Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

[AKwineo]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

New AF emotion. Today I had a new feeling. I was so so proud of myself for one week AF, but today on day 10, I had an almost ashamed feeling. 10 is such a small number, and I feel strange that I let myself get this far into the daily wine, that 10 is a big number. does anyone else have this feeling?

[DSLR]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Good morning/afternoon all, Monday morning is definitely seems less depressing when you don't feel like c**P with a hangover!

Hi AK, I am starting day 9 today, and funny you should mention Day 10, because I was thinking about that yesterday. Firstly, I thought to myself 'wow I will be in double figures on Tuesday', then thought 'God how sad is that being excited about not drinking for 10 days'. But you know, when you do have a problem with alcohol or indeed anything, it is a big deal and you should be very proud of yourself and what you have achieved. It might be a 'small' number, but it's a really good one :goodjob:. Lets see who we both feel at 20, then 30, then...!!

Feeling a bit more chipper today, lots to get done and hopefully the sun will make another appearance and I can get some photos of the lovely Breton countryside.

Bonne journ?e to everyone.

[mollyka]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Mornin all! Couldn't get to sleep last night but had a nice lie in so should balance up. I know what you mean bout the 10 days ( I think) - with me I felt a bit pathetic that I was so in thrall of drink that 'so many days' was such a big deal. I used to count relentlessly but after my last collision with alcohol I decided to stop counting - it wasn't for any particular reason, just seemed to take my mind away from the fact that I'm not drinking TODAY which is all that matters. I think we all do this whatever way works, I no longer want to celebrate anniversaries of sobriety cos bottom line, I just don't want to drink today - sod tomorrow!!
Sun is peeping out so might venture out of the bed - on lates today so gonna have a lazy morning - prob check back in before I go - so all you usual suspects -- get your arses in gear and post and let us know how you doing!!
Molly

[mylife]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Good morning guys!

AK - I think shame is a huge part of this disease for me. I just can't believe I'm worrying about not drinking at all let alone how many days I haven't! But I have faced reality that for me drinking is not a good idea so I'm stopping. I'm with Molly, however, I really am not focusing on the number of days, just that I don't drink today. When you said it was Day 10 I thought "has it been 10 days?" because I think we stopped the same day (April 1). So I'm happy to know we've made it so far, but I am really focusing on today.

And DSLR is right -- we should be happy for what we've achieved! Let's keep going until we just say "Oh, I don't drink -- haven't for years." and leave it at that.

Good job on 10 days and 9 days guys! We can do this! :goodjob:

[DSLR]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Good way of looking at it mylife and molly.

Thinking about it, I don't want to get caught up with the milestones and forget the end goal either. So after tomorrow, the big 10, I will just chill and let the days roll by

Nice afternoon everyone.

[scottish lass]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Good points about the counting - I think I will count till tomorrow and then I can say a week, then I will mark the date on the month when I can celebrate a month....it is like weight loss, it seems so slow when you get on the scales every day.
I love the feel of this Monday - it has been a long time since i have felt like this on a Monday - rather pleasant!!
Hang in everyone - April is doing us well!

[AKwineo]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

help

I am having a crap day at work and the urge to get wine is really really strong. Can anyone offer any words of strength?

[scottish lass]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

So underrstand - the only way I can manage (and i don't have much experience at all - but it is 5:30pm and i have not succumbed yet) - I remember how great I felt waking up thi smorning without a hangover, and how upset I will be tomorrow if I give in. I am aiming for feeling good tomorrow and trying to ignore tonight. I just got mail and have L Glut - I hope it may work!
there are some good tools in the tool box that other more experienced folks have sent me too - I bet there is something that will work for you there????

[witchywoman]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Hi kids
hope your all doing well
AK, a crap day at work is just that, just a crap day at work, I used to get so wound up about my work, it was uber stressfull, and i would try to ignore what i was feeling by diving into a bottle of wine but now when i have had a bad day i try to stay with my feelings, to ackowledge them, be awear of them, then let them go, the 1st time I was able to do this, i just broke down & cried. I also foundthat sometimes my crap days followed one after another so not only was I deeling with a crap day I was doing it thru a hangover.
stay strong, a craving wont kill you, but drinking could (emotionally, spiritually etc)

