

I didn't vote for him - but it will be OK. I have one main job: to stay sober. Second job: live a good life and don't be an a**hole.

My pray for the day, for myself, inspired by my daily journal:
"Prayers for listening and not speaking today, and in these next super loud ones to come immediately. Recovery first, which includes listening to what the others-than-me and the *upset* saym even those who are nasty, violent*, mean-speaking, etc. And go on about my business. Amen."

*and stay off FB. I've already seen plenty of "I'm moving...." "Oh my God, how can my daughter grow up in this world, " "Only white men must have voted (um, not how this works)".....before the election. Didn't need it then, don't need it now.

Reminding myself that dealing with what IS, not what I wish (Johnson) was.

#exitstageleft

LostManhattan

One of the reasons I decided to join SR is because it is 'politic free' and somewhat secular.

We are here to deal with our sobriety and recovery. Bottom line.

To my U.S friends, we are a democracy, and the pendulum swings so be it.

Tomorrow we get to go about our lives as sober people.

MeSoSober

I'm not gonna drink, but boy howdy does today feel like a justification. It feels like a death. And in some ways, it is. I am disillusioned and disgusted beyond words.

With that said, reading Churchill's and other inspiring words makes me want to stay strong. And I will. Gonna go sign up for 24 more sober hours now. Peace.

Dee74

Do stay strong

If you object to the Government of the day or the way you feel your country is heading you have a right to lobby and protest, make your voice heard...it's what democracy is built on...and thats as true here in Australia as it is in the UK or America.....

and you can't do that drunk, sitting on the couch

D

Verdantia

I live very close to several blocks of bars and I stopped by a couple with some friends from yoga class to see the results. I could see the votes were not going the right way and I began to have a panic attack, chest pounding, whining and static in my skull. My friends (and everyone else) were getting drunk and I could take no more, I left and walked home, releasing tension like an uncoiling spring. I thought about drinking, and if ever there had been an excuse for me before....but I didn't. I couldn't allow him to derail 10 months of sobriety. I could not give him such power, such control over my health and my sanity. I'm trying to remain optimistic at the moment, but it's hard. When I got up this morning it felt like a had a hangover with nausea and a nasty nagging headache. I am glad I went home.

2muchpain

Anxiety through the roof. Meds aren't helping much. Only able to take short naps. Didn't bother with the gym today. Went shopping and bought a bunch of snacks but really don't know why. Had to do something I guess. Gonna take a while for all this to sink in. John

Juno11

It was a surreal day here. I only got about 2-3 hours of sleep and feel exhausted. I found it helpful to connect to other friends of mine who are feeling the same way about the election. It has helped to feel not so alone.

I spoke to a close friend of mine on the phone tonight and it truly helped. We both agreed this is like a grieving process. The first day is going to be the worst. Tomorrow will be a little better, and the day after that and so on,,,, We need time to heal.

If I were to drink over this it would be a huge setback.

CAPTAINZING2000

I got thru 9/11 and that's just about as bad as it gets without drinking.

In case you were considering it

https://www.google.com/amp/www.indep...?client=safari

GnikNus

Like many others, I got little sleep. With strange timing, my two year old son woke up in the middle of the night wailing (he never does that). My wife and I were talking after we were woken up once the inevitability of the results became apparent. Shallow sleep, lots of waking. I thought a lot about people who would consider drinking over this, and how much worse that would make things. I had been looking at the election map for hours, so my dreams were punctuated by red swaths and blue islands all night. I thought of the inevitable division that would continue- in spite of who won. And I thought about all of us here on SR and how even though we may be divided politically, we all have a single thread in common: we all have faced or are facing the shackles of addiction- and how that's a common bond we all have here. We are from many corners of the world, and have lives divergent from each other in many respects, but in one respect we have the exact same foe we fight against. We are far less divided here at SR in that regard.

Steely

I'm freaked out too. Minorities, women, China, Putin, the globe ��, but makes me even more determined to not pick up. I might be needed.

awuh1

Steely I must confess that I've been spinning this whole post election day. Your post really helped me. Thanks. That's such a simple and elegant way to look at it.

MythOfSisyphus

I hardly slept a wink last night, then had to work 11 hours today. It still doesn't feel real; I keep thinking I'll wake up and the world will be sane again.

Still there's a font of optimism in me that sometimes surprises me. This journey will continue! The road may be rocky but I genuinely believe in the goodness of humans. We will get through this long dark night, together. And sober.

hellrzr

It's disheartening to hear people share such concern about the future of American. This is how I, and half the country, felt after the past two elections. I am finally optimistic again for the first time in 8 years. If the election didn't go your way I feel your pain but remember that the world isn't going to fall apart and in 4 years we will do it all again! Now if the thought of going through another election doesn't make you drink than nothing will ; ).