Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

[little beagle]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Pat 2 week, 14 days. That's wonderful. I vaguely remember my first 30 days. It was SO hazy. And I slept so crappy. I still do, but that's just me. This is something I've dealt with most of my life, even childhood.
Daisy 30 days. Did you get yourself a great reward? I believe in rewards for hard work. New shoes? Lovely perfume? Spoil yoirself.
Ava I'm excited you h a ve a new love interest. How sweet. Wearing v-neck shirts for a sick man. Gave him a little lift. My hubby is suppose to be part of my retirement plan. He's suppose to help take care of me in my old age, being almost 10 years younger then I am, but we know that won't happen. I will be taking care of him. I run circles around that younger man. He has no hope of keeping up or catching me.
A full moon on Friday the 13th. Beach weekend for us.

[daisy45]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Thanks Ava - I would not have got here, first of all without your PM....when I reluctantly joined in, not believing today would be day one, so many others got involved with straight talking and I received a kindly kick up my arse!
I have had those days and moments but just keeping my head down and believing faithfully the words of all of you who are way ahead and no regrets......

[patrice]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Hi all, thanks
Fantastic Daisy, 30 days that's great...
So glad to feel like I am on this path
Xx

[patrice]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Hi all, thanks
Fantastic Daisy, 30 days that's great...
So glad to feel like I am on this path
Xx

[giraffe1234]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

J-vo; thanx for the congrats and good wishes.
Pavati, I'll check out Rahul's sober travel tips for sure.
Have a good day all.
PS: that retirement plan sounds oh so promising and very tempting!

[j-vo]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

MAE Loamers,

I had a drinking dream last night. Not a drunk dream, though. I was at dinner with two gf's and was glad that dinner was over and that i hadn't drank. So proud of myself. Then one gf said, "let's go to the bar and have an after dinner drink!" My after dinner drinks were always at least a bottle of wine. Anyhow, we went to the bar. I remember seeing this in my dream... A cold beer and a shot of whiskey next to each friend. I remember staring at this in my dream. And I thought, "OMG, what do I do now?" Then I ordered a diet coke and felt relieved. Just a dream. But it shakes me up. This also reinforces the fact that I should never drink, as I was addicted to alcohol and I was deteriorating mentally and physically. I remember that dull ache in my liver. I had that for a long time.

Daisy, congrats on your 30 days!!!! . Like Pav said, "keep the faith" and we'll get that balance back in our lives. We just have to keep trudging forward and not look back.

Pav, thanks for all that technical info on the brain. That does help lots in understanding why we feel this way. And I am emulating the sober people for sure. Fake it till you make it.

Ava, you're so sweet to make a dying man happy by wearing a V-neck to show cleavage. That warms my heart!!! I bet seeing all of those alcoholic patients is an eye-opener and reinforces your determination. Drinking sanitizer? OMG. I've heard of people drinking mouth wash, but not sanitizing gel.

Pat, that sleep thing can be frustrating. I hope the sleeping aid you take works tonight and you feel more human tomorrow!

Warm day here - 84 F Have a great days!!!!

[NoSugar]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site


Congratulations, Pat!

and I know you're ready for the "OR MORE" part !


Daisy, you've got your

Just keep doing what you're doing!


And Nar... way to go on
.
You've got this!


Hey, if it's true that each success is one for the team, today is a GREAT DAY around here!

[NoSugar]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Jane,

I read your post here and the one in the nest. I wouldn't presume to give you advice but want you to know that I hear you, I'm sorry you're struggling, and I care about you :l.

NS

[narilly]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Little Miss Daisy!!! 30 DAYS! YIP YIP YIPPEE! So proud of you girl. I know it hasn't been easy but like you said, keep your head down and just keep going. You can beat this thing, Obviously!

I am super busy today at work so I will post later tonight.

xo

[daisy45]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Thank yo Nar, and just seen on roll call that you are 60 days! So happy for you! You are a great supporter of myself and everyone else - thank you for that! And now for our next 30!

