Newbies Nest

[snufdizzle]

Newbies Nest

End of Day One

Whew!! I made it through day one (still an hour and a half left)!! It was tough, I am not going to lie. I find myself drinking more when I am by myself with nothing to do and today was definitely one of those days.

I wanted to drink almost every hour on the hour, but when the urge came on, I occupied my brain with something else.

I started exercising and that really seemed to help a lot; it gave me some time to think, clear my mind and get clarity about a lot of things. It felt so good that I want to wake up early and do it again!

Tomorrow is another day and I hope I can make it through that day also

Goodnight!! :new:

[scottish lass]

Newbies Nest

Well done Snuf! Great post! You sound strong for a first day - the exercising really helps, hang in, you are doing well....

[canadian gal]

Newbies Nest

Hey Nesters,

Snuff- well done! You've got the right attitude. The first 3 days are the hardest. After that the al is out of your system. You are doing great! Stay strong!

SL- I so sympathize with you. I am only 29 years old and thinking that I can never have another drink again seems sightly impossible to me. BUT after reading MWOL's post, it really put things into perspective. All it takes is that one drink. Do you or I or anyone else want to be here again xxx years later saying we are back on day 1?

MWOL- I have so much respect for you for your honesty. It was something I never realized. I was thinking that I just gotta get through this month, then the next, maybe get a year under my belt. Now I realize this will be a lifelong battle. Thank you so much for that lesson! My hat goes off to you!

SH- Thanks for the update. I am happy that you are doing better. Too bad about the figs though...they are delicious.

Happy MLK Day Americans! I'm off to bake some cookies with the girls.

Have a great day Nesters!

[canadian gal]

Newbies Nest

Oh and Daisy...good for you!! I find that the hardest thing for me is to be around people who are drinking. Last year I went 4 months sober and then I went back home to Canada for my best friend's wedding. We had a bachelorette party and all my girls were drinking but me. So I joined in...and here I am. You did a great job fighting off the temptation! If you don't mind me asking, what were you telling yourself when you were with your sister and fighting the temptation? That is a lesson I need to learn.

[allswell]

Newbies Nest

Thanks Lav for the good points on turning around the thought of not drinking from something we deprive ourselves of to something positive to be grateful for. You were the one that introduced me to the To Do Institute and gratitude is something often overlooked and I, for one, certainly need to spend more time recognizing the many blessings in life. No use wasting time thinking about what I can't have when I can appreciate all I do have.

[daisy45]

Newbies Nest

canadian gal;1245411 wrote: Oh and Daisy...good for you!! I find that the hardest thing for me is to be around people who are drinking. Last year I went 4 months sober and then I went back home to Canada for my best friend's wedding. We had a bachelorette party and all my girls were drinking but me. So I joined in...and here I am. You did a great job fighting off the temptation! If you don't mind me asking, what were you telling yourself when you were with your sister and fighting the temptation? That is a lesson I need to learn.

I really think even through all my slips of the past year I have been continuously learning. I realised that what I was looking at was in effect 'an illusion' - looked like the ideal, inviting, fun situation; open fire, cosy room, nice cool glass of wine, total relaxation and craic good.
I have learned enough to know that I could go home and create the exact same situation, without the alcohol and that my picture would stay the same, cosy, comfortable and relaxed whereas had I stayed with her that picture perfect scene would have changed dramatically over a couple of hours. Likely changes being I would have to worry about getting a lift home, my daughter would have a face on her because she is annoyed at me drinking, smoking in the room whether anyone else wants it or not, the craic would turn to my sister and I talking absolute twaddle and thinking it was important, probably a few spilt drinks between us, a few stumbles (if we were lucky), maybe a secret told that shouldn't have.............
Ah, the possibilities.................and they were all crap. Last night, it did bug me a bit but I am trying to dig deeper and thank goodness to be up bright and breezy this morning.

