I’ve tried to get sober so many times after 10 years of daily abuse. Day one is normally a Sunday and getting through the first five days of withdrawal symptoms on pure motivation and a busy schedule is manageable.
But than Friday hits hard. The upcoming two days of down time and relaxing really triggers my urge to drink. I know keeping yourself occupied and prevent boredom is key. With two small kids running around I’m not getting bored🙂, but the urge to relax via alcohol is strong.
You are right about keeping occupied. That’s very important. When I first quit I got involved with AA. Having that support and a sponsor who helped and kept me accountable really helped. Take advantage of every tool available and do whatever it takes to stay sober. You can do it!
Mate, search up the question you will find that there is so many topics and threads relating to this.
It’s all in you mind and how you perceive your relationship with alcohol.
You can do absolutely anything you can think of to get through this.
Run, walk, jigsaws, AA meetings, read watch films.
But as I said, mainly it’s about saying that there is nothing special about the weekend and training the brain to not think that you only need alcohol to relax.
Buttt… What’s actually wrong with being bored? And is it any worse than the alternative?
For me, going out on a Friday night would invariably mean spending wayy more money than I should, doing stuff I feel embarrassed about and then forgetting half the night. Every. Single. Time. Same shit, different weekend. Yawwnnnn.
When I started to learn how to not use alcohol as a substitute for a personality, my life got more interesting. Sometimes because I was doing different things, but often because I started seeing things differently.
Patience is not a virtue most of us are blessed with, but hang in there. It does get easier. Embrace the boredom. Go to bed, there is no rule about staying up late at the weekend. Get up early and appreciate being hangover free.
It feels great waking up without a hangover, and it’s those things I disliked about drinking I’m keeping in mind.
I don’t need to drink to forget or compensate working, I don’t need it to have a good time. It’s just takes a little bit more effort this weekend, but I will not drink!
and getting through the first five days of withdrawal symptoms on pure motivation and a busy schedule is manageable.