Newbies Nest

[Byrdlady]

Good marnin, Nesters!
The Irish folks could not be any nicer. This has been a magical trip and we are heading back to Dublin tomorrow for our departure. So far, the weather has held out for us, sunny days but cold!
I am so glad I stuck with this sober thing, it has been a real blessing and traveling is 1000 times easier when sober! Hugs to all! There IS a Pot O Gold on the other side! Byrdie

[Ican]

Day

[Pavati]

Good morning. Checking in during a busy week. Not a single thought of booze to relieve the stress, though. Have been meditating and hiking. So nice to do, and other benefits as well.

Ican - Day what? I am a counter and liked to see those numbers add up.

Sounds like a great trip, Byrd.

Wow, Daisy. That job would try my patience!

Pav

[Ican]

Day 4....congrats Guitarista! Hope you are well, Price

[Fin]

There IS a Pot O Gold on the other side! Byrdie

My mantra and especially when contemplating several upcoming events that have historically lead to relapse. We must protect our individual Pots O Gold!

[KENSHO]

Good Morning!

GMAN - will you share some of your brilliant compositions with us pretty please??

Mick - kids say the funniest things. A few years ago, right before bed, my son asked me, "Mom, why do super heroes wear underwear on the outside of their clothes?" Love those imaginative, unfiltered minds!

JustME - HUGE congrats on 3 weeks! You must be feeling proud and enjoying some of the great things that start coming with sobriety! Keep going - that's all I can say - it gets exponentially better the more time you get under your belt!

Eloise, glad you are making progress on your headaches now. It's debilitating, for sure.

Nice cool spring day here. Sunshine but 50. I had a totally random craving last night for tequila. What? I thought I kept smelling it - that sour/sweet. And then it hit me hard and quick. I didn't feel like I had a trigger or desire for the alcohol part, more the flavor of it. But it left as quickly as it came. Other than that, I don't miss alcohol at all. I tried eating dairy yesterday, and had quite a stomach ache in the night. I remembered how often I would wake up at 3am with nausea - MAN am I grateful not to experience that any more!!

KEEP GOING everyone. Not every day is perfect, but every day is better lived sober than foggy, and soon you will have a MUCH smaller desire for alcohol!!

[Lavande]

Greetings Nesters, happy Hump day

Cloudy & cool here today as well, 50 something out there!

Byrdie, wishing you a safe trip home tomorrow. I know Rubi will be happy to see you

Ican, great on 4 days, keep moving foreard!

Congrats on 3 weeks AF Justme! You should be feeling great at this point. Enjoy the time with your son, that's great.

Fin, I vowed to protect my quit, no matter what. So far so good & I woukdn't have it any other way!

Wishing everyone a fabulous AF day!

Lav

[daisy45]

Safe trip home tomorrow Byrdie!

[Eloise]

Safe return home Brydie!

[dejafoo345]

Hello all,

I am new to MWO and on day 2 of being AF. Like many of you, this is not my first shot at trying to kick this horrible habit. I've got so much gain and so much more to lose if I don't make this change.

I'm currently listening to This Naked Mind to focus on getting the unconscious part of my mind back to square one when it comes to alcohol. It does NOT make me more fun, less stressed or any less anxious. I'm relearning that. I've also been on here and on Hello Sunday Morning quite a bit to read and learn from those who have been in my shoes and to feel less alone.

For those of you who hit 30 days, 90 days, etc. what were some of your best resources and/or advice that helped you stay strong?

Thanks!

[NoSugar]

Hi, Deja

One thing I did was commit to posting on MWO before I drank. That pause can be enough to change your thinking and if you wait for a response, you'll get the support you may need to make the right choice.

[Byrdlady]

Deja, welcome aboard!
This may help, its my 'I have a plan' speech. We are so glad you found us!
What is a Plan?
I heard about this thing called a Plan, and I HAD plans, but I wouldn't call it a PLAN, as such....it was more of a HOPE. A GOAL, even. A PLAN sounded way too formal for this thing I was embarking on...after all, what if I failed? Hope is NOT a strategy. Get yourself a PLAN.

#1 Failure is not an option. When you think you are going to fail, guess what? You FAIL! Wrote this book on this one. Get your mind into a mode of THIS WILL BE DONE. Don't be willy-nilly, or your willy will get nillied. Your mind is your best friend and your biggest enemy. Control IT and you will win. Control your thoughts and you will win.

