Tools when the thoughts 1 won't hurt come

Life in Recovery
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Hi all, need guidance on thought processes when my brain plays tricks on me giving it, oh one will be okay. Never is though is it….12hrs later no money left feeling embarrassed for my behaviour and then the anxiety :upside_down_face:

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Hey there @Pappy First things first, welcome to the best sober community on this rock. As far as tools…. There are many many more I’m sure but these are my top ones

  1. Come here and scroll. I don’tgo toTikTok or YouTube I come in here and read up on friends. Help when I can. Go through some funny Memes (no politics thank god) It’s a great distraction and helps shift perspective. A lot of times my “excuse” I think is so “reasonable“ has been experienced and suddenly it doesn’t seem so hard to go through because your not alone
  2. Meditation To many, this sounds dumb. I know many that use Insight Timer app I tend to use my fitness apps
  3. Which leads me to my final suggestion: exercise. There are many apps, challenges here, gyms, etc. just depends on what your in to.

Hope this helps (it’s early and I haven’t had my coffee​:joy:)

Good luck and light and love friend :star::black_heart:

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I always remind myself - If I’m struggling to say no to the first one, when I’m sober, how will I ever say no to the second, when I have one drink in me? One always equals the next, for me anyway.

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Welcome to the community @Pappy. Some things that have helped me when that inner addict voice starts whispering that nonsense ( especially in those early days) are

  • Coming here and sharing it with others. Keeping these thoughts to ourselves is a recipe for disaster
  • Logging into online meetings or listening to speaker tapes
  • Getting up and doing something active and or productive
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In early sobriety I kept a list on my phone of all I gained by not drinking, and I would read it when I started thinking just one. Like many others, I also spent a ton of time on here interacting and reading. I also turned to exercise, which was incredibly helpful for me.

In case you are interested, here is some of my list…

*No hangovers ever!!

*Treating my husband with respect and no drunk fighting

*Self respect gets a major boost

*No more internal conflict about drinking and if/how can I cut down or stop

*Restful restorative uninterrupted sleep (this one took a LONG time!)

*Major pride in myself and all that I have and can accomplish

*A sense of peace and calm

*No more embarrassment and shame because of my behavior

*Forgiving myself for past mistakes and terrible judgement

*No wondering what I did or how I hurt husband or others while drunk

*No treating people I love, including myself, poorly while drunk

*No drunk driving and possibly hurting or killing self or others or jail

*No upset stomach from drinking

*No anxiety and near constant agitation when hungover

*No dark suicidal thoughts

*No shame around neighbors if I was loud and yelling or loud music

*No blackouts ever

*No overwhelming shame at my behavior

*No oversharing with strangers while drunk or making plans I will need to cancel

*Not having to check my phone in the middle of the night to delete social media posts - no drunk texting/emails/posts/calls

*Not be bloated and puffy and look haggard

*Major pride in myself and a boost in self esteem

*No hangovers ever again (worth sharing twice!!!)

*No more excuses or lies or thievery

*Peace of mind

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Ive copied and pasted the exact list!

Thank you so much

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You’re welcome!! I got the idea from someone here years ago and it really helped me!!!

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