Newbies Nest

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters,

It's a beautiful day & I intend on spending as much time outside as possible
I have my grandson here & am happy & grateful for these special times.

Don't forget the Tool box if/when cravings hit - tons of great ideas in there on how to work your way thru & protect your quit.

Wishing everyone a wonderful AF Tuesday!

Lav

[wagmore]

Newbies Nest

Kensho - I can understand your concern about losing clients if you don't complete work, but remember that is very short-term thinking. In reality, you have far more at stake to lose if you continue (or return to) "drinking through" your work. I have clients and have built my own career as well, and I used to drink to get through some of my work. When I first stopped drinking there were chunks of time where work was harder. After a few weeks AF, my fog started to lift, I became more organized and efficient, and now at 77 days I'm easily handling a bigger client load than before.

I promise you it gets better and it's soooooo worth it to stay AF.

Please check in and let us know how you're doing.


LC - I love reading your posts. When you are talking to others - or to yourself - you are also talking to me. Thanks for your thoughts.

Lav - Enjoy your beautiful day with your grandson!

Ava - You all are definitely helping lots of people get off the merry-go-round

Pepper - Really good reminder about HALT - never let yourself get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired (I think that's the list).

[KENSHO]

Newbies Nest

I'm here. Tired (and glad I'm not hungover too). Kids both woke up at different times during the night, but I was tossing anyway. I can't wait until the good sleep kicks in.

It's really helpful to hear that work became easier. I have been really concerned about this part, because this time, life is not stopping.

Thanks for all your words. Have to focus on three meetings today, but will check in later.

Hugs.

[Wearywino]

Newbies Nest

Hello everyone - hope you don't mind me joining you in here. I've been reading and reading through numerous threads and posts on MWO - have also been reading lots of Sober Blogs (there are loads on the web and each an inspiration!). I am forming some sort of plan in my mind about becoming totally AF and just wanted to ask a few questions.

Those of you who have been sober for a long time, did you just wake up one morning and think "right - that's it, I'm not going to drink again, ever." or did you take some time to plan? For example "I'm quitting on 1st July"

It has been suggested on some blogs that if you wake up with a really bad hangover and decide to quit on the spot, you generally fall down again. Other people have suggested it is better to cut down (ie from drinking every night to every other night, then just drinking just two days a week - and then quitting).

I would be interested to know what has worked best for you - I don't want to fail this time! :thanks:

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Morning!
My friend is still hanging on. She had a bit of a rally yesterday finding strength from friends who dropped by. I left around 8 last night. Had to drive to a meeting with a customer today, but will get back over there tomorrow. She is really fighting it. Thank you for your good wishes and prayers. They all help! Stay strong evreyone, you never know when you might be called on to be the strong one. Thank GOD above I am sober. Xxxoo, B

[daisy45]

Newbies Nest

Byrdie, thinking of you!
Wearywino, most of us here would have had to wait a long time for day 1 if we were to wait until we were hangover-free before deciding.....most come here desperate and in a state....if we could get a few days AF to think about that decision then we probably would not be here.
This quit,,,,I was seriously hungover, full of regret, planning tomorrow's quit date on a daily basis.....so, no, I was not, in my mind, ready. BUT, with the encouragement of the great people here, I was nudged into day 1.....reluctant and not truly believing I could do it. No tapering....this would have prolonged the agony or got me thinking I'm not so bad because I was able to control that.Then, bit by bit, I feel better, look better, sometimes sooo wanting to drink! I took the advice I was given - check in every single day and be accountable in some way....when you feel shit, say so. I was so convinced I would drink that I would tell myself I could tomorrow if I still felt the same. Lo and behold, I didn't - turns out all these sober people who were days, weeks and years ahead of me, were telling the truth!
When I feel weak, I check out their posts and how they felt around the same time.....and how they feel a few weeks down the line....it gives me hope and strength and keeps me going.
Anyway, my opinion, unless you are drinking dangerously high quantities, is just quit, no tapering and don't wait for tomorrow!

