Newbies Nest

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

God evening Nesters,

Happy New Year to Ava & G!!!!

Happy NYE to the rest of us!
It's so cold here we are just planted in front of the fireplace with plenty of hot coffee & tea & watching a Twilight Zone marathon - absolutely hysterical. Those old shows scared us as kids, now they're just silly looking with pretty bad acting too, ha ha!

Hyper, stay close to the nest so we can be as supportive as possible, OK?

Pav, I like myself better now as well. Turned out that all those things & people I was drinking at didn't kill me after all. I am living as drama free as possible these days & it's pretty good

Wishing everyone a safe AF night in the nest. See you in 2018

Lav

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Last post of 2017 for me. I'm still battling the cold - can't tell if I'm going to win or it is, but I've hitting it with all the ammo I've got! I have an "interview" tomorrow morning with the training co that wants me to be a contract trainer for them. They sent me some sample problems to discuss with them. The good news is I've seen most of these exact problems before, and the ones that are new are similar to ones I've used with other clients. So I am not at all worried except I hope I don't lose my voice over night.

The way I'm looking at it is that I will be interviewing them as much as, if not more than, they are me. I'm not 100% convinced I'll take this gig - I don't need it, and if they don't wow me I might turn it down. We'll see... I'll let you all know as soon as things firm up one way or another.

Ok kids, don't try this at home:

I went to a bottle shop with a friend this eve. She wanted to buy some specialty beer for NYE. She's not a big drinker, just a regular drinker of 2 beers per night. NYE is no more, no less. I thought about it before going - wanted to make sure I wasn't putting myself in the path of temptation. Nope, I felt strong, so I went along. I was totally fine. While standing there I thought, I wonder about getting something special just for a toast tonight? And my quit brain stepped in immediately and said no silly Wags, you don't drink so why would you do that? And off we went on other errands.

I really think I've turned the corner and am on a different path. I'm back on the path of my 10-year quit, but this time I have the benefit of knowing not to ever ever take it for granted.

As I've mentioned, I'm more than ready for 2017 to exit stage right, but instead of just kicking it to the curb, I do want to be sure I stay grateful for the good things 2017 brought:

1. 365 days of AF living!
2. My new business, which I built from scratch all by myself, is starting to take off and 2018 looks like it'll be a game changer.
3. I love my new truck, even though I don't love that getting it came from having my car totaled by a hit-and-run a$$hole.
4. Almost full recovery from my injuries, at least to the point where I can bike long and hard. Starting to dream, plan and train for our cross-country ride (probably in 2020)
5. Fantastic friends and support group here in MWO, especially in the nest. Can't thank you all enough :hug:

All righty then - time to celebrate for a minute and then hit the hay cuz it's 2018 somewhere and I'm ready to go to sleep!

See you all next year!

:celebrate: :yay: :sohappy:

[paulywogg]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy New Year Nesters!

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy New Year, nesters!
Waking up bright eyed and thankful for it.
Im going to work on my work/home balance this this year.
Wishing everyone an easy day! Have a wonderdul day! Byrdie

[Marylou123]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy new year Nesters. May 2018 be a year of love, peace and sobriety.

[NoSugar]

Re: Newbies Nest

This is for a friend, who I hope returns to MWO, and for anyone wondering how they possibly can quit:
Day 1,651: Start Stopping – Off-Dry

...And I’ll tell you one thing. All of it–the bad croissant; the missing sun; the gorgeous, hammering year–it’s all better than my best New Year’s Eve near the end of my drinking. By this time on those days my mind would be on two things:

1. Wondering how drunk I’d get, and how bad I’d feel on New Year’s Day. Because once I had that first drink, how many more would follow depended on a mysterious alignment of circumstances, timing, and the secret harmonies of the universe or something, and very little to do with me.
2. Intending to be a “healthy drinker” the next year, which to me meant having no more than two glasses of wine a day, every day. Intending because I didn’t have any real plan. And to be because I didn’t want to have to do anything. I just wanted to magically be different.

I mean, who wouldn’t, right? But it was never going to work. Partly because I was never going to be a moderate drinker; moderation took a ridiculous level of effort and focus that killed all the fun. But mostly because I was coming at my so-called intention from a place of massive and (retrospectively) hilarious inertia. In the rest of my life I was a panicked striver, climber, analyzer. But in addiction I wanted nothing less than a revival-tent experience that would make dealing with my problem not just doable, but effortless. I wanted my soul to change before anything else did.

I said my mind was on two things most New Year’s Eves. Eventually there was a third: that nothing was ever going to change, that I would be setting empty intentions for the rest of my life because I was powerless to do anything but hope.

If you’re having the same New Year’s Eve thoughts I used to, my Happy New Year message to you is: it isn’t going to work. You’re not going to intend yourself into moderation or sobriety. And you’re probably not going to trick yourself there via other avenues like dieting or race training, either. If you do manage to back your way in like that, great! But if you’re in really deep, like I was, I suspect your brain is already coming up with workarounds and in six months you’ll be thinking Wow, I trained for a marathon and still didn’t quit drinking! That’s so weird. What should I try next? Yoga? Going back to school? Having another baby?

The way to stop is to stop. There will be a bottle or glass filled with liquid you want to swallow more than you want to do anything else in the world and you won’t swallow it or even touch it. And it will feel so wrong to not touch it. But that’s how you start stopping. You do something that feels wrong, and you have faith that it’s actually right, that you can’t trust your own brain just yet. Or you don’t have faith and you keep it up anyway, because it doesn’t take faith to change.