[j-vo]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

:yay::applaud::kudos::huggyNar, happy 60 days!!!! I'm so flippin proud of you! Wow, you've come a long way, baby!

[j-vo]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Jane,
I read that article. I think I"d love to hang out with that 98 year old woman. Loved her honesty, humor! What a character she is!

[little beagle]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Jane I really enjoyed that article too. What a fun lady. I feel that you and I have so much in common. It's your mother who is missing out. And I am sorry for you both. And glad I get to love you a little in her place. Not that I love you JUST a little.
Nar congratulations on those 60 hard earned days. You are going strong.

[NoSugar]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

This is a fantastic post from the NN (which I totally agree with ). I'm putting it here so none of us miss it. Thanks, Turnagain!

Turnagain;1670854 wrote: Hi all....I'm a bit of a stranger these days in this part of MWO...but as a grateful Alumnus of the amazing Newbie's Nest...I do still read here when I can and Jane?your post really touched me. I'd like to offer some factual information that I think might be of interest and comfort to your situation.

For many years, I bought into the notion that I was just one of those unlucky and undisciplined people cursed with an "addictive-personality". At one time or another, I found myself battling with compulsive over-eating and then later, compulsive, addictive drinking and smoking... and then there was the compulsive addictive internet usage...you get the idea. I was resigned to thinking of myself as an ever-revolving mess of weak-willed, over-doing it, compulsive, out-of-control behaviors.

Well...science says otherwise. It was a revelation to me to learn about the latest research about addiction. While the details about the mechanisms of addiction are not fully understood yet, researchers now know that all addiction stems from the same place in the brain. In simplest terms, basically our reward system ? which involves our dopamine receptors ? gets really messed up. Maybe our receptors were damaged by stress early in childhood or later in life. Maybe they got skewed by simply drunk-drinking as a youth?maybe we're all fighting receptor fatigue because of our typical western diet that?s high on sugar and low in real nutrients. Regardless of the cause and the individual path we've taken, we've ended up in the same hellish place that is addiction.

Our brain strives for homeostasis and it works mightily to maintain that balance. One of the many problems with drugs ? like alcohol ? is that these substances overwhelm the dompaine receptors?..smacks ?em down and even destroys them and then we need an ever increasing amount of the drug to try to get that same reward. Sugar does the same thing. And add that to another strike against the drug alcohol since it is the jet-fuel of all sugars with a toxic punch of brain-altering ethanol which IMMEDIATELY gets absorbed into our blood system and impacts us instantly on a cellular level - all 200 million trillion of them ? depending on how you count them. No matter HOW you add it up?it?s safe to say ALL cells are impacted by this devastating systemic drug.

Jane, your earlier post about substituting the word HEROIN for alcohol is brilliant and absolutely right on the spot. Alcohol really IS a drug. Even though it is legal, even though it is celebrated, even though it is widely accepted and is pervasive in our culture, IT IS STILL A DRUG. The alcohol industry has invested decades of time and billions of PR and lobbying dollars to make sure we ? nor or governments - view it as the toxic, carcinogenic, addictive substance that it is. Yup?Big Alcohol has made us believe that it?s OUR problem for taking the substance. We are the defective ones because we can?t ingest a toxic, addictive substance ?responsibly?? How effed up and ABSURD is this thinking?

Rant over (for the moment) while I return to sharing information that will help you figure out how to deal with ALL addiction. Getting better is all about rewiring the reward system. This takes time?but it can be done. AND?you are ALREADY taking some solid actions toward this.

There are basically THREE KEYS to Freeing your Brain from ADDICTION:

FIRST - With alcohol ? the most important thing you can do is keep it out of your system. That?s the starting point. With food?well?we DO have to eat or die. So you have to switch to the fuel that is good for your system. That means nothing processed ? whole healthy foods. AND absolutely NO SUGAR. It is part of the chemical trigger that overwhelms the dopamine circuits. Withdrawal is a bitch?.but we get through it. Because our bodies will feel absolutely deprived initially without the sugar, I suggest having a stock of healthy fruits around during the acute detox phase but go easy on it. Nutshell: BAD OUT ? GOOD IN.