[momofthree]

Newbies Nest

Afternoon everyone, didn't check in yesterday as it was a very busy day with the family and my littlest girl got her needles. I am happy to say though that is was another sober day, and today has been as well. I'm not going to lie, I was able to get out on my own this morning to do an errand and thought how easily it would be to just slip in and get a bottle for later on and it took a lot of emotional fighting to not pull on. I brought up some memories of things I've done or said while drinking and that helped a lot with driving right by. I hope everyone is doing well, the humidity here is killing me and I'm going to spend the rest of the day in the basement with my girls organizing their playroom. We have a huge amazing basement, I love it.

[momofthree]

Newbies Nest

And I made it to Day 7! Yipee!

[daisy45]

Newbies Nest

Good for you Mumof3.... It seems so easy to just give in but then you have to do it all again, day 1, day 2 etc....keep it going....the days really do add up! Good job!

[momofthree]

Newbies Nest

daisy45;1683406 wrote: Good for you Mumof3.... It seems so easy to just give in but then you have to do it all again, day 1, day 2 etc....keep it going....the days really do add up! Good job!

Thanks Daisy, :l I'm just amazed at how our mind works, it was the first thing I thought of. I could do this and no one would see me. However later on when I'm drinking and the alcohol takes effect I'm not hiding it from no one. It must have been on my mind for a good hour and it really wasn't easy to drive by. When I came home I pretty much started to stress eat, atleast it was healthy food but still. Anything to occupy my mind from the alcohol.

[NoSugar]

Newbies Nest

Wearywino;1683380 wrote:
It has been suggested on some blogs that if you wake up with a really bad hangover and decide to quit on the spot, you generally fall down again. Other people have suggested it is better to cut down (ie from drinking every night to every other night, then just drinking just two days a week - and then quitting).

I would be interested to know what has worked best for you - I don't want to fail this time! :thanks:

Hi, Weary

It is wearing to keep drinking, isn't it? There is so much more involved than just the drinking part - you've got all the acquiring, hiding, disposing, and recovering to do, too !

My last day of drinking was no better or worse than the many that had preceded it. I had been trying hard on my own to quit drinking for about a year and especially for about 6 months. I'd had some good longish (few weeks) bouts of AF time and 2 sober vacations that summer but I just couldn't make it stick. I'd been looking at various stop-drinking websites and for whatever reason, that day I registered for MWO, didn't drink, and haven't since. That was almost 18 months ago.

I started a thread one day when I was getting exasperated with a friend who wouldn't quit making excuses for continuing to drink despite professing that the thing she wanted most in the world was to quit. Maybe it would help you take the plunge: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f1...1-a-86006.html. One thing I know for sure is that no one I've met here has ever regretted becoming AF or wished they'd waited a while longer. Almost all of us wish we'd done it much sooner, especially after we found that it was not as difficult or painful as we'd feared.

All the best, NS

[lifechange]

Newbies Nest

Very quickly from me tonight..

:welcome: Weary!!

and Momof3, well done on conquering every day of the week. You're doing so well!

Off to bed so see you al tomorrow...

[allankay]

Newbies Nest

lifechange;1683449 wrote: Very quickly from me tonight..

:welcome: Weary!!

and Momof3, well done on conquering every day of the week. You're doing so well!

Off to bed so see you al tomorrow...

LC,

you go to bed at 8:30pm?

[NoSugar]

Newbies Nest

Here's an interesting take on whether you need to learn all about how to quit drinking and whether to formulate a detailed plan before you begin. I think she's on to something because it is so hard to even think clearly while you're actively drinking. Stop drinking and a lot of things fall into place on their own. As for the other stuff, you'll be able to evaluate where you stand and make realistic plans for dealing with all of it.
do you change the behaviour first? | Tired of Thinking About Drinking

[Pie]

Newbies Nest

NoSugar;1683463 wrote: Here's an interesting take on whether you need to learn all about how to quit drinking and whether to formulate a detailed plan before you begin. I think she's on to something because it is so hard to even think clearly while you're actively drinking. Stop drinking and a lot of things fall into place on their own. As for the other stuff, you'll be able to evaluate where you stand and make realistic plans for dealing with all of it.
do you change the behaviour first? | Tired of Thinking About Drinking

Loved this blog post! Thanks for posting the link, NS.