Evening everyone, does anyone else struggle with having to think about it all the time? I am starting to get really irritated with how self absorbed I am becoming. I am struggling to articulate myself right now, but I don’t want to work on myself all the time. It is like I am always looking for ways to improve myself now, and am never just satisfied with how I am right now. Think this is one of the reasons I am not interested in the steps, just don’t want to always have to work at it/think about it.
I am not sure I understand what I am trying to say, so don’t expect everyone else to
So, we are all different…in my opinion…if you look at the steps…the boil down to fixing the “why we drank” (as far as behaviors go). Therapy, is basically the same type thing.
Maybe it will, maybe it wont. Life has a way of throwing a curve ball us from time to time. If you do crash…there are 2 important things to remember. 1) drinking wont help, so dont pick up! 2) come here, we are all here to help, and some of us have been there.
That is a good plan, I guess I am just frustrated with having to think/avoid thinking about it all the time. How many of the people in my life think about drinking or not drinking constantly? I think (ooooh, working this out as typing) that I am starting to resist working on it as I am just so sick of thinking about it now.
It takes time to figure out how to live a good life. It takes time to figure out ourselves. In the long run it should get easier and less all consuming. I hope
Yes, hopefully it will ease up. I am probably just tired so feeling a bit grumpy with it all. Feeling a lot better just talking it through so thank you
Yes, the steps are a sort of therapy. Totally unscientific though. And not suited for my particular problems at the moment I quit drinking. I choose therapy suited to my needs. A much better fit I think. Without wanting to sound arrogant. If I do I’m sorry.
Number 1 thing I have seen with relapsers…here…they dont come here and talk about their issues first. It’s amazing what coming on here, venting, crying, yelling…what ever you need can do to save your sobriety
Does ‘athiest’ mean not believing in anything apart from material things and only things you can see with your eyes?. Does it mean: no belief, no faith, no trust in a life given force?.. OR is it literally not being part of a religion and the word ‘god’?
But if your atheist and you’re part of a ‘belief system’ such as ‘satanism’… Does that mean you’re still ‘atheist’ even tho you believe in a belief system/way of life…?..
Just wondering what atheism means to different people…cos it’s kinda similar to ‘something’ of your understanding for guidance. … interesting thread thankyou
If I’m totally wrong on all of above questions I apologize and hope no words above are offensive to anybody.
Definitely agree with that. There has to be a point where we make peace with who we are and where we are.
Change is always inevitable though, there will always be something else to do. For me it has been about accepting that. Being OK with where I am while knowing things will be different soon enough. Knowing things will be different before too long can also help with accepting things now. Nothing is ever permanent so might as well just go with it!
Now I don’t really think about drinking or not. I just don’t drink. I still reflect on the past and think about how things are different now because of sobriety. That’s quite nice.
The other thing for me has been about starting from where I am in this moment. Not where I want to be or feel where I should be. Happy, sad, comfortable or not. Owning that and then seeing what comes along next. Of course I do my fair share of wallowing too. That feels natural!
For me atheism is absence of a religious God. I don’t believe in a creator or religious ideas of afterlife.
I find Buddhism interesting from a philosophical perspective. I don’t know I would want to commit so far as to call myself a Buddhist. But if I did, I think I would still consider myself an atheist.
I’m interested in ideas of spirituality, for me that means how we are connected to ourselves, each other and the world around us. If I knew more about quantum physics maybe I would find some similarities there.
I’m not doggedly pro- Science, because I believe that evidence is only as good as the questions being asked and the research methods that go into answering them
I believe in community and compassion, which are supposed to be a pretty big part of organised religions as I understand them. I’m not dogmatically atheist.
I believe in uncertainty and am comfortable with the fact I will never know how much I don’t know Maybe some people in my position would call themselves agnostic but I feel comfortable calling myself an atheist.
So I am an atheist but it’s not something that defines my life in a big way. It’s just an opinion I have.
I hear you. I know for a long while in earlier sobriety, I got kind of freaked out and burned out on how I was obsessing about sobriety and recovery and ‘working on myself’…like I had exchanged my compulsion with drinking onto a compulsion with ‘figuring myself out’ or ‘working on myself’. As time has continued to move on, I have found my feelings around this are much less intense. Sure, I am cognizant of continuing to live and grow in healthy ways…and more importantly my focus on alcohol and recovery is much less than it had been. Being sober is now simply part of who I am right now…not something I feel compelled to consider constantly or work on. It is a part of my life, not the only part. But I did need to work hard to get here…if that makes sense…and I am still hanging out here, getting support from new and older members own process and journey. But yes, it is a relief to no longer have my sobriety and maintaining it be my sole focus in life. I drank for a really long time, so, for me it was real scary moving beyond that part of my life and realizing I really can have a whole full life without alcohol and without having to constantly work on myself. Note too that I am older and have less day to day pressures and responsibilities than I had when I was younger, working, building a home and career and raising a family, etc…so there is that as well. And I am still very much a work in progress, and I cut myself a ton of slack now…as I accept that I am a human, simply being.
Yes! Giving our power away like that I feel is harmful. To say I am powerless against alcohol is giving it so much authority. We have that power in us, we just need to remember to use it
God, no God Do you know what I hate most about society? Labels, once something is assigned a label it becomes immediately judged.
I love you all for wanting to be better human beings by discovering love for yourself and those around you. Whatever form that takes and whatever road that journey takes you on, if we all meet up at the end we must all be right.
Maybe some people in my position would call themselves agnostic but I feel comfortable calling myself an atheist.
And I am still very much a work in progress, and I cut myself a ton of slack now…as I accept that I am a human, simply being. 
Do you know what I hate most about society? Labels, once something is assigned a label it becomes immediately judged.