Hawkeye13

Hi Mecx!

That retirement idea closer to equator sounds great.
Any particular places in mind?

Hope all are well--check in Bim if you feel like it
Sleep well MB

BixBees505

Everyone. Rocky weekend? Me too. Still here. Still good. Easy? No.

Here we all go into another workweek. I do not personally feel ready in any way... this weekend took more energy than it gave.

I hope everyone stays tuned in and posts for the start of another week. I know i can use the company.

andyh

((Bix))

hang in there. however unprepared for the week you feel, at least you won't be starting your Monday hung over! I'm sure your Mom appreciated spending time with you this weekend, even if it has taken it out of you.

MidnightBlue

Morning, weekenders!

I hope everyone has navigated out of the weekend safe, even though the "flight" itself wasn't without air pits and landing was rough.

But we are sober and rolling, and moving further on the journey.

So, keep your chin up and face challenges straight in the eyes. Whatever happens, we can handle it, even though at the moment it may be hard to believe.

Have a good one.

I am having coffee and doing my best to wake up)

See you.

MidnightBlue

Off to work.

Play nice, weekenders)

Lava256

Have a good one, MB.

I've only just read through the thread and the opener was great, thanks for that. I wish I had read it sooner but better late than never, I guess. It's really spoken to me and I will be thinking about it a lot.

Thankfully, I had my first sober weekend in ages. I didn't even realize it as that until I saw I had missed the weekenders thread.

L.

Gilmer

That’s great, Lava!

My Monday morning is starting extra early today (but I like it that way).

Weasel1966

Hi MB!!!

I missed the weekender but stopped in to say hello.

FANTASTIC OPENER! I feel this way a lot and true, when I stop to speak or write what I have done? Where I am at? Boy do things look different.

Ken

Purplrks3647

Thanks everyone for being here Another busy weekend and it wouldn't have been possible if I had been drinking myself stupid....

The first step to getting un-stuck: Don't drink!

Downthepath

I live on the equator (well, one degree North of it), and whilst it's great that we don't get the winter chills, it is hot - and the climate is very draining. You really have to keep on top of your hydration. I have an alarm that goes off on my iPhone every 30 minutes to remind me to drink water. My AV has a field day if I don't pay attention to it. Going out for a walk is tough, too, for the same reason.
Still, I choose to continue living here so I should probably stop whining.

Purplrks3647

BixBees505

Thanks, andyh! Amen to that. Drinking would mean not even fulfilling my word and intentions to my family. Being a bit drained from LIVING my chosen life is such a small price...it actually feels a little like a merit badge. If you were ever a scout of any stripe, you’ll recognize the reference. It is satisfying to be working “with” and not against...health in all forms.

Off to work! Later, weekenders.

STDragon

No work for me today. The office is closed. It was a really tough job running network cable over the weekend. I live in a split level, meaning I have two attics to crawl around in. But I got 'er done!

theVman31

Had this for supper : chicory (endives) and ham in béchamel sauce. Yummy.

theVman31

PS I also found a gym to join which is on the way home from work

BixBees505

Vman! Very cool. I need to re-engage exercise. I am going from bad to worse on that front.

mecanix

Hi Hawk ,
somewhere around the Mediterranean,
plenty of islands to visit , Spain , Italy , Portugal .. it will be fun travelling round having a look see depending if i still have EU freedoms .

The first year or two i think a lot of travel will be on the agenda if health is ok ..

I'm able to do it because of sobriety , my pension accounts were pretty minimal 8 years ago . now i can see some kind of future , vague and broadly sketched but thats ok , i don't want my future to be a burden in the now but i'm able to be moderate and pay it forwards to myself

lots of life to live yet ,

m

MidnightBlue

Hi, weekenders.

Lava - Congrats on you first sober weekend! Keep it up!

Downthepath - Keep hydrated. I would trade places with you for a while because I have a cold exhausting winter ahead.

Ken - What a pleasure to see you!!!! When looking back to where we started - quite a journey we've made in sobriety. Surely lots of things to be proud of.

