Newbies Nest

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

K9 - I don't think my hips can flounce anymore :H :H

I think it's time to wish everyone a safe & cozy night in the nest
Lav

[sweetpea29]

Newbies Nest

Good morning everyone,

ODAT I admire your courage and determination. Dont give up. I like many others have had countless day ones before coming here. Im nowhere near getting outa the woods but can see chinks of light and believe that there are better days ahead.

Posting here is a means of me keeping myself accountable. I dont have a spouse or children, or anyone actually begging me to quit, just a voice from somewhere deep inside which is saying 'please stop killing yourself, you are worth more than this'. I have ignored that 'good' voice for too long and the weak voices been all too willing to take over, telling me 'what does it matter', 'who gives a f**k?'

New Day, I'll be thinking of you tonight. Yes it will be a challenge but WHEN you get through it AF just imagine how proud and strong you will feel. No glass of wine is worth taking that feeling away.

Hi to everyone else
Day 16 here, Im working the early shifts this weekend so that should keep me outa mischief.

Be well and be strong xo

[RunningCourage]

Newbies Nest

Morning nesters

Sweetpea - good post re posting here to keep ourselves accountable... and that little voice inside - YES! Listen peeps, listen to it! THAT is the voice that for many of us guide us here in the first place.

FD - good to see you popping by. Always excellent to hear your success and great to hear you'll be graduating in a few months!

RC

[kuya]

Newbies Nest

Lavande;1442486 wrote: K9 - I don't think my hips can flounce anymore :H :H

I think it's time to wish everyone a safe & cozy night in the nest
Lav

Unfortunately Lav, MY hips continue to flounce for two or three minutes later :H:H

[kuya]

Newbies Nest

Sweet pea .....having the self respect to consider yourself worth saving WILL save you.
There are many who have spouse and kids who still lack what you have ....courage.

You go girl !

[RunningCourage]

Newbies Nest

kuya;1442555 wrote: Unfortunately Lav, MY hips continue to flounce for two or three minutes later :H:H

:H :H Sorry Kuya, you made me larf out loud there. Images...images...

[kuya]

Newbies Nest

RunningCourage;1442591 wrote: :H :H Sorry Kuya, you made me larf out loud there. Images...images...

The videos on YouTube ! Just search lone manatee discovered basking in pool:H:H:H

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters,

Rain, fog, no sun but mild temps here ~ strange weather for mid-winter!

Kuya, I am sure you are quite svelte.....we all feel a little larger after the holidays

RC, nice to see you laughing this morning

Sweetpea, awesome on day 16!!!

I need to go feed dogs, birds, etc, etc. Wishing everyone a wonderful AF Saturday!
Lav

[kuya]

Newbies Nest

You are right Lav...... I have very svelte ankles. They didn't celebrate Christmas :H:H

[Tess-2]

Newbies Nest

K9Lover;1442441 wrote: Tess - Not only do you have to flip the hair, but you have to spin around and "flounce" out of the room...that really seals the deal! LOL

K9 - Needed to look "flounce" up in the dictionary as I'm not familiar with the word. Yes, I need some of that attitude! Though, honestly, I can't picture myself ever flipping hair or flouncing. But it's fun to see others who do! :H

Good Morning to All,

It's very early in my corner of the world, but I need to get going on the dreaded homework. I finish my studies in March. Hooray! Then I will be off the the working world. That is, if I can get a job. Being AF will be a definite plus to prospective employers...:yes2: But seriously, alcoholism was robbing me of everything, including any hope of ever being able to work.

Speaking of future employment, I also need to get back to my normal size and weight. It's absolutely insane how much weight I gained from beer. A couple of years ago I gave away all of my size 2 and 4 clothes, as I had no hope of ever wearing them again. Now my closet is occupied by Plus and Maternity wear (beer belly). However, in the 12 days that I've been AF and exercising, I've lost nearly 20 pounds. That sounds impossible, I know! But you have to realize how much beer I was consuming.

Sweetpea - posting here keeps me accountable too. Going AF "just for you" is the best possible gift you can give to yourself. I admire your strength. Keep posting!

