Friday 9th May

[cowgal]

Friday 9th May

Friday!!

Happy Friday to everyone, you ALL sound so positive, that is AWESOME!!! Hope you all enjoy your parties, birthdays, hey, just having a couple days off AF!!!!! I am going to do that, for SURE!!!

Love and hugs, Day 5, going strong!!!

MA:l:h

[retteacher]

Friday 9th May

Hi Everyone: No g-kids underfoot today. My husband & I are going to spend the day together doing errands & going out to lunch. We'll bring our puppy w/us. I'm so glad to be able to do this sober.

First, CONGRATULATIONS ON THE MILESTONES EVERYONE! Also happy birthday where it applies. Sober celebrations are the best. You'll be able to remember everything afterwards.

Second, I've had some slips lately so I'm only on day 2. I needed to say that so that I could be completely up front & honest. I have no excuses, but my committment is still there. It's AF for me...all the way.

Third, Flyin', I like your plan. I've done a number of parties sober, & it has worked out great. After the first few minutes, the temptation fades. When the other partiers start getting sloshed, you'll be fresh as a daisy. I've come up w/some stardard excuses for not drinking (though usually nobody asks twice):
-I feel a headache coming on.
-I get hot flashes from wine (only works for middle aged + women).
-I'm taking a medication that would cancel out if I drink.
-Alcohol really disrupts my sleep pattern.
-etc.
That usually completely backs people off.

Take care of your sobriety everyone. I will not drink today.

Mary

[Ask For Help]

Friday 9th May

Hi folks: just popping on here for a minute to say Hi and to say that CodeMonkey has a thread in General where he's looking for info from people who use Drink Tracker. Since I know many here use it, you might check it out. He's asking how we use it, and what features we'd like. Currently an unanswered question is "what do people use the "future date" for? Anyone willling to post him an answer?

Best to all! You all are doing GREAT!!

Fondly!
G

[Determinator]

Friday 9th May

Aloha Friday ABworld!

Flyfish, welcome!

i kind of feel like I'm here after the event so to speak...so many extremely early posts these days...perhaps with my schedule I should start posting the night before...hmmmm.

at any rate I had a very successful travel trip and passed countless signs that read "Free wine tastings...come in!" while passing through the romantically beautiful vine country in North California. I just smiled at the landscape and kept truckin'.

be well everyone!

[Lila]

Friday 9th May

Does anyone here, newly AB, feel stuck in feelings, like frozen? I feel like I can't do anything, get anything done, am borderline depressed, scared, blah, blah, blah....I mean, I had good reasons for drinking every night. Now what?
Maybe I can just be like this for awhile, unless someone has some brilliant insight.
Lila

[4theboyz]

Friday 9th May

Hi Lila,

My first big go AF last Feb, I found myself quite debilitated mentally. I really had to focus and think harder on most anything I had to do. Quite forgetful at times and it was like a constant fuzz/buzz in the skull. Took weeks to get through. The instant benefits of being AF outweighed this foggy feeling and made it all worthwhile. I had read this would happen so I expected it and was prepared for it when it happened. I do know the "meds" I took added to the fog though. Try to keep focused!!

Looking forward to an AF weekend and mothers day with my family. Have a great AF day Abbers!!

[retteacher]

Friday 9th May

Lila: Yes, I've been where you are & still go there quite frequently. I think I've depended on AL so much to aenesthesize my feelings that it now feels overwhelming when they come. I think we just have to push through & realize that we will come out the other side & gain some equilibrium. I think what you are describing is the prime reason I've slipped lately. I'm not proud of it & am going to try my hardest to push through the feelings. If I don't do that, I'll just keep reinforcing the pattern of drinking to blot out feelings. These are our feelings whether they feel great or awful. I can control &/or try to work through them. What do I need to do?
-Take some time for myself?
-Speak to someone about an issue?
-Ask myself some hard questions?

I'm realizing through my slips & relapses that there are no shortcuts. The slips only set me back.

I hope at least a little of this makes sense to you, Lila. I'm glad you asked the questions. It sure gave me food for thought.

Mary

[on my way]

Friday 9th May

Greetings all,

Lila, all those reasons for drinking can be good reasons for not drinking. For instance, don't like your job.... use sober time to look for a new one. I have a child who has a profound handicap. It really gets depressing sometimes.... I have used my last 2 months getting a bit more organized and working with him to over come some of his distructive habits. I have always tended towards being depressed, Al makes that worse. I feel better every day, it takes time to make the gradual change. Al is such a bitch of a quick fix (evil Al).
Det, were less one employee....she did me a favor and quit Wed afternoon, HA it all works out I guess.
Beck, our 3 year old and I just did muffins with Mom, it was fun. I felt a bit old though, most mommys were in there mid 20's. Maybe they thought I was his granny:H

Best to you all,

on my way

[Janice]

Friday 9th May

Well again, I'm only just getting chance to get online today.......its been a mad mad week and I've really missed my MWO therapy!! Hopefully I'll get chance tomorrow to read and catch up on everyone's news.....but, sending you all my love and best wishes for a great AF weekend!!

Janicexxx

[Beck]

Friday 9th May

Mary, Sorry you have been having difficulty lately. Wish I could make that better for you. You know you feel much better about yourself when you make good decisions - choose wisely, my friend and you will soon be racking up those AF days again.

OMW, you are right about the causes of drinking. I have been using my AF time to address my issues and am finding that I am quite capable of dealing with them. I'm retraining myself to look beyond the quick fix to the long term. I feel that drinking would sink my confidence again and render me ineffective.

Beck

[Lila]

Friday 9th May

Yes, there are reasons not to drink. I just think I have to maybe relearn, or just learn new ways of dealing with life. I barely even thought about drinking - well, I always do at about 4pm, but less today. I did take a big handful of supplements.
Getting on this site is one way for me to deal.
Lila

[on my way]

Friday 9th May

Lila, you are right. And Beck made the same point. It is all about retraining yourself in how you deal with life’s stressors. Without Al you grow emotionally. You learn coping mechanisms, with Al you are frozen. I am impressed with you, you’re moving along.

Way to go!!

omw