Newbies Nest

[lifechange]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Nesters!
Today is day 30.. Yayy!!!!:happy2:
I have a large calendar on my desk where I've been writing the days down and it seems like an eternity since day 2..
Anyway, I'm at a friends place out in the country until Thursday.. getting away from the craziness of the city is good right now. As of Wednesday everything will be closed except grocery stores, pharmacies.. so everyone is going nutso trying to get their Christmas shopping done.
ok. I'm going to visit with my friend for a bit and will check in again in the morning.. happy to be back amongst all of you.. happy to be feeling so much better than I was a few weeks ago..
xxx

[walktothewater]

Re: Newbies Nest

Anxiety off the charts after four months sober.

[SHADES_of_IDAHO]

Re: Newbies Nest

I’m so sorry Ava.. when things are out of our control it can be difficult. My heart goes out to you. This is when a short verse of the Serenity prayer can be appropriate. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change , courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference....
This has helped me thru so many tough times , maybe it will help you thru too. :heartbeat:

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Greetings Nesters,

Well today’s snow arrived as rain & it has poured all day. Now we look to Wednesday where the are estimating a foot or more of snow - we’ll see

Shades, hello to you, always good to see you drop in.

Walktothewater, I’m sorry you’re dealing with continued anxiety. Have you talked to a doctor about this? Sometimes we need a little help to start managing anxiety. Please don’t suffer needlessly, we wantto see you happy & healthy. Congrats on your 4 months AF, great work!!!!

LC, you made it, Congrats to you on your 1 month!!!
I’m sure you are feeling much better now. Enjoy your visit.

Pav, Wags, hello to you!

Nora, it wasn’t the curse words, haha!! When I read or see someone in such an anxious way I find myself feeling agitated too. I think I am way too empathic for my own good. Hope your day is going well.

Greetings to everyone & wishing a safe night in the nest for all.
Made a big tray of pizzelles today now I have to find the strength to stay away from them, LOL

Lav

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hola nesters,

LC!! Holy fartin' friars! Congratulations mi amiga. Great work. How do u feel? Keep it rolling. Don't forget to git yourself something nice and celebrate with a healthy reward.

Hi Walk. Sorry to hear. One known antidote for anxiety is movement, which is often the last thing we feel like doing. Like depression. But it is the antidote. The good news is you aren't gonna die. If u can force yourself in someway to get your blood pumping and oxygen moving, you will feel better. change of environment will help too. Run, boxing, starjumps, burpees, sit in a chair and swing arms backwards and forwards. Pool running/walking with gusto. If not, a walk to the letter box and back, or nearest lampost and back? Every day. Meditation is another known path to controlling our mental health and what programs we allow to run in our head. Take care of yourself and wowza! congrat's on 4 months +.

Big hello's and waves to evabody. in work but first, off for a dive into the bay.

Take it easy.

[Tabbers (a.k.a. KTAB)]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good morning nesters, I seldom post in the nest but being only a couple of months sober myself I would like to share something inspirational that I watched this morning. I hope if finds a resonance with you too.

6 Things 2020 Has Taught Us About Alcohol & Sobriety - YouTube

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good morning nesters, I seldom post in the nest but being only a couple of months sober myself I would like to share something inspirational that I watched this morning. I hope if finds a resonance with you too.

6 Things 2020 Has Taught Us About Alcohol & Sobriety - YouTube

Thanks Ktab. Good idea to pause and reflect on this crazy year and our response/feelings to it. 'We're wired for love, connection and belonging' Hope you and family are going ok.

Nora, congratulations to you all on your beautiful new arrival! :heartbeat:

[available]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening nesters

LC great work on 30 days and enjoy your break away.

Walk, your anxiety will settle with time. Drinking will not make your anxiety better, maybe a visit to your dr will or as G says some exercise and fresh air.

Thanks Idaho for your kind words and reminder of the serenity prayer. i have said that a small amount of times over the years.

