Re: Join the Army Against Alcohol-July 2017
Good morning Army!!!
Great to see you KTAB - us wimmen do worry when someone goes AWOL.
Rusty - good job on getting through that. It's not always easy.
What Molly says is so true about being alone and no one knowing if we drink - how easy it is to just give in, but when surrounded by other people who are drinking the "F-it" factor can come into play as well. Aw heck, they're all drinking so I'll have one too. That and the deprivation factor. What we have to get our heads around - IMVHO - is that we do not and cannot drink like normal people so we have to accept that and know that we are not being deprived if we don't drink, instead, we are doing something good for ourselves. It would be wonderful if all of us had support groups and were able to go to detox centres and get the counseling we need and get the "tools" we need to get our brains to rethink the whole AL thing. It is as complicated as it is simple, again IMVHO. I do not drink. Four simple words we tell ourselves and others that reinforce our decision to stay sober and inform others of our commitment, even if they don't know what that means. There are so many things involved in getting and staying sober but I think a couple of them are acceptance and forgiveness. We have to accept the fact that we cannot drink and forgive ourselves for the mistakes/stumbles we've made in the past and keep on pushing forward. We have to learn to like ourselves. Molly, as most of us, I'm sure, looked in the mirror and hated what she saw. I've done the same hundreds of times - not while drinking, but the next morning after yet another drunken blackout. When you stop drinking you look in the mirror and slowly but surely, you see a different person emerging - a person you can learn to like and love. That person has to come first no matter what. The saying- you have to care for yourself in order to care for others is so true and applies 100% to us. I know I talk about myself and tend to ramble on and on but the truth is that I've been through a lot - the nightmare of years of drinking, a marriage gone bad, total lack of communication with my husband and so much disappointment in myself that I wasn't strong enough to quit and stay sober and regrets that I wasn't always there for my kids when I should have been. When you finally make that decision - that life-changing decision - to get and stay sober, so many things turn around. Layers of guilt, disappointment, anger, and many other feelings and emotions, start to peel away slowly and a new us comes through. Our life may not change, but we do, drastically. I am what Molly's signature says - content, in spite of my life being in an uproar at this time. I am content in my sobriety, content with my work, content with my friends. Most of all, I like myself. I don't care if others like me or not. It really doesn't matter to me. I am who I am and I know who I am. Sobriety has given me that. I walk taller, I think clearer, I love life in spite of and with the struggles it brings. Because now I can not only deal with the hard times, I can appreciate the good things life has to offer as well. Sobriety gives us that - and an inner peace we never, ever had when drinking.
Wishing you all a great day!!
Did I read right that JackieClaire is not only 8 year sober but off the smokes as well? JC you ROCK!!
inkele:
Good morning Army!!!
Great to see you KTAB - us wimmen do worry when someone goes AWOL.
Rusty - good job on getting through that. It's not always easy.
What Molly says is so true about being alone and no one knowing if we drink - how easy it is to just give in, but when surrounded by other people who are drinking the "F-it" factor can come into play as well. Aw heck, they're all drinking so I'll have one too. That and the deprivation factor. What we have to get our heads around - IMVHO - is that we do not and cannot drink like normal people so we have to accept that and know that we are not being deprived if we don't drink, instead, we are doing something good for ourselves. It would be wonderful if all of us had support groups and were able to go to detox centres and get the counseling we need and get the "tools" we need to get our brains to rethink the whole AL thing. It is as complicated as it is simple, again IMVHO. I do not drink. Four simple words we tell ourselves and others that reinforce our decision to stay sober and inform others of our commitment, even if they don't know what that means. There are so many things involved in getting and staying sober but I think a couple of them are acceptance and forgiveness. We have to accept the fact that we cannot drink and forgive ourselves for the mistakes/stumbles we've made in the past and keep on pushing forward. We have to learn to like ourselves. Molly, as most of us, I'm sure, looked in the mirror and hated what she saw. I've done the same hundreds of times - not while drinking, but the next morning after yet another drunken blackout. When you stop drinking you look in the mirror and slowly but surely, you see a different person emerging - a person you can learn to like and love. That person has to come first no matter what. The saying- you have to care for yourself in order to care for others is so true and applies 100% to us. I know I talk about myself and tend to ramble on and on but the truth is that I've been through a lot - the nightmare of years of drinking, a marriage gone bad, total lack of communication with my husband and so much disappointment in myself that I wasn't strong enough to quit and stay sober and regrets that I wasn't always there for my kids when I should have been. When you finally make that decision - that life-changing decision - to get and stay sober, so many things turn around. Layers of guilt, disappointment, anger, and many other feelings and emotions, start to peel away slowly and a new us comes through. Our life may not change, but we do, drastically. I am what Molly's signature says - content, in spite of my life being in an uproar at this time. I am content in my sobriety, content with my work, content with my friends. Most of all, I like myself. I don't care if others like me or not. It really doesn't matter to me. I am who I am and I know who I am. Sobriety has given me that. I walk taller, I think clearer, I love life in spite of and with the struggles it brings. Because now I can not only deal with the hard times, I can appreciate the good things life has to offer as well. Sobriety gives us that - and an inner peace we never, ever had when drinking.
Wishing you all a great day!!
Did I read right that JackieClaire is not only 8 year sober but off the smokes as well? JC you ROCK!!
inkele:
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