SECOND ? Aggressively work on rewiring the brain. Even during withdrawal, - make that ESPECIALLY during withdrawal - you can actively begin changing your brain. Each time you make a positive, affirmative decision to change your old ways?.you are forging new neural pathways in your brain. What fires together wires together, as they say. It?s like building muscles?a little at a time adds up to make you a whole lot stronger over time. Give yourself heaps of credit for this. Even the seemingly small acts should get a big round of internal applause.

REWARD yourself early and often. In my early AF days, I actually transferred the amount of money I would spend on booze and smokes each day into a special bank account. It really adds up. My addictions were costing about $22 a day ? sometimes more. I made a point of pampering myself ? I got my first ever pedicure?I bought some big-ass dahlia plants?I donated to the animal shelter?.I set aside money for a huge family vacation? and these days?I?m salting that money away to help one of my kids through graduate school. To date, the amount of money that would?ve got down my throat and up in smoke rings in at $23,188 (1054 days x $22 a day) HOLY SHECKLES, Batman! That ain?t chicken feed now- even by Stella?s standards. I love seeing that number now ? makes my dopamine just ping off the charts ? in a good way!

Cultivate Gratitude. Nothing causes the dopamine to start flowing again like gratitude. Putting great and grateful thoughts in your head actually changes your brain chemistry. Meditation is another fast and effective way to physically change your chemistry. Got an mp3 player? There are TONS of great podcasts to help guide you in learning how to quiet and direct some of the 70,000 thoughts we churn out every day. And as for gratitude, I start and finish everyday with a list of what I am grateful for. I often do the ABC gratitude list?finding something I am grateful for that matches every letter of the alphabet. Jane?I absolutely LOVE your avatar because I have become awfully GRATEFUL for Zebras!

THIRD ? exercise ? early and often and vigorously. Interval exercise causes our brains to release bdnf (brain-derived neurotropic factors)? it?s like miracle grow for the mind. Exercise is the GOOD stress our system needs. If you can?t go out and do sprints or spastic jumping jacks (my fav) start with brisk walking. Some people with lower-body disabilities do upper-body boxing moves to raise their heart rates and get the bdnf going. However you do it?Move it - move it - move it !

Bottom line?you can not only take back your life from addiction ? these actions can help you discover a BETTER life than you could imagine even before addiction. Orimus?you talk about filling the void. Just 3 years ago, if you would?ve told me I would be living the life I am right now?I would?ve declared you delusional. I was resigned to existing in a small, dark, depressing world world enslaved by my addictions?blaming myself and believing I was defective and doomed. Well?now - after getting in there and doing a massive rewiring of the entire works - it is clear that I am not diseased or flawed or defective. Life is full and good and exciting and each new day feels like a precious gift. And, as if that wasn?t enough?I?ve learned how to play the accordion !

Finally?I am not exceptional. I don?t have iron will-power or great self-discipline. What I DO have is factual information that gave me the understanding and acceptance that was essential in overcoming addiction in all its many forms.

Everyone can have this tremendous peace of mind and freedom ? freedom from addiction AND freedom from the fear of ?relapse? - once you understand and accept the unalterable physical FACTS of addiction. Alcohol is a toxic drug that damages. Every cell in your body. Every single drink. Every single time. Using drugs is NOT 'normal' despite what the clever ads during Superbowl would have you believe.

I appreciate the opportunity to share and I am so thrilled to see so many of you coming along this path. One foot in front of the other will get you out of this pit?keep going!

[narilly]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Thank you everyone! I will take a bow.

That was an interesting article Jane, thanks for that. That old lady is pretty spunky! Like the US version of Ava. So neat!

Pav, did you go on a hike today?

J-Vo, love you too. I totally get what you were saying about being grateful. Thank you babe.

NS, I love your pics.

SL, hope things are ok. What are you doing hon?

Goodnight Girls.
I'm 61 tomorrow