AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

[Marshy]

Afternoon all! Come out, come out, wherever you are...

I've been listening to a radio phone-in about how stressed everyone is at the moment, mainly about the economy but other issues too - and more women than ever are seeking help for stress-related problems because they often have the additional responsibilities of dealing with children/elderly parents/general caring duties.

It's quite therapeutic listening to other people's problems! I suppose that's one of the advantages of support groups, whether it's group therapy or MWO or AA or whatever.

Some of the callers found helpful the things that we talk about here - counselling, exercise, yoga, good nutrition etc. The mindfulness techniques that Wip recommends were mentioned. No booze, that's for sure!!

Hope everyone has a good day!

[greeneyes]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

sniffing. Busy AM, gotta run.

[retteacher]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Everyone:

I haven't felt this grateful & optimistic in a long while. I think one of the gifts of sobriety is that I (as an alcoholic) don't take it (my sobriety) for granted. I know what the other side of the coin (drunkenness) looks like. It isn't pretty. So, today is a day to celebrate. It's our 37th anniversary & my husband's 67th b-day (yes, we got married on his 30th). We're going to get dressed up & go out to dinner. But, first I'm getting my hair done. These are pleasures that would have been tainted had I been drinking. Champagne or any other kind of alcoholic drink doesn't even enter the equation.

I'll check back later.

Love, Mary

PS: Again thank you everyone...MWO got this whole sobriety ball rolling.

[LVT25]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Good morning friends! Congrats, Mary--that sounds awesome! Good for you!

Last night we watched an episode of "House" (I'm addicted) and the parents of a teenage boy were talking about how they bought pot for their son, let him try it so he would know what it was like, blah, blah.... My son said they discussed that kind of thing at youth group-about the parents that let their kids drink at home--because it's "safer". This is something we have discussed at our coalition meetings, and I'm beginning to feel pretty strongly about. Why is this acceptable??? Do we let them drive a car down the highway at 12 years old with us in it because it's "safer"? We as parents should not allow our kids to do ANYTHING illegal. There is so much more to underage drinking than the obvious risks. Just because we did it, we're going to let the pattern continue? Esp when we can see how well it worked for us! As for me, I'm telling my kids, they better not drink, smoke or try any drugs or anything like canned air, etc....or there will be SEVERE punishment.

Ok--off the soapbox for now.

Have a nice day.

[Doggygirl]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Good morning Ab Landers! Hula, I love how you closed yesterdays thread for us with a word about being grateful to be sober. Sometimes I lose sight of gratitude for all kinds of things in my life and the minute I lose sight of gratitude then lots of other things start going downhill too. Self centeredness and self pity start to creep in causing the downhill slide to accelerate. And of course AL is there at the bottom of the hill just waiting for me. Gratitude really does help keep me centered and feeling peaceful. Why on earth do I forget, and then lose that? Never a dull moment - always something to work on!

Gratitude is part of the daily AA meditation today so was a topic at the meeting this morning. A girl I have really come to respect brought up something really important - gratitude for what we DIDN'T do - especially as it pertains to drinking. I am sometimes overwhelmed with guilt over the damage I DID create all around me with my drinking. I forget that it could have been a lot worse. So today I am very grateful that I somehow never killed anyone with my car. That certainly *could* have happened. I know that's not the "happy" side of grateful that I enjoy the most, but I think it's an important side too.

Marshy, thanks for getting us started today. Your description of the radio show was a good reminder to me that life's problems are what they are. People who are not alcholic drinkers like me have the same life problems that I do and that all of us do. I tried to use drinking as a solution, but drinking is NOT a solution to those problems. Drinking is just another problem piled on top.

Mary, you sound wonderful!! Congratulations on your 37th anniversary. How wonderful that through thick and thin you are still married. And I can always tell how much you care about your relationship with your husband and keep working on it. Awesome!! You will be stylin' tonight with a new do - I hope you have a lot of fun.

Greenie - just sniffin'? Not even a moment to mark?? :H Hope you are having a good day.

LVT I really applaud what you are doing with the youth program in your area. I LIKE your :soapbox:. Don't get off of there on my account!

Well, I'm off to a meeting but feeling good today. Boy I needed that grateful reminder. Hello to all yet to come. Have a wonderful day of FREEDOM!

DG

[Mohun]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Another pre-coffee check in. All's well.

Congrats on your anniversary Mary...

[Accountable for Me]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Gooooood Morning!

Nothing wild and fun in my life to report. All is good in AFM's world.

Have a great day everyone!

[narilly]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Good morning Aberoos ! (Deter I love that!)

I totally agree with you LVT, it is so hard to really know what to do with kids and alcohol. I like your no tolerance rule. I think that may be the way I will have to go- my kids are both in their early teens. I did some really stupid things in my teens when I was drinking. Bad things can happen, especially when you are so immature.

DG and ALL- Gratitude, yes, I think we need to remember how much worse things could have been.

