100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread
Hey, Pav
You've probably seen my posts of frustration about just this issue --- feeling that I wouldn't be "well" until I could move on from this daily attention to remaining sober.
Thinking about it as a chronic rather than acute condition has made a huge difference for me. This isn't like appendicitis, which is fixed by surgery, or an infection, which can be cured by a course of antibiotics. You do the treatment, give yourself sometime to regain your strength and boom, you're back to normal.
This is more like diabetes, which I also have if I don't eat right. If I do eat right, I don't need any medications at all. So, every day I eat the foods that don't send my blood sugar too high, which is followed by a crash to a level that is too low. At the beginning, figuring out what and how much to eat and when took a lot of time every day. It was always on my mind. I felt like I was missing out on really good food. I had to check my blood glucose concentrations often to see how I was responding. etc. etc. It took more time than I wanted to spend to get it right. But, with time, I learned what to do and it became less all-consuming. I stopped feeling bad about not getting to eat the "treats" that other people could have. It just became part of life. I still have to attend to it every day and, because I'm surrounded by all sorts of foods all the time, I'm always aware of what I will and won't choose to eat. So, it's a daily task but it no longer consumes a great deal of my time and I don't feel deprived. I feel so much better now, I have no desire to eat what most people around me eat. I'll continue to do each day what is needed to keep this chronic condition under control. It may not be curable but it is manageable.
Addiction also is a chronic, not acute, condition. With AL, what got me free was active involvement in MWO and learning as much about the subject as I could. I spend much less time on MWO than I did at the beginning and when I participate now, it is more because I want to, not because I have to (although I have made the commitment to myself that I will stay involved so I guess in that sense I "have" to).
Everything I've read about addiction supports that the risk of relapse is dramatically lessened by participation in a support group. Once daily support not to drink is no longer required, the benefit comes from helping others. As Byrdie wrote, it is good to be reminded of where we've been and where we could easily return - keeps the commitment fresh.
xx NS
Pavati;1638142 wrote: I find contemplating long term sobriety a paradox of sorts. On the one hand we KNOW that staying connected to a sober community and working at staying sober is key, and on the other hand, part of the good feeling of being sober is not always thinking about alcohol. I guess it will be a balance - would love to hear what some of you long timers say/think about this?
Happy sober Saturday.
Happy sober Saturday.
You've probably seen my posts of frustration about just this issue --- feeling that I wouldn't be "well" until I could move on from this daily attention to remaining sober.
Thinking about it as a chronic rather than acute condition has made a huge difference for me. This isn't like appendicitis, which is fixed by surgery, or an infection, which can be cured by a course of antibiotics. You do the treatment, give yourself sometime to regain your strength and boom, you're back to normal.
This is more like diabetes, which I also have if I don't eat right. If I do eat right, I don't need any medications at all. So, every day I eat the foods that don't send my blood sugar too high, which is followed by a crash to a level that is too low. At the beginning, figuring out what and how much to eat and when took a lot of time every day. It was always on my mind. I felt like I was missing out on really good food. I had to check my blood glucose concentrations often to see how I was responding. etc. etc. It took more time than I wanted to spend to get it right. But, with time, I learned what to do and it became less all-consuming. I stopped feeling bad about not getting to eat the "treats" that other people could have. It just became part of life. I still have to attend to it every day and, because I'm surrounded by all sorts of foods all the time, I'm always aware of what I will and won't choose to eat. So, it's a daily task but it no longer consumes a great deal of my time and I don't feel deprived. I feel so much better now, I have no desire to eat what most people around me eat. I'll continue to do each day what is needed to keep this chronic condition under control. It may not be curable but it is manageable.
Addiction also is a chronic, not acute, condition. With AL, what got me free was active involvement in MWO and learning as much about the subject as I could. I spend much less time on MWO than I did at the beginning and when I participate now, it is more because I want to, not because I have to (although I have made the commitment to myself that I will stay involved so I guess in that sense I "have" to).
Everything I've read about addiction supports that the risk of relapse is dramatically lessened by participation in a support group. Once daily support not to drink is no longer required, the benefit comes from helping others. As Byrdie wrote, it is good to be reminded of where we've been and where we could easily return - keeps the commitment fresh.
xx NS
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