Sober January!

[bkyogagurl]

Sober January!

London- I am putting my social life on hold... One of my very best friends hasn't called me all month when I told her I wasn't drinking... It's to bad but I care about my quit more than I care about drinking with her... I also decided not to attend a funeral for fear of drinking... I am sure it won't always be like this... But I feel rewarded not being in toxic situations that lend to drinking... We will see what friends I have let over... Probably just you guys...

Happy Sober Hump day!

[NoSugar]

Sober January!

bkyogagurl;1616947 wrote: London- I am putting my social life on hold...!

Hi, Bkyogagirl - I was pretty much a hermit for a couple months. It wasn't hard because I didn't feel all that great anyway. Now I'm much more social than I have been in years. I used to turn down a lot of fun things - especially those in the evenings . It is much better now to go out and not drink than what used to be my life: stay home in order to drink.

Do whatever it takes to get yourself securely AF then you can start REALLY LIVING!

Good job to everyone on the January thread!

[Pavati]

Sober January!

Hi, all:

Londoner - I didn't change much this time, but I am a lot older than you. I have freed myself to say no more often not as much to avoid the drink as to spend more quality time with my kids. My life not centered around drinking and partying means I have more time with my family.

BK - really? Can you initiate a hike, a breakfast or some event with some of your best friends that wouldn't revolve around alcohol? You can normalize that way of being with them and see what happens. If not, maybe join a club or class where you can meet some peeps?

Ok - off to take son to practice. January 22 in the bag, and we are on our way. Halo, we do rock!!!

[bkyogagurl]

Sober January!

NS- that is awesome you go out now and stay sober.. I'm wishing that for myself....

Pav- really... She isn't much into to running or hiking... She likes to do her kickboxing the one thing I am not interested in doing... It's cool.. We are drifting apart... It kinda makes me mad but ya know its a reality... I have a feeling a lot of good stuff is coming so I'm ok with the shift..

Thanks to all of you here... It makes it much easier.

[tree23]

Sober January!

Can I b*tch and moan for just a sec? I feel very immature and juvenile but I do roll call every day on Newbies Nest and I haven't been acknowledged there for weeks 1,2, or 3, or double digits etc. I know this is silly. There it is though.

[DreamThinkDo]

Sober January!

:jumpwow: Tree :jumpwow: 22 days :jumpwow:

You know what, that is one thing you do not have to feel immature about - every day AF deserves some sort of inkele: inkele:

How this happened to you - and so many times in a row - is a mystery, since Byrdie is so good at rewarding prizes. Does this make you feel a bit better?

[bkyogagurl]

Sober January!

Tree- I know how you feel... I just mentioned and whined that my thread had crickets on it...

We are almost on the same day... ROCKSTAR.

[NoSugar]

Sober January!

Hey, Tree

When the nest is busy (which is a good thing!), that sometimes happens. I also didn't get acknowledged a couple times and then felt sort of embarrassed that I cared so much. BUT I DID! This is so dang hard at the beginning, getting a little recognition means so much. Anyway, I could be the one who didn't notice and if so, I'm very sorry :l. I try to step in when Byrdie is away or busy and she has been lately.

So if you'll accept them, here are 3 Moons of Great Accomplishment for you:
:moon: :moon: :moon:
And a thank you for your patience balloon: :balloon:.

BKYogaGirl, I wasn't sure what having crickets in your thread meant but now I'm thinking it means not busy. Is that right?

Having your own thread is a tricky thing. It of course doesn't get as much traffic as the Nest or some weekly or monthly threads. Plus, sometimes people hesitate to post because they don't want to hijack the thread. Personally, I think it works best to participate in a group thread such as this one.

If some of the posts in your personal thread were here, it might liven up this conversation. The monthly threads are more interesting when there is discussion in addition to reporting in and giving encouragement. Some people, like j-vo, use their threads as a journal. She puts stuff there that she wants to be able to find later (It is very difficult to dig up old posts and the Search function here is awful). She sometimes gets responses, sometimes not.

Anyway, in a week we'll all have an AF January behind us!

[tree23]

Sober January!

DTD,yogagurl, and Nosugar,
Thanks SO much! Seriously got tears in my eyes. Means a lot. I don't have many people to share my quit with as not many people knew I was drinking and then the rest of the friends/fam are in a different city and we don't chat much. My one sis in town knows and she has offered to be there if I need support and told my mom but she is in Mexico. Its nice to have the day to day acknowledgement/affirmation and whoorahs for little goals, as well as people to share the truth. I have to say I did hide my AL relationship very well. I think the only people who might have guessed were the liquor store clerks. I think my roommate might have suspected but now he drinks more than I do!
All in all I am much happier with myself and life now than I have been, even the last time I was sober. Thanks Januaries!
P.S. I will try posting on the nest to get to know some more people. I just usually don't have that much time or when i do get on here I am exhausted and don't have more words than my pseudonym and then days. Thanks again! Touched my heart!
~Day 23

[tree23]

Sober January!

