I drank a liter of vodka over the weekend
Behold the power of NO
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: WA
Posts: 7,764
I am so glad to hear that you are doing well and back on track DD. 
If people are quiet,
They can be quiet anywhere.
If people aren’t quiet
They won’t be quiet in the mountains.
Everything depends on you.
Life is transient,
Like a flash of lightning in a dream.
Before we receive this form,
We had another face,
Our original face.
We can’t see it with our eyes.
We can only know it with wisdom.
- Chi-ch’eng
If people are quiet,
They can be quiet anywhere.
If people aren’t quiet
They won’t be quiet in the mountains.
Everything depends on you.
Life is transient,
Like a flash of lightning in a dream.
Before we receive this form,
We had another face,
Our original face.
We can’t see it with our eyes.
We can only know it with wisdom.
- Chi-ch’eng
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 572
Update: am three weeks removed from the last binge. I'm exercising, eating & sleeping well.
I recently went to my physician, had a comprehensive blood panel, and everything looked good, so that was relieving.
One of the biggest mistakes I made in the months leading up to late-May was to immerse myself in recovery. Since then, I’ve immersed myself in life, and distanced myself from recovery, and the further I get away, the better I feel.
I recently went to my physician, had a comprehensive blood panel, and everything looked good, so that was relieving.
One of the biggest mistakes I made in the months leading up to late-May was to immerse myself in recovery. Since then, I’ve immersed myself in life, and distanced myself from recovery, and the further I get away, the better I feel.
ours de petit cerveau
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: London, UK
Posts: 1,630
glad you're doing well DD & that having some space has helped you 
white bears. whatever you do, don’t think of white bears.
thinking about white bears now, aren't you?
I do think that "recovery" can have a target-fixation effect sometimes - ie it can cause us to fixate upon, & be drawn toward, the exact thing we're trying to avoid.
keep up the good work
white bears. whatever you do, don’t think of white bears.
thinking about white bears now, aren't you?
I do think that "recovery" can have a target-fixation effect sometimes - ie it can cause us to fixate upon, & be drawn toward, the exact thing we're trying to avoid.
keep up the good work
Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Northern CA
Posts: 156
Originally Posted by andyh 
glad you're doing well DD & that having some space has helped you
white bears. whatever you do, don’t think of white bears.
thinking about white bears now, aren't you?
I do think that "recovery" can have a target-fixation effect sometimes - ie it can cause us to fixate upon, & be drawn toward, the exact thing we're trying to avoid.
keep up the good work
white bears. whatever you do, don’t think of white bears.
thinking about white bears now, aren't you?
I do think that "recovery" can have a target-fixation effect sometimes - ie it can cause us to fixate upon, & be drawn toward, the exact thing we're trying to avoid.
keep up the good work
No Dogma Please
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: SoCal
Posts: 2,562
We don't recover for its own sake, we recover to have a better life.
I immersed myself in recovery by trying everything. I didn't try to figure out the "right" or god forbid, the "perfect" way to recover.
I overthink a lotta sh*t, that wouldn't have been productive. You also strike me as a dweller.
So good on ya!
I immersed myself in recovery by trying everything. I didn't try to figure out the "right" or god forbid, the "perfect" way to recover.
I overthink a lotta sh*t, that wouldn't have been productive. You also strike me as a dweller.
So good on ya!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 572
I have some questions, for the last words, regarding AVRT (for Algorithm), regarding SMART (for andyh), for page 64 on the BB (for Gottalife). And for my gf dumping me, for all else. I’ve lost the thread, twice, in the last week.
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: canada
Posts: 7,242
sorry to hear it, dd.
i'm not sure all those mentioned above read here daily or even frequently, so just a reminder that there is the option of private messages or emails also.
good to see you searching for answers/solutions.
i'm not sure all those mentioned above read here daily or even frequently, so just a reminder that there is the option of private messages or emails also.
good to see you searching for answers/solutions.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 2,654
Daredevil, why don’t you select one method, apply yourself 100%, and if it doesn’t work for you, then discard it and move onto the next, even a combination of methods and so on. Until you can achieve a permanent quit, if that’s what you want
Not The Way way, Just the way
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: US
Posts: 1,413
Originally Posted by Tatsy
Daredevil, why don’t you select one method, apply yourself 100%, and if it doesn’t work for you, then discard it and move onto the next, even a combination of methods and so on. Until you can achieve a permanent quit, if that’s what you want
I take a person’s word for his/her pledging permanent abstinence unless there is clear evidence that they drank again, which in daredevil’s case, I do not see anywhere.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 2,654
GT, I’m thriving in permanent abstinence after taking the pledge. But I recognise, from reading around SR, that some folks just can’t seem to wrap their brains around permanent abstinence, unfortunately.
