Keep hitting reset

I never knew how hard this would be. Quitting nicotine was a cake walk compared to alcohol. Ive hit reset 3 times now. How does one keep strong?

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I go to AA and let others be strong for me. I don’t have to do this alone and neither do you.

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Every time you hit reset you know what didn’t work so try something different.

I know for myself that i didn’t have any significant success until I surrendered and walked into a AA meeting.

Just a suggestion

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Im hesitant about AA. Im not a religious person and lean toward the agnostic/atheist side of the scale. The spiritual nature of AA isn’t appealing and i dont think id get out of it whats intended. Do you know of any other avenues i could look into?

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To be honest I’m somewhere between atheist and agnostic myself…or heck, maybe more Buddhist. I would say at least 75% of the people have a higher power that is not the traditional “God”.

BUT I know it’s not for everyone. And that is okay. There are other programs.

SMART is the one I hear about the most. Recovery Refuge (or is it Refuge Recovery??). But I think that’s Buddhist based. I’m sure a google search will help you find one for you.

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Each to their own regarding who and when you goto something like aa. There are others out there. What I lack in people is trust, therefore I won’t go to any meetings. That’s just me. You do what you need to do to get sorted.

I used to thimk tbhe same about aa but it’s not all god stuff … u choose your own higher power… if that’s all thats putting u off u r missing out on something thst saves lifes x

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I was the same way. Two years ago when I was sober for 3 months. It was because I attended AA. I hate public speaking, and I hate talking to new ppl, but I attended and just sitting and listening to ppl talk about their experiences were enough to keep me in check.

Then, I decided to stop attending. And that led to me thinking I am able to control my drinking this time, which resulted in way downwards spiral.

I am a hypocrite cause I am currently not attending. This app has been working for me so far. But if you need more, just know AA does work if you go and sit.

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I made a plan for myself that keeps me on track, here it is:

  • No alcohol in my house
  • Refrigerator filled with nice food and alc. free drinks
  • Telling my spouse about my sober plan
  • Avoid alcohol related activities and friends (at least in the beginning)
  • Having a day counter
  • Avoid wine/beer section in the supermarket and avoid liquor store
  • Taking a strong vitamine B complex
  • Taking melatonin to help me sleep
  • Be gentle to myself, like go to bed early, taking a long bath, etc.
  • Doing relaxing activaties like meditate, yoga, walking, etc.
  • When I have cravings: I don’t pick up that first one but I walk, run, work out, eat chocolat, watch Netflix, clean, study, whatever.
  • Ask for help when I need it.
  • Be here every day to read and check in sober.

I’m 215 days sober and been here every day since, it works for me.
You can say no the the first one! :facepunch:

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I am the farthest thing from a religious person or spiritual, but ive gone to a lot of NA/AA meetings and at the very least you get to hear stories from others and if you feel comfortable you get to talk about your experiences. Maybe even end up with a sponsor which can REALLY be awesome.
I haven’t and dont plan on doing the 12 step program specifically because i dont believe in any of the higher power stuff, but it does work for a lot of people.

That is an awesome plan you have laid out for yourself, that may be something I my try

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I take it from this that you haven’t even tried AA yet?
One of the first things that stuck with me when I first came on this forum was the need to get uncomfortable. Get outside of my comfort zone, change the way I did things.
Be open minded and give everything a try because something might stick.
How do you know what could work if you don’t even try it.
In my experience, the only religious thing about AA is they mention finding God as we understand him.
If you read around on this site, you will see other people’s understanding of God.
Your Higher Power is not necessarily the god of scripture.
My advice is basically give absolutely anything a go. Just white knuckling it is obviously not working.

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Thank you! I am already doing many of these things. My biggest hurdle i have to overcome is not stopping by the brewery on my way home from work. Thats where I get tripped up.

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Take a different way home if that’s all you think it’ll take. Change your habits, sobriety will demand that you change your habits and life.

As for AA, if you like this forum it’s much the same and if you like it here, you might like it there. There are people from all walks of life, some of us believe in a higher power/God, some of us believe in positive energy, some in discipline and traditional teachings, some in crazy roots that cure everything, same here as in the rooms. I’d suggest at least trying it before writing it off.

Keep trudging friend, it gets better.

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I listen to recovery podcasts on my way to and from work.

On Android, the app I use is called “Podcast Player” (im sure its on iOS too) and subscribe to 3 of them, High Sobriety, Recovery Elecator and Real Sobriety.

I’ve listened to hours upon hours of peoples stories and one theme comes up time and time again, they could not become sober alone.

The guy who makes Real Sobriety did a few episodes on the 12 steps. He said he did NOT want to go to AA because he was an athiest and all that god and higher power crap was bullshit. But, when he replaced God with the word Truth, it all made sense. “There is a truth greater than Steve’s truth, and its out there waiting for you to discover it”. Think about that.

Anyway, definitely recommend the podcasts, lots of gold in there. Godspeed.

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I am an athiest and heavily into AA. There are many people in the program like us. You might be surprised. The only requirementfor membership is a desire to stop drinking. Until i committed to putting my sobriety first above anything, even above my own ego and preconceived judgments (including about AA), i couldn’t get or stay sober. The fellowship has done for me what i could not do for myself. I had to reach a point of being willing to go to any length to stay sober, which included setting aside what i thought i knew about AA and giving it a try with an open heart and open mind. Now I’m over 6 months sober. :bird:

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It’s Refuge Recovery…and has adapted the Buddhist eight fold path for recovery from addiction. Strong emphasis on meditation and Buddhist principles.

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