[Steady Hands]

Newbies Nest

Good day Nesters

SnuffDizzle - I am 33 now and also a full time student. I started waking up still drunk having to write tests and that scared me to think that I can loose the future I am trying to create by further studies with AL!! Wrote my last test in 2011 completely sober and it was fantastic! 2 years to go and I am sooo looking forward to this year's studies. Congratulations on day 1!

Daisy - When you painted the fire place picture I thought of a nice cup of wild jasmin/ chai tea. And yes, then the picture stays the same. Got me thinking about my family I've been ignoring, especially that one BBQ I walked out of. Turned out my sister stayed till 3:30 am and phoned my mom at 7am to please take her 4 year old to the hospital, because he hit his head and slammed 2 fingers in the door… She is not a bad mom, but AL makes her very neglecting. And if I would have stayed I might have drank again and if I never quit I would have been the same neglecting mom to my own kids. Oh AL!!!

[MinStar]

Newbies Nest

Morning nesters. Sorry I haven't been on in over a week or so. Things getting backs I routine after Christmas. Hubby and extra week off so I indulged in Chrimbo time for a week longer . Pleased to say still AF. Stopped counting days. However the last one I had was the second week or so of Nov. I am so pleased I managed Christmas and new year. If I can do that I feel prepare for any event. Sorry for typos. On my phone again. Our internet is down.

Even though I've had a good run AL free the ugly devil reared it's head the past few nights. I have had no major trigger like parties et. Just as home and usual witching hour hit and I thought of some wine. Again as a treat for me when Baby has gone to sleep. Once again I realised the trigger associated with hunger. Shocking that the same trigger is there but do grateful I had worked The trigger out. I thought of this sight as soon as it happened and had to come on to let others know. You can't let that guard down at all. I have realised I need to be aware when I am weak and how all the past few months can be gone if I am not prepared.

Sorry I haven't the time to go back and read all the posts.adame has just got up from her nap. I hav to say I am doing so much more now I am AL free. And spending time with my little girl is tw beat thing ever!

Hope every one is stayin strong. I'll try and post more often but AL free means I am busy busy busy!

[sufi]

Newbies Nest

Lavande wrote: Don't make kicking AL out of your life a difficult thing - it doesn't have to be. Make it a positive thing that you are doing for yourselves, families & friends. Start a gratitude list - write down what you are/will be grateful for once AL is history!

Oh, Lavande, how wise, how deep! Ill pin these thoughts up. Kicking Al out is actually the greatest and most enjoyable achievement of our lives! OK, I may slip again, but I have tools to fight back now - the best of them is this forum. This positive approach is exactly what we must all take. And the gratitude list: I have already begun: I am so grateful for all the time avalable to me now; I have my own, precious evenings: to write poems, to invite friends, to read, to walk the neighbour's dog and watch the winter stars, the wonderful Orion in the middle of the sky, his knife hanging from his belt; and I try to count how many stars I can distinguish in the Pleiades. It has been years since I have been interested in anything whatsoever in the evenings. So much rich new free time at my disposal!

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters!

I love all the free time I have now too sufi
I can do anything I want to do including reading a book & actually remembering it the next day!!

allswell, nice to see you! The ToDoInstitute is an awesome place, isn't it? Developing an attitude of gratitude makes this journey so much easier

Wishing everyone a terrific AF Monday! Have lots to do myself today so I'll get going.

Lav

[MWOLady]

Newbies Nest

HI All, especially those who are interested in Martin Luther King. Imagine the fear he had to live through. Here's a guy who could not escape his skin colour - just like we can't escape our propensity for alcoholism. And he lived in a society steeped in a lack of understanding about race and differences between people. Just like we live in a society steeped in thinking that drinking is FUN.

But what did he do? He marched right out there. He put his life on the line. He spoke up. He told the truth. He asked others to join him - and thousands did. And now, even though there are still many hurdles to overcome, life has changed for the better.

Many lessons for us there. So courage my friends!! And Happy Martin Luther King day.

[canadian gal]

Newbies Nest

Hey all Newbies!

Daisy- I really do admire your strength. I will keep all of this in mind next time I around people who are drinking or who are trying to convince me to drink with them. Thanks for that!