Therefore, surely it’s better for them to struggle (or thrive hopefully) one day at a time; than to continue in the cycle of addiction, with its downward spiral.
Therefore, surely it’s better for them to struggle (or thrive hopefully) one day at a time; than to continue in the cycle of addiction, with its downward spiral.
Not The Way way, Just the way
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: US
Posts: 1,413
Originally Posted by Tatsy
GT, I’m thriving in permanent abstinence after taking the pledge. But I recognise, from reading around SR, that some folks just can’t seem to wrap their brains around permanent abstinence, unfortunately.
Therefore, surely it’s better for them to struggle (or thrive hopefully) one day at a time; than to continue in the cycle of addiction, with its downward spiral.
Therefore, surely it’s better for them to struggle (or thrive hopefully) one day at a time; than to continue in the cycle of addiction, with its downward spiral.
I am here in the spirit of Rational Recovery World Services. So, I believe it’s important to shine the light on anyone’s capacity to pledge permanent abstinence (like in Algorithm’s signature line.)
I discovered first hand long ago that “to struggle (or thrive) one day at a time” is a Way Of Life that unnecessarily altered and damaged my and my family’s life. And I will never believe an adult cannot completely engage in making a pledge of permanent abstinence.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 572
There really isn’t any practical distinction between drinking 24-hours at a time and permanent abstinence, since all anyone can do is not drink on any given day, and it’s always the present. It’s an academic distinction that does not make a difference. One-day-at-a-time does not entail daily vacillation, which is the implication above, which I disagree with. I doubt someone, whatever his or her method, with years of sobriety, is deciding on a daily basis whether s/he would drink. People in AA, per the 12th tradition, are doing exactly what you’re doing, GT/Tatsy; that is to say, carrying it forward.
Lg; we’ve already conversed over PM.
With respect to my method, I’m going to go the approach of medically assisted therapy; I will book an appointment with an addiction specialist. Were I on a medication that prevented me from drinking, or tempered the desire to drink (in this case, more the former than the latter, since the desire to drink was psychological, not physical), I would not have gone a three-day bender amounting to a handle of vodka. I won’t even say regrettably, because it served its purpose, and two days removed, I feel fine (of course, who knows the long-term effects of each binge, so in that sense I have regret).
I played the tape forward, attributed the desire to drink to the Beast, tried to dissociate from it-even went to a meeting-and then proceeded to the liquor store. Nothing from any recovery method helped me once I decided to drink. Only certain meds would have taken the choice away from me.
The only program of recovery I need is medication that will remove the desire to drink, prevent me from drinking, and an exercise program.
Lg; we’ve already conversed over PM.
With respect to my method, I’m going to go the approach of medically assisted therapy; I will book an appointment with an addiction specialist. Were I on a medication that prevented me from drinking, or tempered the desire to drink (in this case, more the former than the latter, since the desire to drink was psychological, not physical), I would not have gone a three-day bender amounting to a handle of vodka. I won’t even say regrettably, because it served its purpose, and two days removed, I feel fine (of course, who knows the long-term effects of each binge, so in that sense I have regret).
I played the tape forward, attributed the desire to drink to the Beast, tried to dissociate from it-even went to a meeting-and then proceeded to the liquor store. Nothing from any recovery method helped me once I decided to drink. Only certain meds would have taken the choice away from me.
The only program of recovery I need is medication that will remove the desire to drink, prevent me from drinking, and an exercise program.
quat
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: terra (mostly)firma
Posts: 4,823
AB
Welcome aboard, 12 Steps are off topic in this forum referencing it will mean removal of posts as per the rules of this particular forum, the mods feel this is the best way to keep discussion focused on recovery and hopefully avoid rehashing debates about 'best' practices .
With that in mind , do you think it is possible and/or what would 'removal of desire' look like ?
Welcome aboard, 12 Steps are off topic in this forum referencing it will mean removal of posts as per the rules of this particular forum, the mods feel this is the best way to keep discussion focused on recovery and hopefully avoid rehashing debates about 'best' practices .
With that in mind , do you think it is possible and/or what would 'removal of desire' look like ?
Member
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 205
Sorry about that. Missed the forum topic. I feel it’s possible to remove the desire (mostly) at least. It’s not saying oh I can’t drink but that I don’t want to drink. Maybe a thought pops up infrequently but it doesn’t have the hold on a person it used to.
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