OK, as we have Easter Weekend coming up, I am a bit worried that I will be more challenged that normal.
Does anyone have any tips that may help get me through the long weekend?
I am planning to go to work as a distraction but because I don’t have to go, I am quite worried that I will slip…
Meetings helped me to get through the weekends and holidays in my early days. There’s nothing better than be surrounded by a fellowship of people that have been where you are. In-between meetings, I spent a lot of time on here, reading quit lit, exercising and watching sobriety related stuff in you tube.
Lisa hit it bang on the head! Meetings are the place to go when you’re not drinking.
Also @Prof , words matter, particularly the ones we tell ourselves. So flip that negative script “I am quite worried that I will slip” into @Dazercat’s favorite “I’m not drinking today, and I’m probably not drinking tomorrow”!
Planning out my time early on was very helpful. I am a planner, list writer, and scheduler at heart and I lost some of that (well all of it except planning how and when to keep drinking) so I channeled that energy into planning alternatives. For example, if I had been in the habit of sitting on the couch watching tv while drinking on a Friday night or Saturday, I’d do something else. A big one was buying the ingredients to cook a fantastic meal, drive to a scenic spot that was far away and take in the view, write in a journal or read recovery books, walk my dog on a longer walk, etc. Things I loved to do but had gotten away from in my drinking days. It helped me feel accomplished and also connected me to the things that I wanted to be in my sober life. I also made sure I tired myself out as much as possible so I would HAVE to go to bed from exhaustion lol
That being said, sometimes a pint of ice cream or a pizza and a movie, a hunker down if you will, is a good choice. That felt risky to me in the very early days because I felt like I could very well decide to drink.
One big resource you have is to keep coming here. Check in all weekend if you have to. There is always someone here and if there isn’t already one usually a special holiday weekend check in thread gets created. Hang in there, we’re rooting for you.
And @Lisa07 and @SinceIAwoke are right - meetings can help and there are plenty online you can call into. My early days were during the pandemic so those are the ones I went to, I kept my camera off and just listened at first but it was so helpful.
Start the day off with some exercise usually helps me out. Setting small daily tasks grocery store, reading a chapter in a book, go try a new place for lunch, try cooking something different. Etc… have a great easter weekend.
Thank you all,
Work is always my fall back position because my job is my hobby, and there is nothing like coming to my unit on a non-working day knowing the phone is not going to ring no one will be visiting.
I get so much more done, either on current projects, or just trying something completely off the wall… The important bit being I have to drive here, and drive home, so it means I cannot drink.
But I will look on the map and find out if any meetings are happening near the office.
And I will try to teach my brain to think correctly 
Here are also threads where people post what they do. Maybe give it a read for inspiration.
This is my favourite one
have a project that you need to tackle? yard work or house work… something that might take up a good amount of time, and leave you tired so you can go to bed easily at the end of the day might be helpful…