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OMG! It DOES get easier!

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    #1

    OMG! It DOES get easier!

    Yesterday I had to catch a plane and travel interstate for a work meeting so I was up at sparrow's fart. (5am) The meeting finished early so I went straight to the airport and got put on an earlier flight. This in itself isn't significant, but what is, is that I belong to the Qantas Club (airline lounge with free food and booze) and I didn't even think about having a drink. This is despite the fact that it is one of my usual binge places - who wouldn't with free wine available and time to kill? I was also really tired - another trigger. I got home and when I suddenly realised that I'd gone through the whole day without even thinking about having a drink I couldn't believe it! it's a miracle!!

    70 days tomorrow!!!
    It always seems impossible until it's done....
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    #2
    OMG! It DOES get easier!

    Dear Flip,

    That's tremendous~! Well done! It does indeed get easier as time goes on. And the more situations you go through without a drink, the more you realize you just don't need (or WANT) it in your life any more. Congratulations on your 70 days...

    It's interesting that you write about airports and traveling being a trigger for you.... I am sitting in an airport now, in a pub where I used to drink during layovers. (Funny how flying is a time when it's socially acceptable to have a drink, no matter what time of day it is. Perhaps you're a nervous flyer, poor thing. Or you're celebrating some special occasion. Or you're in mourning. All the reasons that people travel, you know...) Anyway, I'd be lying if I said that alcohol didn't cross my mind when I travel.... if it didn't I wouldn't take the time to write here about it, would I? But what happens now is that it's just a passing thought, like any other, and it doesn't set off the craving in my mind and body that it used to. I no longer have to decide "Will I or Won't I?" because I already know the answer (I won't). So it's not worth spending any energy thinking about, other than to be grateful that I'm not in that trap any more. I can sit here in the pub, writing at MWO, eating my quesadilla, and drinking -- a Diet Coke. And I'm perfectly content with what I'm doing.

    Anyway it is remarkable how a situation that used to be an absolute TRAP for me, and later caused me mental torture if I tried to abstain is now perfectly comfortable without alcohol. It's all a matter of just changing one's mind about drinking. I don't want it or need it any more. And in those rare moments when Drinking Mike starts talking to me, I switch on my mantra "Not an Option, Not an Option" until he shuts up.

    OK, gonna finish up my quesadilla and Diet Coke before catching my next flight. Hope you all are having a great and sober day. And again, Flip, well done!

    Mike
    "Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance." -- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

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      #3
      OMG! It DOES get easier!

      The one incident which stands out for me yesterday was as I walked past the bar to get a diet coke I saw a guy pouring a red for himself and I thought, "you poor bastard".... what an attitude change!
      It always seems impossible until it's done....

      Comment

        #4
        OMG! It DOES get easier!

        Flip, 70 days is awesome! Good for you. Your post is such an inspiration for us following suit in this AF journey. Your energy, excitement and your attitude is wonderful! Keep up the good work!!!!!!

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          #5
          OMG! It DOES get easier!

          Gday Flip,

          This is Paddy. Are you also on Topa at all? Just wondering. I'm on 50 mgs at the moment
          Paddy
          Time's fun when you're having flies. - Kermit the Frog - eace:

          Comment

            #6
            OMG! It DOES get easier!

            70 DAYS....FLIPTASTIC.....
            Well done Flip...And yes it does get easier, I'm four and a half months AF now and sometimes I can go a few days without thinking about alcohol at all, when I do think about it though its more negative thoughts I have and I'm just so happy to be free of it all...
            But, a word of warning, be careful, I have found that if I do get a craving for a drink now, the craving doesn't tiptoe in wearing ballet shoes, oh no, instead it storms in wearing hob-nailed boots wielding a sledghammer and hits me on the back of the head....The good news is though, this sort of craving lasts for only about a few seconds, perhaps a minute, no more, because instead of letting it grow and thinking how lovely it would be to have just one drink " now that I'm better " I focus instead on all the bad things drink has done to me....Like the last time I had my head down the toilet being violently sick knowing I had to leave for work within 20 minutes :yuk: , that was a day and a half alright...
            So keep on doing what you are, it sounds as if you are on the right road...