My son actually visited today and that was nice. He spent some time with the fur babies and his mum. I think he misses us which is nice. I have to have faith that he wont fall into daily drinking and that he will actually enjoy his adult hood.

Yes Lav, it is way worse having adult children than teenagers/children. you cant tell them what to do as they dont listen and sometimes they are not in their beds in the morning.

Not sure if my daughter is going overseas now, it seems that the government will only subside quarantine for 2 people and the others will have to pay $3000 each. Not sure who can afford that kind of holiday, stuck in a motel and doing nothing. Time is running out but they are still trying to get exemption on paying the quarantine fees.

Xmas lunch tomorrow and then i am on holidays for 3 weeks. i am so looking forward to this break. Hope to get my health sorted and have some much needed rest. No real plans on going anywhere and as everyone is trying to go somewhere i am quite happy to stay home.

Great vid Ktab, i still wake up every day grateful for being sober and i know if i was drinking, covid would have been an ongoing excuse each and every day.

take care and be safe.

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, All:

Yay, and welcome LC. We've missed you. I'm glad you're feeling better and how great that you have a place like that to go to. Christmas shopping!? Ew. Stay close, LC. We got you.

Walk, Mr. G took the works right out of my mouth. Movement and more movement, deep breathing, and some sort of meditation are all good for anxiety. AND there is medication for that as well if the other things don't work. For sure we know that after the initial feeling that nothing matters, alcohol makes it worse in the long run. So don't go there!

Ava, three weeks off is amazing. Enjoy, and I hope you feel better after some rest.

Thanks for swinging by Tabbers, and sharing that link.

Happy SOBER Tuesday,
Pav

[narilly]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy Un Hung Tuesday everyone!

Holy fartin' friars! Congratulations mi amiga.

G, you have a way with words, lol. Way to go LC!

I think I have the contact tracing job but I am still waiting to hear from our Health Services to to the onboarding. Until I hear from them who knows. Government takes SO long.

Ava, enjoy your time off. My son always seems to be going through something all the time, that kid drives me insane sometimes, ugh. He has such a hard time coping with emotions and he thinks way too much. I try just to let him be but would like to slap him upside the head sometimes!

Thanks for the link Tabbers.
Are you guys telling walk to walk? haha Speaking of walking I am going for one now.

Take it easy everyone and don't drink today.

[walktothewater]

Re: Newbies Nest

Thanks for advice from all. To clarify, I do actually take a fair bit of exercise as it is. I think my high caffeine intake is not helping the situation but it is hard to give up everything at once and I need my crutches. Good bit better today. Went for swim (or to be more accurate, entered the water) with a friend from rehab. She is on 100mg of Sertraline, I am not on any meds. Probably why she is a lot more functional than me. Then again, after the swim we drove into town to buy a present for her dad, she said she was glad I was with her as she wouldn't have been able to deal with stress of driving to town ('town' meaning Dublin city centre) on her own, so one assumes she is not 100% functional.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Very cold here & a big snow storm is on the way for tomorrow. I think I’ll just stay put, I have no where to go anyway!

Walk, caffeine definitely ramps up my anxiety too, I have slowly removed it from my life, all coffee & tea now decaf & it’s much better
Btw, I never liked city driving myself, still don’t.

Narilly, maybe you can wait & start the job after the holidays, that would be nice.

Hi Pav!

Ava, a Covid tax? Really? That’s something i have not heard of until now. Maybe it’s a sign your daughter should stay close to home for now anyway. Enjoy your 3 week vacation, that’s awesome!

Hi G & KTab. Thanks for the link too.

Hello to everyone. Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest for all!

Lav

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi evabody,

Walk, great job on the swim. Dive in and let what will be, be. Critters great and small, i love em all! Good thing i stopped eating flake a few years ago. I figure that gives me a few brownie points out there in the greater ocean conciousness? or maybe i'm dreaming.