That’s not all that’s required to heal from whatever got you here, of course. There are a lot of paths to what they call recovery, most of them involving a lot of uncovering of who you are under that shellac of booze and fear. But most of those paths also start the same way: with you stopping. You rip the fucking band-aid off and you leave it off.

Recently I was talking to a friend who beat a long-ago cocaine habit. “I thought about it 24-7 for days after I quit,” he said. “And then not 24-7, but still lots of times per day. And then, three weeks in, I went a whole day without cocaine crossing my mind. Realizing that was an unbelievable feeling.” His face lit up when he talked about it, decades after the fact. I could feel mine light up too. “I loved that feeling!” I said, and we both laughed at the memory of it, the head rush of that first taste of freedom from the thing we’d thought we couldn’t live without.

You can get that head rush too. I promise. You can be laughing about it years from now. But first you have to start. You have to pull the band-aid off.

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy New Year!

So grateful to wake up UNHUNG and ready for the new year.

I am looking forward to a great 2018, and I wish the same for all of you. Byrdie - I love what you wrote. I WILL be prepared for whatever comes my way.

Hope you all have great days.

xo
Pav

[narilly]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy New Year everyone!
I am so grateful to wake up feeling good. I was at a party last night with my good friends and they all were drinking. The host asked me if I wanted champagne for the toast a few times. I just said no and did not obsess about it.
Let’s kick butt in 2018!

I will be 4 years sober in April and that is a huge achievement for me.

Ava, I am So proud of you, it is SO awesome about your new job and SO. Look what we can do when we don’t drink.
Pav, a quit night is great for New Years Eve, I feel the pressure on that night too.
NS, love your posts
G- keep rawkin
Birdie, Lav xo

Let’s start this year right, don’t drink today.

[lifechange]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy New Year's Nesters!
I'm also waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Yesterday morning I was feeling quite off, panicked and out of sorts. It did go away by midday. We basically just hung out, did a bit of shopping, watched a nice film and were asleep by 10:30. Plans to wake up and go hiking didn't work out, but that's ok. Coffee, donuts and classical guitar music instead.:happy2: I will be hopping on the nutrition wagon when I'm home!!
Wags, I love the idea of writing out the few things that were good in 2017. Yesterday I mentioned how happy I was to be going into 2018, letting go of 2017, and that it was bound to be a better year. Complaining a bit about what a crap year it had been. My Sister's SO said, actually there were also a lot of really good days this year. Look at this past couple of weeks... I've been able to spend time with you all.. True! So to put a twist on my thinking, a positive perspective..

1. I finally got myself into the right mindset with regards to not drinking!
2. Ending a long relationship was so hard and I'm still working on forgiveness and completely letting go BUT I have the freedom of being on my own which is
what I wanted for such a long time. A wonderful and peaceful home.
3. Physical and mental health is improving, friendships are being mended and deepening due to honesty, work is improving because I'm present/concentrated.

Ha! I could keep on going.. but I realized my list is actually just the last 2 months since I quit drinking. Honestly, that is the difference and that is what makes/will make any situation at least bearable.

I'm, as always, very happy to be here and a part of this Nest. I have checked in each and every day (maybe except one or two?) at least once, often more and it's become one of my top tools. I am so glad I brought my laptop on this trip and have been able to keep in touch. You've ALL! helped me immensely to stay focussed and on track.

Here's to a great 2018.. my goal is to continue to build a life I'm happy living in.

[KENSHO]

Re: Newbies Nest

Cheers to “A life I’m happy living in” LC! Cheering with sparkling apple juice of course.
Thank you all for the lovely posts (NS especially!!) and the continued support through ups and downs. I appreciate the wisdom and love in the Nest; I would not have made it through this holiday and to day 20 AF TODAY! without you. I have felt in the dumps the last week and have felt very alone. Knowing you are here is comforting.

I intend to have a more open and honest year with myself and my husband, and to practice the self care that I’ve deprived myself of for a long time. Most of all, I will keep putting one foot in front of the other and trust the experiences I read here, trust my own past experience - that I will find peace of mind.

Thank you all. Happy 2018.

[narilly]

Re: Newbies Nest

20 days Kensho! Yippee, keep it up, the days add up quickly.
Glad you are here.

Life , you sound great. I am so glad things are going so well for you.. you deserve it.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy New Year Nesters,

Good evening to all!
Not much going on in Lav-land, just peace & that's enough
Still very cold here, so cold even my chickens are staying in their coop. At least they are being nice to one another.

I'm so happy to be here to observe & offer support where needed. It's hard to really explain what a gift you are giving yourselves. A healthier AF life with all the mind peace you can muster is better than a gift of gold!!! Protect your quits, cherish them & help them grow into lifetime habits

Wishing everyone a safe & cozy night in the nest!

Lav

[jvo]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy New Year Old Nest Friends. I'm ready to rip the bandaid off, stop the madness, and start to heal. I suspect that a roller coaster of emotions will ensue, but I'm ready for the ride. Here we go! Day 1 - ��

[lifechange]

Re: Newbies Nest

Welcome Back, J-vo!!!! I'm going to speak for the crowd and say that we have missed you here very much.. I've thought of you often and have wondered how you are doing. So good to have you back in the Nest.:hug:

[Quit wining]

Re: Newbies Nest

I saw an ad for smoking cessation on TV recently and thought that their message applies to us as well.

“You’re not stopping, you’re starting”

We are starting! We’re starting to improve our health, rebuild damaged relationships with those important to us, save money, rebuild self esteem, rebuild self confidence and so many other things! And what better day to think about this for a few minutes than January 1st!

We can’t undo what happened in the past but we can sure take charge of our futures.

Happy New Year Fellow Nesters. Best wishes for a happy, healthy and al free 2018.

QW