Reformation

Ok thanks, i'll check it out.

Fly N Buy

Alcohol wasn't my problem it was my solution. I had to find other solutions or die in active alcoholism.

Simply eliminating alcohol without changing would lead me right back to drinking at some point. I could not CONTROL my drinking as it progressed.

Maybe some here who were heavy drinkers can swear off booze, take up exercising and eat kale.Those are much healthier habits than what I was doing but in sobriety if it's all I do, I am going to exercise, eat Kale and drink at some point. It is what alcoholics do.

Ask some friends here who have more than a couple years sobriety what else they do in sobriety other than change unhealthy body habits. I find most have some level of spiritual path.

Alcoholism is a three part problem of body, mind and spirit in my experience and all three needed to be addressed. Causes and conditions were part of the healing process but only through the lens of healing and what part ( if any at times) I was at fault.

Ina123

Reformation,
I'm on day 72 and just getting over a wave of exactly what you're feeling. It comes and goes, but ride it out - it will pass and you'll feel much better I'm in the January class with MrMcTell, and like he said, it's a great group of people and we're all in similar stages in our recovery. Why not click on the link and join our class Hope to see you over there!

Grymt

At 4730 days I still get these waves. I've had one over the last few days re the unhappiness I put my kids through. The thing is I wouldn't trade sobriety for anything. It's only sober I can do anything positive about what I feel bad about. The waves of regret come and go pretty quickly now. Regard these early days as boot camp. You gotta work at it. Determined. Persistent. You are developing new habit patterns. It's hard work. All those coping skills will make the future so much easier to cope with. I'm 59 so I can assure you you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Keep working hard. Sounds like you are doing well.

Reformation

Thanks Grymt i appreciate your kind words and also massive respect for the long time sober. I'll keep fighting through Boot Camp :-)

Thanks to everyone for the strength today. I damn well needed it.

peacefulintent

It is like boot camp! Also, what has happened to me is that I feel like there are times I am singled out for extra hard work detail! Most days have been positive, but I have found that every 3/4 weeks or so I go into a funk, feel sorry for myself, and feel angry and blue. I have continued to exercise, except for 3 days, on different occasions, where I just went to bed and curled up in a ball.
The exercise helps and the days do go by.
It is good that you are able to talk about the times when things are hard. I think that helps. I am finding that it continues to get easier overall. In retrospect it would of been great to make a graph and plot each day on a scale depicting emotion and mood level. It would be a good picture to see the upward trend towards peace and overall happiness. Day 101 for me.

Reformation

I like this idea!

Congrats on 101, thats awesome!

August252015

Lots of great posts and your response here is good - we have to learn (or relearn) a whole lot once we get sober.

Are you working a program? I am a dedicated AAer and it has saved my life. Most of us find we need some plan of action- not just will or hope or distractions, though those components are good!- to truly get sober and live a life of good recovery.

Keep going.

AnvilheadII

here's a link called Flare Up Periods that i personally found really helpful. it let me know that recovery IS a process, but that it isn't not a straight line.

Flare Up Periods

(the "butt trusted" is a take off on one of the AA Traditions....our leaders are but trusted servants....)

PurpleKnight

For me I drank away feelings and emotions for many years, never felt much or tried to drink away all the things I didn't want to feel.

When I took away alcohol it was natural I was going to start to feel and live in real time, the raw emotions of life I was faced with and had to deal with.

It's been a part of my Sobreity, rediscovering who I am, and dealing with how I haven't been allowing myself to fee for years, the escapism has come to a head.

The good news is though, we can grow through dealing with it, not turning back to the old escape in a bottle, but pushing through and moving forward!!

Reformation

I haven't been to AA and part of me thinks 'oh i dont need that', who knows. Denial maybe? Im not sure really, maybe going to AA means its really real and im actually what im saying i am. I dont know really, i'll give it some thought.

Thanks for your support, its good to see people further along the path and know whats possible and how achievable it is.

Reformation

Ok this is awesome, thank you. Im stunned that im fitting into these dates and timelines so perfectly. I kicked off at about day 61 feeling like crap and extremely close to drinking. Damn... you mean to say im not a special snowflake! LOL but seriously, thank you. This is incredibly helpful and has been insta-bookmarked!