Panic
 

I can feel it building up. I am surrounded by the chaos and mess left from my drinking. Unpaid bills. No money until Monday. My car desperately needs a service, new tyres, to be cleaned. I have belongings still at my mothers and brothers from my recent move. No washing machine and a staggering pile of washing to catch up on. Phone calls I need to make. Mail I need to sort through. My car smells like beer. My house is still unpacked fully.
How did I get to this? Why did I allow this to happen? I could scream.

Ok...first, breathe. Nothing on your list is life threatening. You will be ok! Dee once told me a long time ago. And it went something likethis. ..Right now you feel like you are on an island beach full of driftwood. Your job is to clear the beach. It seems impossible. But, no matter how daunting it looks, The only way to do it is one piece at a time. It's goin to be hard work, and may take some time, but when you are finished. You can enjoy that beautiful beach. You Got this! !!!

noneever, it's okay, it really is going to be okay, by getting and staying sober it will stay okay.
...it is like eating a elephant, one bite at a time. As long as we are making steps forward things will fall into place.

Enjoy being back in control of your life, capable and competent.

yes, take a breath. You are feeling overwhelmed.

Can you accomplish just one of those tasks first? Instead of looking at them all at once?

Put some newspapers in the inside surfaces of the car and spread out a pack of baking soda. Because you don't have any money don't panic about anything that costs. That brings it down to washing clothes. By hand. Pick out what you'd like to wear over the next week and start washing. Equanimously with awareness. Take a deep breath. You'll be right.

I am living in a unit- alone for the first time in my life
I am waiting for final divorce papers.
I had my housing application 'go missing' after waiting 6 months.
I panic, then breathe- calm down. I work on one thing at a time. Not all can be fixed in 1 try. So I plug away at them- record what I do.
So I cleaned my unit. I do mindful breathing to not freak out about divorce stuff. I have contacted the appropriate people about the housing shite.
My life does not change if I do not change it. I also remind myself drinking makes everything 1000 times worse.
My empathy and support to you. Keep posting. PJ

I liken it to being washed up on a beach...there's a lot of driftwood to clean up, but piece by piece you'll get there.

It's really important to remember this isn't the way it always will be..things will, and do get better.

It's also important to remember drinking got you to this place...it's not a solution.

Panics part of the old order - panic meant drinking for me. We can't go there.

Try and relax. Everything will be OK :)
It took me about a year to pull myself out from under the financial and emotional debris. For 20 years drinking I think that's a fairly reasonable deal.

I made reasonable weekly targets, Little by little I got things done, sorted and fixed up.

You're not alone in this - tons of support and understanding here.

D

As they all have said, baby steps. When you wanted booze you knew how to get it. Use that resourcefulness to get food, water, laundry detergent and change.

Try not to let your mind run too far ahead. One day at a time, one minute if necessary. Good luck

Ha! Getting alcohol was easy. Building a life is not going to be. But I suspect it's going to be worth it.
I'm too tired to panic now. It's passed. Thanks for all the encouragement. It's passed and all I have to do is put one foot in front of the other; even if it's at a snail pace, it's still progress right?

yes