Checking in daily to maintain focus #11

Life in Recovery
1780

@Jane.c
Good luck on your interview!!!

@Salty
Congrats on day 137. Hang in there. You all are going through a lot with the recent events.
Give yourself some love and understand that the feelings are normal considering the circumstances.
Hugs!!

I am in the same place now. Couldn’t have said it better.

@m-be-free49
Emm, welcome and congratulations on day 3.

@sns7
Keep trying and congrats on day 4.

@fargesia_murielae
Congratulations on day 258. I always look forward to your posts. Keep it up.

@beaniebun
You are knocking them down like a boss. Great job on 112 days!!

@Hazy and @Flamestar
Congratulations on Days 4 and Day 6 respectively. Keep going!!!

@small
Great job on 10 days!! It will get easier.

@Laura37
Great job on Day 10.
SMART has a tool called DEADS…I find it very useful and you may too.

D = Deny / Delay (Don’t give in to the urge) — Remind yourself, repeatedly if necessary, this urge will pass. Refuse to give into it — no matter what!

E = Escape the trigger — If you know what is causing the urge, leave immediately.

A = Avoid the trigger — You can keep track of when you get urges using an urge log. Urges can occur routinely as part of your daily pattern. If you know you will be in a situation that triggers an urge, plan to avoid the situation. The earlier in your recovery that you identify high-risk stimuli that trigger urges, the earlier you can avoid those situations or escape when unexpectedly faced with them.
Accept the urge — Tell yourself the urge will pass soon and that if you don’t give in to it, the next urge will be less intense, and they will become less frequent. You may want to sit quietly by yourself to surf the urge: feel it build then fade while you acknowledge your thoughts and feelings about the urge, the present, and your future. Remember, don’t turn the urge into a bigger issue by pretending it doesn’t exist.

D = Distract yourself with an activity — Do something: go for a walk, read a book, or watch TV. If you’re putting your mind on something else, then it can’t focus on the urge. Simple activities, such as counting objects or saying the alphabet backward also can fill up your attention. Do something, even if you don’t want to (clean the fridge, walk the dog). Motivation may follow the action.

S = Substitute for addictive thinking — Send in healthy substitute thoughts to squeeze out the urge: Replace an irrational belief (This urge will kill me) with a rational one (This urge is bad but it won’t kill me and it will pass). Substitute feeling down and alone by going to the gym or stopping by TS.

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Day 4 sober. Struggling with moodiness and being cranky. Welll, some days I can’t stand myself

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Day 9 and going strong :muscle:

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Day 93.35

@Hopeful777
Marie, always a special shoutout to my sober twin!! Hopefully job hunting is going well.

Feeling much better past couple of days. Coffee shop is in full swing, weather has ben conducive to nightly bike rides or walks, and my mind is clear and unencumbered right now. I will take it for as long as it lasts. Daily SMART meetings definitely seem to be helping.

Have a strong and sober day everyone!!!
:+1: :stuck_out_tongue: :+1:

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1785

Yes detox is hard. But you can do hard things! You are stronger than you think I bet. Just take it one day at a time and reach out here if you need help. We all understand what you’re going through!

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Day 37
Filling my bucket with gratitude gratitude statements!
Stay strong Stay sober!!

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1787

Thanks Donna, I think it will be ok, once I get back into therapy and on meds again. I’ll do everything I can to prevent going back into depression. I won’t let it take over my life again.

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Congratulations on 7 months Shay!!

Happy hump day to you too!! :blush:

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Day 1–behind me now! So very hard. But determined this time after being a heavy career drinker my whole life. At 58 I am so sad at all the good things that I have missed. On my way to completing Day 2! Thank you all so much for your wonderful support and kind words :pray:

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Day 1132 hello :pray:

Today I have made a decision to also take care of my other addiction which basically is unhealthy relationships. I can become addicted to this other person, especially if they are unavailable emotionally and I confuse it with love where it’s actually obsession.

I have since August last year been in an on and off relationship with a wonderful man who is not compatible with me. He deserves all the best in life and so do I. But I knew already after 3 days with him, already in August, that him and I were not good for each other. Still I continued, disrespecting my inner gut feeling and moral compass. I have broken it off 4 times now for good reasons but still taking him back every time. We have said, never again, just like alcohol but then still have gotten back together.

Now for the first time he is now shutting the door completely. It has been me all other times. It sucks and it hurts but I feel as though God is doing for me what I clearly cant do for myself :pray: Also it is giving me the Gift of desperation to work on this to find more emotional sobriety.

I wish this man all the best in his life and I Will respect him by not contacting him again. I Will also respect myself and understand that I am worthy of loving, compassionate relationships where communication works :heart: So 22/4-20 is my sober birthday for my relationship issues. I have now had enough and am so so willing to work on this.

Thank you for letting me share :two_hearts:

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Thank you!

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Screenshot_20200421-230708_Sober Time
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If the casinos were open I would hit the slots lol. Have an awesome day my friends!

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That’s what I said, lol!!:face_with_hand_over_mouth::sweat_smile: In so many words…:blush::orange_heart:

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1796

Checking in sober, Day 106.

Was looking forward to going for a bike ride this morning, but awoke to this:

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Hey Beth, I’m just getting caught up on everything from the last two weeks and I just read your post about “shame”. I apologize in advance if you’ve already addressed this, but have you ever worked the 12 steps or thought about looking into it? I currently have not been to meetings or anything for a long time, but the first time I got sober I hit AA pretty hard, but was so resistant on the whole sponsor and 12 step thing. Eventually I surrendered and got a sponsor and worked through the steps. It gave me a completely new and different viewpoint into how I was feeling about a lot of things, resentments I had with others and with myself, and provided me with a way to work through and past a lot of the things that were holding me back.

I relapsed after a year and a half of being sober because I’m a pig headed idiot who thought he could outsmart being an alcoholic, but the lessons I learned by working the steps and from what I learned during that first go at sobriety stuck with me and has helped me quit this second time.

Feel free to reach out anytime you like if you have any questions or jus need a sympathetic ear. I’m also a major introvert so I can relate to a lot of what you’re going through.

You’re a warrior, just keep fighting right now. Your days to relax and smell the Rose’s are coming, just not quite yet. You’ll get there!

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Thank you so much. Yes, I’ve worked through them quite a few times. It’s not a particular instance. That’s the problem. It’s very odd. It’s just an overwhelming feeling of dread/shame but with no direction or action associated with it. Maybe it’s just anxiety. I’m not sure. It’s just odd. Depression maybe?

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congratulations on 9 months, so happy for you

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Good luck with your interview Jane…

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Day 9

Doing good today, sat out in the sunshine this morning and read so enjoyed - doing nothing. But now sorting out drawers, cupboards in bedrooms, to declutter as I keep so much crap which I never use… clear room, clear head (I made it up)

@GVLNative you are storming it :muscle:

Sending strength and sobriety to you all :pray: :rainbow: :four_leaf_clover:
Marie

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hey well done for hitting the next multiple of 10 :100: and your interview thats amazing:)

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