For me, anxiety, depression and a few other mental health disturbances is the mind trying to protect me from the unknown. When i analyse such thoughts, i see there is usually zero evidence attached or solid basis for their claims. With gentle daily practice, i retrain my mind to know certain activities are safe and ok, and to work with me. A little logic, with daily practice/action doing what i actually know i love = growth in a way that makes me feel good. The medicine cabinet is within. Nature has already given me all the drugs i need. Opiates, endorphins and much more. We have so much power built in at the ready. No one tells us how to access it at school. We can learn. Meditation is one known pathway.

Ava, our govt. is paying for 2 person quarantine upon return to oz or on arrival at O/S destination? Enjoy your break.

Taking a deliberate wind down approach here till next year. Take it easy.

Big waves to all.

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Walk - sounds like you know of some things that help ease or manage your anxiety, but it can be hard to go ahead and do them. Hang in there and keep on using your tools.

LC - hooray on 30 days! Well 30+ now, right? Of course we wanted you here the whole time but it's understandable why you wanted to fulfill that commitment to yourself first. Glad you're here, and also glad you're out of the city during the craziness.

Nar - hope they get back to you soon on the job.

Pav - yep, same for us with the rain. It's great to add to the snowpack in the mountains during the winter, but only spring/summer rain really helps reduce the chance of fires. Your small tree sounds lovely and I hope you had fun decorating it.


Hellos and waves to Lav, G, Shades, Ava and everyone else stopping by the nest. We're halfway through another week!

[lifechange]

Re: Newbies Nest

Morning Nesters,

Thank you for the well wishes! I am feeling pretty darn well... and am very grateful for that. Not taking it for granted, and trying each morning to set my intention for the day. It's helped to keep a daily journal.. something I've done many times, but this time I haven't been critical about what I write and I don't sensor it, "in case it's found by someone". As you all know, honesty has been a big problem for me.. mostly with myself, but of course if someone is dishonest with themselves, it seeps out to all other relationships. I've been able to mend an important friendship by giving in and being completely honest about why I was such an unreliable friend (cancelling constantly because of hangovers, not calling because I couldn't remember what we'd talked about the last time we spoke, etc.).. she was shocked that I was such a problem drinker.. had no idea (because I mostly drank alone).. but I've been able to now talk openly to her and become a good friend again. (I've actually been working on that since July.. my drinking was mostly done by that point but I had a couple of episodes between then and last month).. I was also able to talk openly with my ex about drinking, how it affected our relationship, how if I started, I couldn't stop, etc... this day was my last day 1. He said, "Lauren, why don't you just make the decision to stop? Just put that drinking part of your life in the past and move forward. You know you aren't missing out on anything!" His saying that at this particular time helped me a lot.. also being able to talk to him. I waited a week and then talked to the girls.. now we're high fiving my milestones which is great. I wish I could have been more open with them a long time ago, but I was ashamed and afraid I couldn't do it and wanted, I think, to keep the possibility of drinking again sometime in the future open. Neither of them drink and are supported in their decisions by friends and loved ones.. I hope they will be able to break the chain of alcoholism in our family.. my youngest turned 16 last week, the legal age to drink here, and a couple of friends came over with an AF bottle of prosecco to toast her bday (normally it's a day for a kid to go and buy alcohol for the whole gang..), so I was happy to hear that and I'm sooooo happy that we can talk openly about alcohol. It's such a weight off my shoulders and mind. I'm so thankful every single morning to wake up Unhung and mostly after a good sleep. I don't feel ashamed anymore.. opening up to friends/people has allowed them to empathize, because almost everyone has some sort of addiction these days, it seems.. whether it's smoking, food, instagram, netflix, pot.. they're all quite similar, the feelings people have while being in the midst of an addiction, which I didn't realize because I was so caught up in myself.

I'm glad to be here again amongst all of you lovely people..
Stay safe! xxxx