Becoming Sober (Page 16)

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Going to be a busy training weekend for this guy!

Hope your is great too!  Nice 3 day weekend coming up, a race tomorrow, and then lots of time with the kids!  I am thinking about getting some OWS in this weekend while taking the kids to the park. Everyone wins!!!  

It is the last week of school here, so I am trying to plan out a marathon training schedule for the summer to include my 7 yr old.  Should be fun, she wants to run a kids marathon by the end of summer, so we will work on that!  

Just dropping in to say that I went to Gopher State Roundup yesterday.  It's like a huge AA, Alanon, alateen, Na etc.. All of em rolled into one meeting and it's huge.  4000 people yesterday alone, it runs through Sunday.  I brought my wife who is not an alcoholic.  I wasn't sure what to expect from the meeting, or how my wife would react.  (She actually asked if she could have a drink before we went).  I said I didn't care, but she probably shouldn't show up there with alcohol on her breath...  Anyway, It was a great speaker, My wife loved it and gained a big understanding of what some of us are going through.

One more thing, through I-tunes, I found an AA-speaker podcast.  All free.  If you were ever wondering what a speaker meeting is like, download one and take a listen..

Just want to drop in and tip my hat to all of you.  You are doing awesome work in your own lives and for each other.

I stopped drinking in 2001, not because I was (yet) an alcoholic but because I looked around my family tree and then (for about a year) into my own soul and realized it just wasn't worth the risk. Religious convictions had kept me from abusing for a few years at that point, but I realized that it could come back to bite me in the butt any day.  So I quit.

The social aspect is weird sometimes, but I am lucky in that I do not feel the temptation to be drunk.  Mostly I just feel uncomfortable when people are sloppy foolish.  My closest friends either don't drink or don't drink much.  But when I'm going to an event where people are likely to get sloppy foolish (e.g., the welcome-back-from-deployment party for my CrossFit coach, whom I dearly love), my strategy is: bring good food, arrive reasonably on time, leave early.

But for you guys and gals who are facing the battle each day and WINNING, my respect.  Make it a great day.

Again, just my own reflections ...

So happy to see all kinds of folks chiming in on this thread ... sober, trying, affected by drinking, encouragers, etc.

For me, it's just not a struggle. Early on it was; the first year staying sober (when I actually stayed sober for a year) was the LONGEST year of my life ... but also one of the most rewarding.

Now ... it's a GIFT and a wild ride that I never want to get off. (A more balanced ride as the years go by, too. Sort of. As much as it can be with the fact that I'll always have a crazy life and if not, a moonbats crazy family!)

The great blessings that have come to me as a result of dealing with this disease mean that I am genuinely grateful to have this disease. Not just the blessings; the disease itself. I don't know how to explain it, but the way of life I have found by living in recovery is on a different plane altogether. And I would not give this up for anything, nothing, not even for not having the disease in the first place.

I certainly still have it, and believe I will have it for life. I certainly still have, though try not to outwardly practice, the mental quirks that seem to come with it. And should I choose to lapse from what I know not only treats this disease, but causes my life to bloom with splendor ... I do very much know what horrors await, for I have seen what often happens to those who, after a long spell sober or dry, pick up again.

Not for me. And all I have to do is a few simple things to live well in this 24-hour gift. May God give me the grace to do so today.

Just to update you, I didn't succumb to peer pressure at the boozy dinner party - I just drank water!  Everyone there knew i had a big race coming up (first HIM this weekend) and I also had a cough and cold so people just assumed I wasn't drinking for these reasons.

It was really nice - funny to watch them all get blasted and stupid!  And sooooooo very nice to wake up Sunday without a hangover.  That is what i call a real blessing!

Keep up the good work.

I love how you put this Triaya.  Specially the "moonbats" part.  I'm going to try to work this in to conversation.

Yay you!

When I first became sober I had friends that would offer me a drink, then when I said no, I quit, they were surprised, then proud of me.  Some "Friends" would keep harping on it, tease me about it, whatever.  They are not true friends.