In high school, I dragged my friend with me to go to another town about an hour away from where we lived (I was 17). She did not want to go but I convinced her (I was already drunk at 12 noon). I did not drive but we were in an accident and my best friend was killed. I almost died- very close. Did I quit drinking? Nope.
Anyway, it can always be worse. I will always carry this with me.

I have spent years dealing with the guilt etc. and I am ok now. I guess what i am trying to say is Have Gratitude.

Love,
Sober Narilly

[Doggygirl]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Hello again everyone. Mo - hope you got your Jo by now. AFM, you sound amazing once again today. For some members here, the hard-to-put-a-name-on-it change in tone of the posts as you get sober time under your belt is truly amazing. You sound mah-valous dah-ling!

Narilly, I stopped breathing as I read what happened. I am grateful to hear that you have found a way past what must have been a horrible time in your life. And I am grateful that we are all here and working to rid our lives of the horror that is AL.

I actually came on here because I meant to respond to a post by ThatGirl from yesterday and realized I forgot. And then reading Narilly's post, I of course thought of you TG and thought of you standing here at such an important cross road of your life - to let AL be part of your life or not. When I was 18 I had no idea how important that decision was, and how my decision to let AL be a part of it would affect my life. I applaud you for being here with us so you have a chance to learn what AL is capable of and make a far more informed decision than I did. I enjoyed reading your post yesterday about getting focused more on those creative endeavors in your life rather than focusing on "to drink or not to drink." Those other interests are...well...a WHOLE lot more interesting than AL will ever be. Just wanted to let you know that you brought a smile to my face and I enjoyed pausing for a moment in my day and imagining you - so young and bright with the world in front of you as your oyster. It's a big world out there and there is SO much to explore and experience. I hope you squeeze the maximum there is to be had out of each and every day.

Eww. That's pretty squishy even for me but I will stand by my words today.

DG

[retteacher]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Hmmm...To drink or not to drink. I think that the longer I go wo/a drink, the more possible life wo/AL seems. All those slips, relapses, awful incidents, etc. were a warm-up for life wo/any mood-altering substances. I know I won't be perfect in sobriety; however, when I make a mistake sober, it's so more acceptable to me. No guilt or shame, just "oh well, I'll try to do better next time."

I look at you, Doggy Girl, going through this health issue sober. That kind of thing would be such fodder for drinking in the past for me. Innumerable people around the world go through all kinds of crises sober. They just feel what they have to feel & get through.

That's what I want in my life.

Mary

[narilly]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Thanks DG, I really like that- find new interests thing. That is such a common sense thing but we don't all think of it.

Mary- you have that in your life now- just stick with it!

Narilly

[Determinator]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Happy Wednesday ABlanders far and wide!

interesting stuff indeed. the subject of introducing our youth to alcohol is even more confusing when you think that in European countries such as italy there is no minimum drinking age, and if a 13yo has the money they can waltz into a bar and buy whatever they want to drink. and most amazingly Italy has a very low per-capita incident of alcohlism....WTF? I'm so confused by this. I was introduced to al at an early age and it obviously didn't go in a good direction for me.
this reminds me of the politically sensitive issue of 'gun control'. some nations such as Israel have guns literally everywhere you look, even openly carried by boys and girls on the school bus, yet they don't commit the stupid acts of violence that we seem to have here way too often in cities where guns are very heavily restricted. The problem is not the al, or the guns. or whatever (in-animate objects). the problem seems to be something wrong with our mentality.
could it be the US is suffering from a total break-down of moral direction and the symptom is our people going into a self-destruct mode?

There are public acts of protest in Oakland CA because the police killed the bad guy that murdered 4 officers over the weekend. They stopped the bad guy and now the neighborhood is erupting in violence???? Once again I'm just confused.

well, whatever the heck is going on I'm going to be facing it with a clear AF mind. Thanks everyone for your camaraderie here. This is truly my favorite place in the cyber universe.

be well

[hulagirl]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Good Morning Abbies!
Det-- Society confuses me too. Just glad I can think clearly. (I work with the youth and they are saturated with MTV)
Hey DG, that was quite an inspirational piece for our young'n here. Wish we could add music for effect.
Narilly, I too was breathless upon reading your story. Can't imagine what you have gone through.
Wishing all a good, thoughtful day.

[southernbelle]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Hey to all Ab Landers!
Gratitude is the key to my life these days! Thanks so much to all of you, for allowing me to creep into your wonderful world.....it has been a lifesavor. DG, you are always so positive with everyone, I want to be that for others too! I hope to get to know you all much better over time....
What a wonderful community! MWO ROCKS......H

[ThatGirl]

AF daily - Wednesday March 25th

Thanks for that DG, I'm glad I could make you smile And you're very right, I shall try and get the most I can out of every day

On another note, a question for everybody: Is it normal to still be unusually short tempered after 17 days? I've been snapping alot at my friends and family, and am wondering if it's AL related or not.

Hope eveyrones well,

-TG