Kuya - I always think of you now when I struggle with perfectionism, which is quite often. I nearly always feel than I am not good enough. Nothing that people offer me (compliments, awards, etc.) offset the feelings of being flawed. It seems the belief of "good enough" has to come from within. I'm working on that!

I'm going to grab a cup of coffee and get started. :ranger

Have a delightful AF day ~

[rooniferd]

Newbies Nest

Byrdie mentioned the term "euphoric recall" the other day. I've been thinking a lot about it ever since. I know it's probably one of the main reasons I have relapses.

I did an internet search on "euphoric recall," and lo and behold, our own My Way Out showed up in the results.

Here is a really good post I found about it from Mario:

**************

"Yesterday i was standing outside of a pub in my area and you could here all the noise and laughter coming out,and it started getting me thinking of was i missing anything as i thought they all seemed to be having a great time,i then followed my thoughts through and wondered were would they all be in a few hours ? drunk, talking stupid, sick, broke ?Thinking about using alcohol and other drugs increases the risk of relapse. Thinking is a cognitive process controlled by the cerebral cortex or thinking part of the brain. There are three ways of thinking about alcohol that are particularly dangerous.

The first is called euphoric recall. You remember and exaggerating the good times that you had when using alcohol and other drugs while blocking out or minimizing the bad times.

A recovering person who called himself Jake the Snake used to tell the story of the great time he had when he got stoned on cocaine and stole $150,000 worth of coke from his supplier and went off for a marvelous one week binge in Las Vegas. He forgot to mention that he caught a serious venereal disease from a prostitute, and was nearly killed when his supplier showed up to get his coke back. After being shot and taken to the emergency room, the police found a small bag of cocaine and some marijuana in Jake?s room and he ended up in jail and was serving a seven year sentence when I talked with him. He still argues that he had a good time.

The second relapse-prone way of thinking is called Awfulizing Abstinence. You think about all of the bad times associated with being alcohol free while blocking out and minimizing all of the good times.

A woman named Jessie told me that nothing was working out for her since she got sober and she felt she would be better off to start drinking again. When Jessie was drinking she was unemployed, earning money by prostitution, and was in a skid row cubicle hotel. Now she was physically healthy, working a regular job, and sharing a decent apartment in a middle class neighborhood with two women she got to know through her home group of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). But in her her mind, at that moment, she felt her sobriety was awful, terrible, and unbearable.

The third relapse prone way of thinking is called magical thinking about use. Cognitive therapists call this positive expectancy. We start to believe that using alcohol will somehow magically fix out problems and make our lives better. WE forget that alcohol makes us feel good for a little while and then wipes out our judgment and impulse control setting us off into a cycle of self-destructive behaviors that destroys us and those that we love.

People who relapse often begin to spend of their time cycling between these three ways of relapse prone thinking. They remember drinking and exaggerate the good times while refusing to think about any pain or problems. They exaggerate all the pain and problems of living sober while blocking out any benefits. They then begin to think about how alcohol could magically fix them and make everything in their life wonderful once again. This creates a strong desire to use alcohol......I needed this today as reminder"

******************
Have a great Saturday, everyone!

[New Day]

Newbies Nest

Good morning fellow Nesters! Wonderful post Rooni.....thank you for that .....it is such a timely post for me and I will reread it before going out tonight.

Day 12 for me today guys.....I am so happy to have achieved that! I couldn't have done it without all the encouragement and support here.

Have a wonderful AF Saturday everyone!:h

[dav]

Newbies Nest

I'm going to be AF for today. Thanks for that post Rooniferd. Especially the last paragraph. Hit home.

[Kairos]

Newbies Nest

Hi Roonifred,
Yes, it's a great post from Mario and I think as addicts we can all identify with that false thinking about alcohol. We've all been there to a grater or lesser degree. Thanks for that.

Hi New Day,
I'm on Day 12 too and just begining to get my mojo back! I felt a bit more energy today. Glad you're doing well.

Good choice dav,
Have a great day everyone
K

[finallydone]

Newbies Nest

Have a safe and sober Saturday nest!