Newbies Nest

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters,

Rain here too, hopefully it will break up some this heat & humidity
Hope everyone has a terrific AF Tuesday!

Lav

[girly wirly]

Newbies Nest

well sadly I had the bender! after a late text that really shook me I went on it big style. back to the drawing board!!!

[Tess-2]

Newbies Nest

Neddy Merrill;1535614 wrote: Morning Nesters, well that's me done my seven days and I am now on to day eight.

Neddy, our Fellow Nest Friend, I'm not sure if you received your 7 Days AF award yesterday. So... I would rather you have two than none at all. 7 alcohol-free days is cause for much excitement around here. We admire your strength, courage, and perseverance. It is our honor to bestow you with:

:moon:

Congratulations!!!

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Good Morning, Nesters!!
Tess, I've just spent the last 10 minutes looking back to see if I mooned Neddy!! Thank you for doing that! Nice to know you've got my arse covered on the mooning! :H

Those Rain In My Heart Documentaries hit me in the gut (General Discussion area, up top of the list of threads). They are worth viewing and Re-viewing. I saw myself in those people and it scared me pants off me (see mooning tendency). I could chug wine with the best of them. The truth hurts, and those films hurt. I would urge anyone who hasn't seen them or who is having trouble getting back on board to watch them, and watch the other things that those link you to, too. Sometimes it takes a good dose of reality to jolt us back up onto the wagon. For us, drinking is a one way ticket to misery and despair. One drink is only going to prolong that agony.

Hope everyone is gearing up for a wonderful day! Remember, the past does NOT equal the future, you can make changes today that will make all of your tomorrows better! Hugs all, Byrdie

[NoSugar]

Newbies Nest

girly wirly;1535647 wrote: well sadly I had the bender! after a late text that really shook me I went on it big style. back to the drawing board!!!

Hi, again, GirlyWirly. I am really sorry to hear that you drank after you valiantly struggled not to.
Do you mean someone sent you a text message that upset you and was just the final straw?

If something like that happens again, perhaps you could do what you did earlier yesterday - come post here and let others help you resist.
To get this done, you really need a plan for handling anything that comes along, in addition to the normal physical symptoms.

Don't give up! There is hope as long as you are willing to keep trying.

This can be a better day. Love, NS

[NoSugar]

Newbies Nest

Tess-2;1535658 wrote: Neddy, our Fellow Nest Friend, I'm not sure if you received your 7 Days AF award yesterday. So... I would rather you have two than none at all. 7 alcohol-free days is cause for much excitement around here. We admire your strength, courage, and perseverance. It is our honor to bestow you with:

:moon:

Congratulations!!!

Great Job, Neddy Merrill! Not only did you accomplish this goal - you did it with such style and good cheer. You've been so upbeat and supportive of others -- you're definitely not the navel-gazer that I was for the first while on the site. That is the Right Track you're on -- the more you reach out and help others, the faster you yourself take on the intentions you are describing in your posts.

I'm so glad you're here :l!

[Tess-2]

Newbies Nest

Londoner;1535625 wrote: I ended up drinking on Saturday - 2 beers and 2 small vodka and cokes. At home. Alone. Sad.

No one was about. I was stood up by a 'friend'. I was angry, tired and lonely.

Dammit.

But, if there is any good come from it, I know that I do not want to drink in social situations. That I need to manage my own emotions better. The reptile/monkey brain got the better of me.

Londoner - When we fall, the best thing we can do is get right back up and keep moving forward. You give reasons for your fall, which are quite logical. But I'm going to tell you something that you probably already know: we can always find a reason to drink. Good times, Bad times, People who annoy or pressure us, Holidays, Celebrations, Because it's raining, Because it's a sunny day, Because... You get the idea, no doubt!! We will continue to drink until we decide that we are NOT going to drink, no matter what. Period.

Make a plan. Stick with your plan. Read and Post on this MWO site as often as possible. Stay strong. You are loved!!

[Tess-2]

Newbies Nest

Byrdlady;1535665 wrote: Good Morning, Nesters!!
Tess, I've just spent the last 10 minutes looking back to see if I mooned Neddy!! Thank you for doing that! Nice to know you've got my arse covered on the mooning! :H

Aww, Byrdie. This is far too big a job for one person. And it's difficult, if not impossible, to remember awards for people (like me) who do not post on Roll Call. Big hugs to you for your loving volunteer work in The Nest. I'd cover your arse any day!! :huggy

[Neddy Merrill]

Newbies Nest

Wow! Being mooned twice on a Tuesday afternoon and someone else who couldn't remember if they had mooned me too or not? I've never had that before in all my wildest drinking days!

Seriously guys it's in no small part to you that I have hit the 7 day mark. I really appreciate the strength, the encouragement, the laughs, the chance, too, to offer a word of hope if I can.