Well, a few weeks back, I posted a thread about waking a way from a family member, in my case it was my Dad. heres a little back storey, a few years ago where I ws living started to get really dodgy, it was on one of teh busiest streets were i lived so traffic noise was constant, then it got to were I was getting woken up 2-3 times a night between thurs & sun nights by yelling drunken fights, you know the ones were you wonder if someone is getting beaten to death, I had prowlers shortcutting thru the property & then 2 oposing gangs moved in to the neighbourhood, it was awefull along with the fact that I ws being bullied at work by my boss & my work was stressfull, fast forward a year or so & I ended up moving back in with my parents, I was on the verge of having a breakdown, Well my dad is an alkie, when I drink I fall in lve with the world, put happy music on or watch movies, when my dad drinks he turns into a nasty self pititying, emotionally abusive person, so even though the, its not fun, also he got cancer, but kept drining all hte way thru his chemo, anyway one other thing you need to know about me is I am way way overweight, so hte last month or so has been just awefull with my dad he has been really horrible, then he turns around & tell me taht he is going to pay for me to have lap band surgery ($20K) to do something about my weight, that he has been scared that I will get sick from being so overweight & that he knowes he has been taking all hs frustions & fear about having cancer on me & apologised, he was crying& I ended up crying as well, so the last couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur for me, I had so many emotions running thru my head, it was crazy.
so I will now have the perfect excuse for not drinking, Al is on the "should be avoided at all costs" post operative list of things that you need to change.
sorry to rabbit on about myself, its lots of stuff in my head to sort thru.
anyway to all I hope ou ahve a fab day/night, stay strong, we are the resistance, we will win this war.
XX

[DSLR]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Hi witchy, I am so sorry to hear what a terrible time you have had over the past couple of years and the struggles you are experiencing now. You are not 'rabbiting on' it is important to get these things out of your head and saying them or writing is a good way to do that, so keep doing it if it helps you. Have you ever read about Cognitivie Behavioural Thearpy? (sorry spelling a bit off there I think!) I have used it for my depression (just reading a Dummies guide book so far so doesn't cost very much) and it has really helped me take on some of the problems I have, one issue at a time. It isn't a panacea but it might help?

You have shown how strong you already are and this will help you through this next challenge. But I would say don't think of this sugery as the reason you 'can't' drink, but rather that 'you don't want to drink' as part of a much healthier life style your going to have instead?

Sending lots of good wishes to you witchy, and remember everyone here is ready to support you and give you a hug when you need it :l

[mylife]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Hello April Gang,

Witchy, so sorry to hear about the struggles you are going through. Just think of how much better your life will be in the future, AF. I am sending you lots of strength and prayers. Congratulations on not drinking through these experiences! You deserve a lot of credit for that!

AK, one thing I am learning is that I will have good days and bad days even if I don't drink. It's a normal part of life. I know I developed a self-medicating habit of drinking whenever I had a bad day, and when I step back and look at it, I wonder why I couldn't just experience having a bad day like everyone else? Just focus on making it through the day and know that drinking will only add to any bad feelings you are experiencing. Hang in there, you are doing great!

DSLR, Scottish and Molly great to hear from you guys! Well done DSLR and Scottish on hanging in there AF for April!! We can do this!

I'm awake in the middle of the night here -- somethng I used to do when I drank. However, instead of being anxiety ridden and cursing myself for drinking, I'm just reading a book and posting here until I get tired again. It's great being Alcohol Free.

[DSLR]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Hi mylife, hope you are reading a good book? I read loads and it has helped a lot as I look forward to reading when I go to bed as that is something I couldn't do when I was to drunk to see the pages, or find the book sometimes!

Hope you go back to sleep soon and wishing you a lovely Tuesday when you get up properly!!

[mylife]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Thanks DSLR!

Yes, I'm a huge reader when I'm not drinking! Sometimes that's a bad thing as I'll trade off sleep if the book is too good!

[vintage girl]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Hi guys, just picking up on the reading thing, that is one of the things I am enjoying hugely being sober. I was always a big reader but AL robbed me of that for so long (along with a lot of other things!)

mylife, loved what you said about good and bad days whether we drink or not. 'Normal' people have bad days too, why should we expect any different?

[mylife]

Aiming High In April. . .come join us!

Hello Again April,

It got quiet here today! Vintage -- I agree I was robbed of reading for years as well. I'm making up for it now!

AKGirl hope you're doing okay? Jenny?? Are you out there?

Hope everyone has a fantastic Af evening.