100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

[Eloise]

Wow, nice thread here!
We had a bit of drama today at home & I handled it a lot better than I would have when drinking. I would have definitely drank this evening away.
I wont get into but it was about poor communication & questions that were not well received to say the least.
Feeling rather isolated & alone still. Hoping as my art program grows I will have more on my mind. No big deal really, just not a great day.

[Ginger999]

To drink at this point just seems like such a bad decision. I do sometimes think that I could have the occasional drink now and then and maybe I could... but why do it? I know it's a toxic carcinogen. I know that is messes up my blood sugar. I know that it could reactivate the cycle of addiction. I know that it can lead to dangerous behavior. I know I can function very happily and well without it. I know how to relax without it. There are many beverages that taste better and have no side effects. I no longer see any benefit to consuming it so have no reason to reintroduce it and take the risk (which cannot be calculated for an individual so why gamble?) of letting my life go back to how it was - miserable and at the mercy of the demands of an addiction.

NS, I feel exactly like this too. I've learned how to live without AL and the world without it is a much better place. Why would I ever want to reintroduce it into my new life?

[Lavande]

Myluck, CONGRATS on your awesome quit

[STEADFAST]

Greetings All,

Some great posts here this week. Byrdie: Have a FANTASTIC holiday - you deserve it! I can relate to the 'scared straight' idea. I KNOW that just one drink would undo me totally, as it would set my brain off on that crazy trajectory once more. That's a really scary thought. Too much to lose, nothing to gain.

Also great to see the milestones members are achieving - congratulations to everyone!

Eloise, yes we can have difficult days, but still know that with al they can become even more difficult. I don't know whose quote this is, but I have it stored in my phone: :"There's nothing so bad can happen that alcohol won't only make worse." So true. Hope you have a better day tomorrow. :happy2:

Going to visit Mum tomorrow, which these days is a challenge, but still better with a clear head. And of course I wouldn't be able to drive if i was still on the booze.

Wishing everyone a great weekend,
love,
Steady

[Eloise]

Today is better Steadfast, thanks. I went horseback riding this morning, got to ride outside after passing my 1st dressage exam. Feels pretty darn good to have set out to accomplish a goal and then manage it! It is perfect timing as the evenings are very long now, so we can ride in the evening. In a few weeks we will even head all the way to the beach. Very happy with myself.

[jane27]

Eloise, That sounds so nice. Being outside in nature makes me feel good inside. Need to come up with ideas for winter when its cold and snowy. xo

[Ginger999]

Jane, great job on 500 days!!

[Byrdlady]

Yes, Jane, 500 Days IS amazing! Do you have any comparisons to say, 100 Days? So proud of you! B

[Lavande]

A big CONGRATS to you Jane on your 500 AF days! That's a real nice number

[Pavati]

Wow - I haven't been by in a while... So many great posts.

The lies of omission are me, too, although i reckon that I was not actually as under the radar as I previously thought. As the women from the Bubble Hour say, the farther away I get from my drinking, the worse it becomes. I see with better clarity what I was up to...

It is truly an amazing thing to have so much crap to deal with and to not have alcohol be the first thing I think of. Or the second or even the tenth! I have so many other coping skills now!

I went to a little league baseball game at a big compound last weekend. There is a bar there. A bar. For a bunch of parents to sit and drink as they watch their kids play baseball. I know I would be right in there if I was still drinking, so I am not REALLY judging. Well, I am judging, but from the distance of being sober. WTF?!? A kids baseball game, and you can't do it without a beer (or in the case of a guy I was with, four or five). What a strange world we live in...

I love to see you check in, MyLuck. Glad you're doing well.

Pav

[TJAF]

Congratulations Jane on 500 days. What a journey huh.

I read many of the posts here but don't always respond. Although the theme is generally the same it does bear repeating. In fact I am struck by the thought that folks that have gone a long time AF still seem to feel the need to repeat why they wont drink today. It almost reads like we are talking ourselves into the concept...in fact I think we are and its a testament to the power of addiction and just how prevalent alcohol is in our society. I've had two occasions where I've had friends who have dangled the offer of sitting down over a bottle despite the fact that they know I don't drink anymore. It's an offer that isn't made with malice its just commonplace to these folks and I find myself thinking somehow I'm letting my friends down by not jumping at the chance to get snookered over a good bottle of scotch. To be honest , I am tempted by their offer as something that maybe I can do in the future despite all that I know about my own addiction. I find myself saying, "why not" even though commonsense says otherwise. I know I wont but that fantasy still lurks in the background. So.....keep repeating the mantra...its good for the soul and necessary for the present!

[jane27]

Hi everybody, I just saw all these nice posts now! Thanks so much for thinking of me. Each one of you has been mission critical to keeping my head in the right place. TJAF, both this and your last post on NN really got to me. I counsel myself daily on the importance of staying quit. I cant think of a single case when someone dangled their feet off the edge of the boat without falling in. And the boat keeps sailing. The mindset to begin a quit is like a $2 bill- rare. The folks that fall of the boat are treading water until the next boat comes around, and even then there are no guarantees. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the why not stuff. We all have them, and the only answer is to fight them with whatever it takes.

[NoSugar]

I think we are kind of brain-washing ourselves, TJ. Keeping up with that in sort of a maintenance mode seems necessary to me because we live in a world where alcohol consumption is considered normal and is encouraged, like you've experienced. It is human nature to forget/minimize negative experiences. In fact, most people with some amount of AF time behind them don't feel like they were "that bad". I certainly don't feel like I was - I have to really think about it to remember and even then it is pretty much an intellectual, not emotional, memory for the most part. I liken it to labor - I don't remember it being that awful and I hadn't seen it in action for almost 30 years. I recently was involved and wow - the memories of what it was really like came flooding back. I don't want to become complacent about something that was wrecking my life - reading and posting here is a pretty easy and even fun way to do that.

[Pavati]

Hi, ALL:

TJAF - you hit the nail on the head there for me. I AM tempted by the allure of feeling cured, and while I can remember that last horrible hangover pretty well, it is just like NS describes. But no worries - I DON'T DRINK!

Pav

[Lavande]

Happy June 2015 to everyone