Stop Beating Yourselves Up

[Croft]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Miss October;262569 wrote: Morning All,

Here is a quote from "Ask for Help". I totally agree.

All this as a way of saying I think cheering oneself on can be a better motivator than beating oneself up. And I say, if you've had 30 AF days and then you drink one day, the next AF day is 31 not 1. Starting the counting over is too severe a punishment. Those are AA rules, and we don't have to buy into that.

Thank you so much Ask for Help. Starting back at day one was always depressing. I can say that I have had 21 AF days for the month of January, and darn proud of it.

Make it a great AF Day !!

I think this should be rule number 11!!!

[Croft]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Not Happy Hour-Happy Life;262608 wrote: Croft~ do you think you can add "Asking for Help"'s thoughts to your original post?


By the way, I love this thread and keep coming back to read it .:heart: I have nick-named it:
"The Croft Creed to Daily Survival"......... go get it trademarked, baby! :l

Consider it added!!! I agree, it is a fantastic rule -it is now number 11 and counting!!!!!

do I need to repost the full set again?

[Not Happy Hour-Happy Life]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

No Croft, you just have to click the "Edit" button on the bottom right corner of the post, add it and save

[Croft]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Not Happy Hour-Happy Life;262692 wrote: No Croft, you just have to click the "Edit" button on the bottom right corner of the post, add it and save

Can you believe I work for a software company?!

[HopefulNow]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Croft,

Thanks for alerting me to this on Chat tonight. LOVE IT!

And CONGRATULATIONS again for your accomplishment on ordering NO DRINKS at dinner tonight. Well done and keep it up!

-HopefulNow.

[dexterhead]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Bump. some of need another dose of Croft wisdom.

[Hope Emily]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Croft;261174 wrote: I have been reading a lot of posts lately. In fact, I spend more time on this site than is realistic. And I have noticed that a lot of you have these silly little rules for what counts towards progress and what does not. You all have to stop that! Just stop it! Stop beating yourselves up. You make me feel so guilty.

I have studied your posts and have developed 10 rules for measuring progress as we all work on managing our addiction. You don't have to follow these rules, but I am going to follow them - guilt free!!! I need all the postive encouragment I can get. Here goes:

1. Yes, hangover days do count toward AF days. In fact they count double. Even if you wake up still drunk - still counts.

2. Deciding to drink fake achohol is not a crutch that deserves punishment. It is a healthy choice and deserves to be viewed that way.

3. Choking down herbal supplements the size of hot dogs is a nobel thing to do if you need it. It is not a crutch. It is an aid to recovery and a very smart choice. p.s. don't take your medicine with champage.

4. Requiring medication that you are too chicken shit to go to the doctor to get, requiring long delivery days as you wait for your medication to arrive from a far away land. A land so far away that it requires several border crossings and likely delivery in the dark of nite is not a bad thing. It is an aid to recovery done in the privacy of your home. Very smart! Counts double!

5. Talking to perfect strangers all day long, telling them things you cannot even tell your own relatives and friends who love and adore you and make time for you each day is a perfectly rationale thing to do. It is a healthy way for you to recover in the privacy of your own world.

6. Setting new goals and then breaking them over and over again is a sign of tenacity and strength. It takes a lot of guts to keep getting up after falling down. The point here, folks, is that we keep getting up. And we all can take as much time as we want practicing this.

7. The road to recovery does not have a set duration. I have heard some of you can go 2 days and some can go 6. Some can go 30. Some are doing so well that they really should loan us some days to add to our AF charts.

8. It is ok to order your stuff over the internet. You don't have to have the guts to go to the drugstore and by it yourstuff. Shame is a feeling that goes along with this whole thing. If I was proud of this issue I would be at the bar right now. Just don't forget to thank your postman.

9. Drinking less is better than drinking more. Even if AF is not happening, you still get to count drinking less than you were before. It counts. Maybe not double, but it counts. Progress is progress!!!!!

10. Being addicted to this website is a better addiction than the one we are all dealing with.

11. (added based on responses to this post - thanks!) You do not have to count your AF days sequentially. If you get to 29 and then drink the next day, the following day that you are AF is 30, NOT ONE.

Thanks, Croft. . . you're one in a million ! And, thanks Cowgal, for helping me find Croft's rules. I appreciate the humor, the advice, the compassion.

[embraceddarkside]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Croft--you write beautifully! Sometimes I wonder if the numbing of alcohol is a symptom of suppressing a very active, creative mind. Beauty of it all, is that creative mind is still there without the alcohol. You demonstrate this eloquently. I actually look for your posts on purpose.

[Not Happy Hour-Happy Life]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Hey everyone- this is an awe-inspiring thread.... worth reading! :heart:

[Croft]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Feeling extremely bummed out. I really needed to read this again.

[bald headed old guy]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Croft...50 degrees in Moab today...ready to go slot canyon hiking?
BHOG

[catnip]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

Thanks for that, beat myself up even for thinking about drinking!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Croft]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

OH yes I am bald!!!! THat would certainly cheer me up!!!

[Noelle]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

What's up Croft? :::hugs:::

[Croft]

Stop Beating Yourselves Up

laying around the house feeling sorry for myself, how about you noelle