            Take care,
            Love, Louise xx
            A F F L..
            Alcohol Free For Life

            Comment

              #7
              OMG! It DOES get easier!

              Paddy, I'm on campral, whatever the recommended dose is (3x2 tabs per day).

              Hi Louise my friend. Can relate sooo much to the "now that I'm better" comment... I went 6 months early last year before I thought I really had it beaten so I had a couple of drinks at a BBQ... within a week I was back into the pit....I realise this time that I am never going to be "better". All I can do is deal with what I have been dealt with. In the scheme of things, compared to some poor bastards, this is easy.

              Mike, my wonderful advisor.... You must have read Allen Carr's book.. it really does help to think of the stuff as poison and begin to loathe it... that's why I felt so sorry for that poor bastard pouring himself a glass.
              It always seems impossible until it's done....

              Comment

                #8
                OMG! It DOES get easier!

                Hi Flip- Congrats on 70 days! Great achievement and you sound terrific.


                You know how when you are sick you can't remember what it feels like to feel well? And when you are well, it's hard to remember what sick feels like? I think that is part of the trap.
                I was driving in to work this morning and I was not feeling great and it made me think about how I felt each day when I was drinking. I tried to imagine what I really felt like...how bad was it? Then I remembered several drives home from work being so tired and worn out from working with a hangover all day that when the traffic slowed to a stop I would literally try to catch a 30sec nap. I have been so hungover at work that I would go to the ladies room and sleep for 5 minutes because I just could not stand it anymore.
                I would tell myself that I would go to bed just as soon as I hit the door. Instead, I would get home, feel a tiny bit better, and open a bottle of wine and stay up until midnight.
                I tried to remember that this morning on my drive in. I tried to play that over again and again a few times in my head and really remember how if felt.
                There are issues with being sober 24/7.....not too many places to hide from your problems. But it is still 100,000,000 times better than the alternative ( or, my alternative - make that, our alternative).

                I think we tend to block out those awful truths. I just had my 100th day - three days ago- and I am still having a hard time being completely truthful about my drinking and the effect it has had on me. I don't want to tell all just in case I ever decide to start drinking again. If I tell all..... how could I ever justify drinking again? So many layers to this alcohol game.
                I'm getting a lot more comfortable with the idea that I need to be AF forever. Not just comfortable but happy about it.

                Sorry for going on and on....Flip - again, couldn't be happier for you - good for you!

                Thanks all-
                Lisa

                Comment

                  #9
                  OMG! It DOES get easier!

                  Flip, good on you for 70 days.
                  Seeing alcohol as a poison is definitely a good thing. Alcohol is fine for those who can handle but for me it will always be a quick ticket to the pit of alcoholic misery.
                  During my periods of long-term sobriety in AA I used to play music all the time in pubs and clubs and never seriously thought of drinking booze ever. There was one little trick I had though that I believe made it easier. I always headed straight for the bar after loading in and got myself a coke or a water so that I always had my own drink to hand.
                  My serious drinking thoughts have always come when I've been lonely and sad. Usually at home by myself and never when I've been busy doing something I loved to do. Funny that isn't it?
                  Anyway mate all the best with your continued AF.
                  prez
                  "faith can move mountains, but bring a shovel" - Unknown

                  Comment

                    #10
                    OMG! It DOES get easier!

                    Flip - well done!

                    70 days must feel SOOOOO good!

                    I'm just starting out and, as luck (?) would have it, I have to go away on business this weekend to the other side of the world from my home. - so major long haul flights ahead!
                    Like you and others, flying was always an excuse to drink in the past. I could do without this test so early on in my journey.
                    I also have to visit and socialise with people who normally drink heavily

                    I hope I have your strength.
                    But now I can always say "Flip can do this, so lets give it MY best shot"


                    Please - continue to take care of yourself, and be proud of your new healthy life!

                    Satori
                    "Though there are many paths at the foot of the mountain - all those who reach the top see the same moon - as any fule kno"

                    Comment

                      #11
                      OMG! It DOES get easier!

                      Honestly, I feel so good and healthy it's truely amazing. Bright as a button every morning, motivated to exercise and eat well. Now to tackle to fat that I gained when I was drinking myself to death! :-)

                      Where are you going Satori?
                      It always seems impossible until it's done....

                      Comment

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