I am not sure how many days it has been for me now..Maybe 30?  I quit keeping track.  

Hope you all are well.

{{{MELON PRESS}}} Lynne ... my love and prayers are with you every day. You are an amazing spirit!

Just for today.

Just put a sober head on your pillow today, that's all.

I learned this weekend that being sober is one of the hardest things that I will ever have to do.

When I was on my way home Friday night, I shut my phone off, stopped at a liquor store, bought 2 bottles of whiskey.  The rest is history.  I spent the next 36hours with that bottle. 

I can't explain why I did it, I don't have a reason.  I am not looking for any sympathy.

I just got home from a meeting today, and on my way home I broke down and lost it.  This truly will is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done.  But tonight, I am going to put a sober head to bed...it's all I can do

It's ok.  I relapsed.  I relapsed again, and again, and again on my way to sobriety.  All you can ask of yourself is one day at a time.  For me, the past is the past, and the future is something I cannot plan for.  I live for this moment right here and now, and it is the only thing within my control.  

I am glad that you went back to a meeting.  It shows your strength, whether you believe it or not. Sometimes, it is easier to tuck tail and run away when we fail at something, but persistence is what keeps us working on our sobriety.  

It isn't a mystery at this point. You did it because you are an alcoholic. It's the most natural thing for you to do. A substance abuse problem is the easiest problem in the world to fix. Stop putting substances in you. In fact, if you just sit there and do nothing you will be successful. My problem isn't the substance, my problem is how I think. Changing that takes a bit more work. Luckily I had the experience of hundreds of thousands of other people that went before me to show me how. I don't have a clue what it is you need, but if I had to guess surrender would probably be a good start. It got a lot easier after I did that. I stopped fighting it.

June 3rd, 2012 sounds like a great day to start your life over.... as the saying goes... if you can't remember the last day you used, then you probably haven't had it yet.

No words of wisdom Tyler.  Just know that you are worth it.

  Well, you know the drill by now. Suck it up and reset! There's no shame in falling off the wagon, just recognize that you need to get back on the wagon each time. You'll get there eventually.

  One thing that might help is to focus on how good you feel when not drinking. Then think how sh***y you feel when you are drinking. Not being physically ill for half of the day is a big motivator! 

Actually, probably not. Statistically only one in ten alcoholics ever gain long term sobriety. And as long as they keep doing what they are doing, they will keep getting the same results. They won’t - get there eventually. They will either end up in jail, insane or dead. More often then not the latter of those occurs first.

Not until they are willing to go to any length in a program like AA, will they notice any significant change in their situation.

This^^

Get the big book read it and then surrender.

Surrender will bring you peace.

Oh yeah and watch Kung Foo Panda. ( The first one)

x3, including the Kung Fu Panda bit.

Tyler, I adore you ... you know that, and I still pray for you every day. It may seem like we're coming down hard on you, but it can't be as hard as you're kicking your own butt with booze and regret. It's a painful path. We've walked it. It's just the truth that we speak, and suggestions that worked for us.

My love for you, and the doors of AA, are always always there. Unconditional.

I'm just telling you what's worked for me.

I have gone back drinking just about every way possible, BUT ... I have never gone out on a day when I did the following:

1) Prayed for the strength to stay sober
2) Went to a meeting
3) Spoke with my sponsor
4) Was willing to do as much to be sober as I was to be drunk. (Not even going to "any lengths." Just equal measure.)

Thank you for this.

It doesn't seem like you're coming down hard on me at all, this is my battle.

That being said, I can't say enough how much each and every one of you mean to me..

You mean a lot to us too!  We are all connected together in this weird world by having a common bond. We all know the struggle, even though we came to it, and deal with it in different ways.  We each have something to offer each other, hope.  The hope that life can and will go on, and remind each other that we are human.  We fall, we pick ourselves up, and get back on that horse!  

{{{MELON PRESS}}}