livingnow

After FIVE (beautiful, peaceful, SOBER days off with ZERO stress - even Thanksgiving was low key for me- I had NO PROBLEM at all not drinking ...I felt great .....calm.....I returned to work yesterday.

My job IS truly low stress, and a great fit for me. That said- When I came home I was climbing the walls for a drink. several drinks.
SO, what I learned is that my MAIN "trigger" or use of alcohol is winding down.....
Well, I thought...Whats "winding me up???" I need to think on that some more...

Anna

I think that once you stop drinking, you need to deal with the issues that caused the alcoholism, the feelings you were trying to numb. It's a difficult process, but it is part of the recovery process, I believe. Congratulations on your 5 days of sobriety.

ScottFromWI

Congrats on 5 days and good move on coming here to talk things through livingnow.

Anna makes a great point and I think you are realizing what almost all of us did - being sober and "not drinking" are 2 completely different things. When we stop drinking the world around us does not change....we need to change how we interact with it. That means learning new ways to relax, new ways to do pretty much everything. I try to stay away from labeling individual things as "triggers" because pretty much anything that causes stress can be a trigger. And many of these things are not something we can avoid..so we must learn to deal with them front and center.

Have you thought about participating in some kind of formal recovery program or plan at all? Nearly all of them are centered around just what I described above - learning new ways to accept and manage this new way of life.

RDBplus3

"I" was the Trigger.

I couldn't fix my Spiritually Diseased Self with my Spiritually Diseased Self.

I drank for 40 years, then struggled for a long time trying to get Sober. (Face in the asphalt struggling).

RDBplus3 ... Now, Happy, Joyous and FREE ... and I KNOW anyone can B 2

livingnow

Thanks Anna. Thanks Scott.
I have entertained the thought of "formal" programs... I found I do not "do well" with the formal!
I do well - say - here.
Great points you both made especially about "not drinking VS being Sober" .

january161992

thanks

teaorcoffee

Well done on five days - it can take time to reorganise your life after years of drinking. I know that after around a week my emotions, etc were all over the place, but it settled down after that.
Hang in there.

livingnow

Thank you. I did pull off 82 days 2 yrs ago- cant remember all the details, BUT I remember PEACE came over me in general- and that souns great right about now!

HTown

best to change up your routine when you come home. walk around the block instead. go to a movie. try changing the environment. good luck

livingnow

you know, I agree with that - and also question that ..... Part of me says to do something different - I must do something different
the other part of me says - why do that...? I should learn to live sober in my life doing what I did (minus the drinking.....

teaorcoffee

the other part of me says - why do that...? I should learn to live sober in my life doing what I did (minus the drinking...

I think this is pretty hard to do and would leave me with gaps to fill which were previously filled by alcohol - by changing my life slightly to avoid those gaps, I have been happier and more fulfilled. It doesn't always work, but it's been ok so far.
For me, I need a life I want to live sober.

Dee74

If you took the drinking out of my pre-recovery life there'd be nothing left

Recovery is about change - I think it's fine to mix things up.

The only way I could tolerate my old life was to drink...I needed a new life now, a life fit for a person in recovery.

Change is scary, but it's needed...and it works out pretty good, if you look around and read a few stories

D

HTown

I get what you are saying, but for me, I had to change things up to break the routine. That was a big help. Just break the pattern. They say 21 days to instill a new habit.

doggonecarl

That first beer after work soothed my nerves like aloe vera soothed a burn. I might have asked myself, what about my day made my nerves so shot? What was my trigger?

But during my recovery, I discovered that what my drinking was soothing was my addiction. Not work. Not stress. Alcohol was all about soothing a powerful physical and mental addiction.

Delilah1

I think finding a new outlet to help you unwind is important. Walking, yoga, reading, or anything else.

PurpleKnight

I definitly needed to fill my toolbox of life with a few more tools than a bottle of alcohol.

Life is still going to through a few curve balls, even in Sobriety, we just have to be well prepared to deal with the stresses of life when they come up.

It can be done though!!

trelly

On just my second day of sobriety. I just moved from Charlotte to the Pacific Northwest and honestly, still trying to find a good activity to "wind down" with. I think I'll just use this forum for now.

Dee74

welcome trelly

D

EndGameNYC

It doesn't seem to be working.

No one wants to go somewhere or do something to get sober. It's just the way we're built. Discipline is about doing the things we need to do, even when we don't want to do them.

It's good that you put down the drink as quickly as you did.

Delilah1

There are many beautiful hiking trails in Washington, you will need to bundle up depending on the weather, but you may want to explore some!