Originally Posted by Delilah1

That sounds like a good plan. What kind of hobbies do you enjoy? When I first moved to California I joined Team in Training and I raised money for leukemia and also trained for a marathon with them. I had always been fairly active, but was never really a runner. It turned out to be a great way to meet people, and those long runs definitely filled up a lot of weekend time. I'm sure there are many clubs/groups in Chicago you can look into.

If all else fails, spend time reading and posting on here, it really does help.

Originally Posted by PhoenixJ

MNV- welcome and congrats. Having a strong awareness of booze being a life destroying habit is essential As is having a recovery plan and action and support. There is a lot of info in the sticky's about planning. Action- for me means the doing. Meetings, counselling, checkups with doc, journal, changing mentality to life (the hard one). The doing also reflects support.
As to family as a support- every family has it's breaking point. The only person who is really responsible for you- is you. I tried for years to get sober- thinking my willpower, family and time would see me successful. Well willpower was not enough and I lost my family in the most dramatic of ways. Food for thought.
Empathy and support to you.

Originally Posted by Berrybean

That is VERY sensible

I found That once I'd got the first couple of AA meetings under my belt, and got to know some faces there, that meetings really helped to punctuate my week, but especially my weekends, which were my main drinking times.

Volunteering and hobbies really help.

My family and friends might have wanted to help, but they didn't really understand why there should be any problem once I'd stopped drinking. They just saw alcohol as the issue. Thing is, even once that's removed we still need to learn how to move past our alcoholic thinking so that we don't spend the rest of our days crippled with anxiety, resentment and self-loathing. I remember feeling resentful that those who said they loved me just didn't understand - and being on the edge of things made me feel more lonely than being alone would have done I think.


BB

Originally Posted by SimplyFree

MNVikes, I'm glad you are here. It sounds like you are getting settled into SR nicely. I too come from the land of 10,000 lakes originally. Hobbies or keeping busy especially at first is very helpful and like others have said finding others to support your recovery is important. Find a good AA group or something like that. SR is an awesome community but having a face to face support is best. I have several activities that I pursue to keep me occupied. First I'm a clean freak so cleaning is always on the activity list, but I also run 2-4x a week, since getting sober I practice my guitar 30-60min each day and play out a few times a month. I also have fixed and flipped a couple of cars, just to keep my mind focused on something positive, I rode in a 150 mile bike ride for work, planted new flower beds this spring. Really it was about filling my time completely and going to bed to exhausted too drink. But that was just me. I too love football and we all know drinking goes with that so there are challenges coming still. Good luck and I'm glad you are here!

Originally Posted by tealily

Welcome MNVikes,

This is a great place for help.

Have you talked to a doctor about your issues? Looking back I think I began to drink heavily as a way self medicate for anxiety and depression. Of course it was damaging, destructive and also didn't work.. because alcohol actually increases anxiety in the long term.

You don't need to live this way. This wake up call can be your turning point.

Read around, post, and dive in to this group. SR is my only outside support, and it's made a huge difference for me.