Get all of the AL out of your house/space. Yes...ALL of it. You don't need a safety net because you are not going to fail. I fought this one hard, but I wasn't able to succeed until I did it. No, I was NOT different than everybody else, I could not resist it if it was in the house. GET IT OUT.

Get your story down as to why you're not drinking. This is important. Get a story together you can live with. I actually have ulcerative colitis, so I say that my UC is 1000 times better if I don't drink. If you are a Type A personality, you might enjoy using 'AL kills my ulcers'. If you are a health nuts, "I'm detoxing"....religious nut? "I gave it up for Lent and felt so good I kept going".....you get the idea. Get your story and stick to it.

As Alkies, we aren't used to eating. This is the SILVER BULLET to succeeding. If you have a bad craving and The Voices are knocking, EAT! Eat until you are FULL! Remember those times when you've said, "I can't eat another bite of anything!" That's the full we're talking about. You will not want anything if you EAT!

You are gonna feel like dookey for a few days. I felt flu-like for the first couple weeks, so treat yourself well. Drink plenty of fluids and rest! Your body is changing over from an ethanol burning engine to a food/nutrient burning machine. Have patience as your body makes this transition.

Keep yourself out of temptation. STAY out of the wine aisle at the grocery store. NO, you are not stronger than this thing, protect your young quit with everything you've got. Stay out of bars and avoid booze parties, especially the first 3 or 4 weeks. I don't care how strong you feel, this is a new thing for us and temptation is everywhere. Avoid it at all costs.

Change your mindset from one of deprivation to one of gratitude. Just look at the folks on here who have made C-changes in their lives!!! They are HAPPY and optimistic! Does this sound like someone who considers themselves deprived? It's all a matter of perspective. Thank God, you don't HAVE to drink today!!! Remember, to a worm, digging around in the hard old ground is a lot more relaxing than going fishing! Try not to throw, attend and participate in Pity Parties, they serve no good purpose.

Glue yourself to this site and learn everything you can about this condition we have. Knowledge is power. Nothing we do or think hasn't been done or thought before, so look back on the 7 years of experience here and you will find out what happens if you do such and such.

Let go of the past... don't look back. Let it go. ALL of it. Forgive yourself and move on....nothing to see here. There is NOTHING we can do to change what we've done, but we can start today and make things better for our future.

Did I mention gluing yourself here? Read and Post!!! This is key! Being part of a group is important. Like so many have said recently, we find that we actually don't have a much of a life outside the bottle! So learning to trust others again is part of our emotional growth and healing. Yes, the Nest does move fast, but we are always on point. You just regained about 4-6 hours a day back, so spending 30 minutes catching up here should be no problem. Staying connected here is a real key to STAYING sober. The world out there is telling us to do something totally counter to what we know we must do. Staying connected with like-minded people is vital. We are swimming upstream on this one...it's nice to have fellow fish to make the journey with us.

I feared someone giving me a drink by mistake....if they ever do, I'm spitting it back in the glass. My quit is my foundation. No one can take it from me.

That's my take on The Plan. Byrdie

[Justme Again]

Evening Nesters

Ican - so glad to see you!

Deja - read your thread. Glad you are checking in here. Would like to get to know you better. Also not my first time here.

Lav & Kensho - thx for your support.

No Sugar - great advice to check in before picking up a drink. Didn't do it last time. Regret it!

[Justme Again]

Urgh! Last 3 posts didn't want to post!!!

To say it very shortly - 3 weeks AF is fantastic! My life is so much simpler. It was exhausting to plan everyday around al.

And I don't care about how I look, because my sober look is gorgeous!

See you tomorrow. X

[NoSugar]

You sound great, JustMe! I remember thinking how amazingly long the days became when I suddenly had at least 6 extra hours a day when you add up acquiring, consuming, hiding, and recovering from drinking. I feel like my days are full now so I have no idea how I got the "mandatory" stuff done before. I functioned, but I bet that's about all it was. Now I'm really living and sometimes even thriving. I promise you all who are just starting out that you'll have no regrets if you stick with it and come out whole and healthy on the other side. xx, NS