Vman - You food looks yammy. Now, when you spotted the gym, make the next step - set a deadline to start your first workout!

Bix - Start with the easiest exercise activity you can think of - just walking, going extra flight of stairs, etc. There is nothing like exercising to boost mood and self-confidence.

Mexanix - I love your retirement plans!

MidnightBlue

On the topic of being unstuck.

Today i got thrown back into fear and lost one round to it.

In brief. As I mentioned I work flexible hours, mostly from home. Last two weeks I've been also doing lots of tasks outside the office. And today I my job assignment didn't require visiting office either.

By the time I got back home the cell phone battery died. When I charged it I saw that a colleague called me.

I immediately got like, at least, 5 horrible scenarios in my head:

- The bank contacted the accounting department so they are looking for me
- Big boss was looking for me
- I am getting fired.
- And so on. You get the picture.

I've been paralyzed with fear like for an hour. I ruined my evening.

I haven't got anything done about my own project.

Finally I couldn't take it any more.

I whatsupped my colleague and asked why she called me.

Her answer was:

"Oh, we've just haven't seen you for a while. We miss you here))".

Really????

I wasn't sure how to react - laugh or cry.

I went for a walk.

I bought myself lots of fruit and nuts and grossly overdid on it.

Sorry, my dear trainer, loss of my 4 extra kilos is postponed again.

Then I re-listened the chapter from the book I am listening over and over at the moment.

"Fighting fear doesn't work. It just drags us in closer. One has to focus on what is real. On the truth. When in darkness, don't fight it. You can't win. Just find the nearest switch. Turn on the light."

The chapter is short and hilarious. I would copy it here but kindle won't let me do it. So I'll give a synopsis.

"Richard Bandler, co-founder of NLP got known early in his career as someone who could cure schizophrenics within hours.

One of his cases was about an executive who started hallucinating snakes. Treatment didn't help. So he was strapped to bed - not very empowering when you believe snakes are crawling all over you - in the mental hospital. And was considered hopeless.

By the time Bandler met him, he was in a bad shape.

Bandler found a barrel of rubber snakes in a pet shop. The owner of the shop also happened to have 3 well-trained snakes - 2 cobras and one python.

Bandler brought the snakes into the hospital's' room. He covered the place with rubber snakes, placed real ones close to the place where the patient would be.

Then he brought the patient, strapped to a wheelchair, to the room, and positioned him right in front of the real snakes.

The moment the patient saw the place he started screaming: "Snakes!".

Bandler left the room.

The patient kept screaming.

After a while he came back.

The patient saw him and was about to scream again, but Bandler cut him off: "Snakes, snakes. I know. Tell me which ones are real, and which ones are not. And I'll wheel you out. Otherwise, I am leaving you here".

"Rubber snakes," the main said motioning to the ground with his head. "Hallucinated snakes", he motioned around. "Real snakes", he pointed to cobras and the python.

This caught Bandler off guard. The man was not only lucid enough to tell hallucinated snakes from real, but could even tell which ones were rubber - something even Bandler had hard time telling, given how realistic they were.

He wheeled the man out and asked how he could distinguish between real ones and hallucinated snakes.

"Easy", the man said. "Hallucinated snakes are see-through".

The man knew it all along. Reality was solid. Hallucinations see-through. But the fear was so intense, he'd lost touch with reality. Bandler taught him to focus on the difference between reality and hallucinated see-through.

So, when fear arises, remember that it is a hallucinated snake, or it is not useful, or it is not real."

These words just resonated with me today:

"fear was so intense, he'd lost touch with reality"

I often feel like I live in two realities - one is real, the other one is warped by fear. It's a 'see-through" , but so scary I am paralyzed .

I need to find that light switch to take me out of the darkness.

STDragon

Hope you went right after that supper of yours! ;^>

Daughter and I went out and did a little shopping / browsing. Ended up at a music shop and nearly brought home a ukudelic...
Ukadelic.jpg