Min- Congrats on 2 months! It's great that you were sober all throughout the holidays too! Thanks for checking in!

Lav- I too love reading and remembering my book the next day! It used to take me ages to get through a book. Now I can polish one off in 3 days or so (if it's good!)

MWOL- it's crazy just how much al is steeped into our society isn't it?? I have this song on my phone called "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry. It should really be called "We are alcoholics and are teaching young teens to become alcoholics". That song is a horrible influence on all kids listening to it and I hope that they don't think that blackouts and streaking are "cool" cause Katy Perry is singing about it. Maybe she had all of us in mind when writing that song....

Things here are ok, I guess. The teen girls are seriously a handful...they are more like 7 year olds. They have learned many things so far while staying at mine. A few of the things I taught them that they did for the first time ever: put peanut butter on their own bread, put jam on their own bread, crack an egg, make cookies, paint their nails, and play wii. The thing that they taught me: ALL teens have Bieber fever (not just North American teens). I have yet to teach them to save electricity by turning off lights when not in a room, to flush after peeing, to tidy up after themselves, and to put their garbage in the garbage can. Sigh...

At the end of day 18 and feeling great in regards to being al free!

Hope you guys all have a great Monday!
__________________

[mylife]

Newbies Nest

Hello Nest!

CG - what an experience. Your story with the teens just cracks me up!! I'm sorry if it's not funny to you, but I have to say it's entertaining to read about! Good job staying sober for that. I also agree with you on a lot of the music glamorizing drinking. It's been that way for a long time unfortunately...

Jane - congratulations on your AF time good luck on your vacation. My cruise is what got me this last time - just couldn't do it. Antabuse should stop you in your tracks however! I'm hoping to have quite a bit of time under my belt by the time we go on our next vacation.

Daisy - I agree all our slips can be learning experiences along the way.

Sufi, Lav and all others great to hear from you! Lav, I also appreciate your attitude of gratitude and really try to make that a priority each day.

Last night my hubby and I stopped by a favorite restaurant for a late dinner on the way home from seeing some Chinese acrobats (it was great!). Anyway, there was only room at the bar so we sat there and everyone was drinking. I had a serious craving and was very thankful when my Hubby said to the bartender "we're not drinking - just looking for dinner menus - we'll have two ice waters". So we drank our ice water and it was interesting seeing people drinking and not being one of them. I also noticed quite a few other people with cokes/iced teas at the bar who weren't drinking. By the end of our meal I was very grateful that I was one of the "non drinkers" there and this morning I was seriously grateful to get up early and go for a long walk with no hangover and a good nights sleep.

Wishing everyone a wonderful AF day.

[canadian gal]

Newbies Nest

Jane, congrats on 7 days! woo hoo!!!! Awesome! Nightmares are quite normal in the beginning (for me anyway)...they would last about the first 4 days of me quitting. I didn't have a great nights sleep for about 5 or 6 days I think. After that, I would feel pretty good when waking up (as good as one can feel). After some brekkie and a cup of coffee, my mind is super clear.

Just in case you don't get the script come up with an emergency plan for not drinking during your vacation. If you do drink there, you know what that will lead to. IMHO, if you want to quit you can quit...no drugs or scripts required. This addiction is a huge mental game, so if your head is in the right place you can do it!

Congrats again on 7 days! You are doing great!

[Today]

Newbies Nest

I am back on day 1 and dealing with my old friend insomnia. Any advice how to get through the day? I am taking sick day as I could not handle work, and am feeling some guilt over that. No headache, just very tired and groggy. I actually poured out the rest of my bottle yesterday afternoon. Yay, that is step in right direction because usually I would "finish it, so it's not wasted"

How do you deal with stress and insomnia? Its 8:44am here and I'm not sure if I should try to sleep or just relax and make sure I can sleep tonight... I so haven't missed this horrible feeling!

Congrats on everyone's AF days! Together we can do this, just one foot in front of the other...