I have been here before though and it is usually about the 14/15 day mark that I start getting into my old thought patterns. This time it seems a good bit different; I am really enjoying my sobriety. It is about 4 in the afternoon here, I am on holiday and I can't believe that instead of being out making an arse of myself (or maybe even mooning someone for real) or on to about my third bottle of crap wine, I am sitting in front of a computer, drinking freshly brewed coffee and having a large helping of tiramisu. It's great!

Thanks again. And if anyone out there is struggling, stay here in the nest - the twigs, leaves and feathers will keep you cosy!

NM xx

[NoSugar]

Newbies Nest

Neddy Merrill;1535689 wrote:

I have been here before though and it is usually about the 14/15 day mark that I start getting into my old thought patterns. This time it seems a good bit different; I am really enjoying my sobriety.

Hi, again, NM.

Even though you are enjoying being sober this time (It is awesome, isn't it??? ), it would be good to have a plan to make it different this time around when you reach ~ 2 weeks. If you know what derailed you in the past, you could take steps to change the outcome this time around. This could be your Last Week 1!!!

:h NS

[3June2013]

Newbies Nest

Morning nesters!

I had a stressful sleep filled with dreams of me drinking and acting inappropriately. Ugh. I guess it's anxiety? I watched Rain in my Heart, maybe that triggered the dreams?

Good to hear of all your successes and also those who have fallen and got up again. That's all part of the journey. We need to learn about ourselves, our triggers, our demons. AL has always been about numbing ourselves to it all. It can mean opening up wounds that we thought had scarred over, and that hurts. Still it's important work, and we need to do it.

I'll post some more on my own thread, rather than here, it is cathartic for me to write it all down.

Stay strong nesters!

[Neddy Merrill]

Newbies Nest

Hi NoSugar, You are absolutely right. I need to have a plan in place to deal with this crucial time. I have always felt wonderful and wanted to show people how great I looked and how great I felt. Then it was straight back into that hole of drunkenness, despair, guilt, shame and remorse. In short, my spirit was sucked out of me. In the short term, I am going away for a couple of days to see a friend of mine who doesn't drink and who I know will be thrilled to see me getting back to full health. In the longer term I know that I need to look at the way my mind works and to find out why I crave the attention that makes me feel and behave the way I do at these testing moments. I have joined a small meditation class where we are encouraged to get to know ourselves better and use calming techniques to feel positive about ourselves - hopefully this will help me act in a less self-destructive way. That's the plan so far.

Thanks again NS

NM

[Tess-2]

Newbies Nest

Tess-2;1535679 wrote: Londoner - When we fall, the best thing we can do is get right back up and keep moving forward. You give reasons for your fall, which are quite logical. But I'm going to tell you something that you probably already know: we can always find a reason to drink. Good times, Bad times, People who annoy or pressure us, Holidays, Celebrations, Because it's raining, Because it's a sunny day, Because... You get the idea, no doubt!! We will continue to drink until we decide that we are NOT going to drink, no matter what. Period.

Make a plan. Stick with your plan. Read and Post on this MWO site as often as possible. Stay strong. You are loved!!

I'm back... I've been thinking about my post to Londoner, and I don't quite like it. I believe that it is factual, but it lacks compassion. I remember my early day of sobriety: sometimes sitting on the floor in a heap of tears because I wanted to drink alcohol so very much, but I would not allow myself to have it. My gritty and unrelenting tough love and self-love are what, in part, saved me. Love from The Nest also played a huge role in my recovery.

Yet I realize that what works for one person may not work for another. "Gritty tough love" is not the only path out of hell.

Londoner, I apologize for my insensitivity.

I am very passionate about alcoholism, and finding freedom, because it nearly killed me. And had alcohol killed me, I would not be here right now for my family. And my family needs me.

I can hardly bear to think of the people TODAY who will die at the hands of alcohol, be they in a hospital bed or innocent victims on the freeway.

Still, compassion and love are all that really matter. Compassion and Love. ~

[Londoner]

Newbies Nest

Hey guys, keep it up - the longer we support each other the better.

3June - dreams are weird, they can seem so real or make us do things that we should not. Just a dream

Tess - your post was great I am no where near as bad off as many seem to have been on here. Luckily just a binge drinker - but a big binge once a week (seen as social by many) can knock me for 6 for a week or 2.

If it creeps back in I will be back in the mundane, non progressive life that I was in 4 weeks ago. It's funny, even after 4 drinks, my bro asked me if I had been out drinking the night before - I think my body really cannot deal with alcohol at all.

I think the hard line works for me :thanks:

[some-dumbass]

Newbies Nest

evening nesters

had a good day today. went down to the coast & had lunch with my sister & my uber-cute 18-month-old niece on the beach in the sunshine

woke up a bit fuzzy-headed this morning (took an OTC sleep aid last night), but nothing compared to my usual hungover, or indeed, still-drunk, state. it's amazing how fast the fog clears, even after only a couple of days AF. I've been sorting out things that I've been putting off for weeks, cleaning my place up (which was a tip) & generally being a productive member of the human race

Girly & Londoner - hang in there, one slip does not a full-blown relapse make, today's another day to go day1 AF

hope everyone had a good day AF

SD