BKyogagurl,
We are on the same day, but I think we may be in different time zones. Usually by the time I get home people are already doing roll call for the next day. My quit date was also 1/1/14. Good for us! I am in Alaska so I think we (Alaskans) are the farthest behind. Sometimes I find all the different threads overwhelming and if a lot of people have already commented and said what I wanted to say then I don't often reply. Also, on some threads, if the feeling is negative or hostile, I do not comment. Such feelings/emotions are not conducive to my quit. I am very susceptible to negativity. I felt very vulnerable after reading TrueGrits last thread about leaving MWO. I felt attacked and protective of my friends who have only ever shown me kindness and encouragement. Anyway, today is a day off and so i am writing more than normal. Thanks again all!!!

[NoSugar]

Sober January!

tree23;1617438 wrote: Sometimes I find all the different threads overwhelming and if a lot of people have already commented and said what I wanted to say then I don't often reply. Also, on some threads, if the feeling is negative or hostile, I do not comment.

Hi, again, Tree

I understand how repeating what someone else has written seems silly but doing so can sometimes be helpful to you (kind of rewires your brain in the right way) and if it is to encourage someone, well, we can't hear that too often!! Plus, posting is how others get to know you and respond directly to you.

As for threads with negative stuff going on, I would just stay out of those if I were you. I try to avoid threads that are hostile (you can identify them pretty quickly) as well as threads that encourage or condone moderation (because that doesn't work for me and I don't want to start considering that possibility).

BKYogaGirl posted on the LadiesOnAMission (gentlemen welcome!) thread today - there are people from all over the world posting there so even though you are in the "last" time zone, some of them who are in the early ones are up, posting about tomorrow .

Take care, NS

[Fat fella]

Sober January!

Hi tree
You're doing great! I don't get to post much and only normally post on or read the nest but I came on here tonight and saw your post. It's important we all help each other out on here, and if I can offer some moral support I'll certainly try. We've both been doing this for about the same length of time, so hang in there and keep in touch.:goodjob:

[bkyogagurl]

Sober January!

Tree-

I second what No Sugar said... I hate the hostile threads and think they are stupid... Aren't we here to encourage and promote healthy emotions? I am. Sometimes I do want to chime in but I know what their response would be so why bother... It's like some people are just looking for a fight... It's their insecurities inside themselves that they haven't dealt with yet.. Bummer for them.

I get sensitive too... But I tell people so they know... Sometimes if I am feeling really crummy I will PM a few people I have developed a friendship with. I think it's hard being newly sober and needed support and attention directed to this.. Waiting an hour for a response can feel yucky but it's not that people don't like you... They are just sidetracked with their own stuff. You can always hop on my thread or here and say
BK.... I need some attention here... I will laugh and be there for you.

I think this thread is somewhat coming alive as well.. Seems a few of us are checking in on a daily basis...

Skull's thread is a good place to go too.. He writes a lot of relevant sober stuff that I find I can relate too. He and Spiritwolf have a lot of interesting conversation... Neat to hear a dude's point of view.

So HAPPY 23 TREE:goodjob:

I will check back later today but If dont see you... I will be here in the morn to post day 24 baby.

[halo]

Sober January!

bkyogagurl;1617460 wrote: Tree-

I I think it's hard being newly sober and needed support and attention directed to this.. .

I completely agree BK, like Londoner said our social life changes as we look at living an AF life, I looked to the MWO for the additional support and communication I desperately needed, especially at the beginning when many of us feel alone with our AL difficulties. Tree, I totally understand your feelings . Just wanted to share some cheers for your and BK's 23 days and some group luv!

:yougo::yougo::groupluv:

We are coming close to the end of January! Keep it going everybody!

As always No Sugar you are the best!

[Pavati]

Sober January!

:yay::band2::cheering:

Hooray Tree and BK!

I am in California and often my posts don't get acknowledged at all (although I write so much around here that there's always at least a post on SOME thread that gets answered). This thread is good because there are fewer of us, but we all post once a day. On the roll call all of the acknowledgement comes from those who post after you, so posting last is hard. What I do is post on that thread first thing in the morning if I can. My reasoning is that if I say in the morning it is day 53 (which, btw, it IS today), then I have to live up to that number and I can't possibly drink. A side benefit is that I get some recognition for the big days.

Anyway - Great work everyone here. I can't go back when I use emoticons, so I can't answer you all individually. I had very long periods of time today when I didn't think about alcohol or not drinking at all. I hadn't been craving alcohol, just thinking about my situation a lot. It was nice to focus on something else for a while...

Happy Thursday, everyone!