A meme for every occasion
“I tried that.”
Did you really, or did you start doing it once and then decide you didn’t like it?
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I bring this up because historically this has held me back so much and I am glad for the people who challenged me on stuff like this.
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So much. It’s amazing the blinders we put on and can’t take off to help ourselves.
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I remember after my first rehab I went to in one outpatient appointment and decided it wasn’t for me. I had a list of excuses a mile long.
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The blinders lift when we are ready. 
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I did it with AA meetings, therapy, breathing exercises, meditation, exercise, and a host of other stuff before going on to find they all actually helped when I got out of my own way.
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Very true. No one was going to make me ready either. The seeds were planted, some using tough love and some not, and I learned the lessons later on my own pace, watered with patience and compassion.
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I am envious of those who get that. I stumble along at my own slow pace…veil lifted so slowly I never realized it was there. Such is life.
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Sometimes the path has no shortcuts, and no running allowed… especially with scissors
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Funny how society says don’t run with scissors, but also says hey let’s drink copious amounts of mild poison that impairs both our judgement and our aim and then entertain ourselves by throwing sharp objects.
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You may have noticed I took a break from the forum for most of this year. I just couldn’t read another post with someone asking for help, saying they would try anything. Then watching people give them advice. Then watching them say they aren’t willing to try whatever it was.
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When I hear that, I always say, “so you nailed it the first time you tried? Man, I suck at everything until I’ve worked at it. Baseball. Boxing. Marching. Marriage. Sobriety…”
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Don’t forget Life!
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Yes. Can’t forget that.
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Frustrating as it is, I will continue to share what helped me get, and stay, sober. If I can get sober then anyone can.
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MOM. THE MEATLOAF.
(this is a sentence)
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I didn’t get much out of my first 3-4 meetings but found one after that was more my style. I had a really tough time with side effects on my last go with antidepressants but I waited out the 4 weeks it took for it to work properly and those side effects are gone and it helps now. My first few therapists were not that helpful, but my last one was, incredibly so. CBT took months to start seeing results I wanted, some of my coping strategies did not work effectively at first either. It’s been many, many tries at different levels of different medications, with a number of duds, but what I have now helps a lot more. It took a long time to accept alcohol didn’t belong in my life. I couldn’t just drop back into my hobbies or passions the way I used to before alcohol, I had to work at it until it gradually became natural once again. None of this has been magic or automatic for me.
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For the love of God, stop telling a serial relapsed “Oh chin up, you got this!” Clearly they do not. All you are doing is reinforcing their bad decisions. You can be honest with them, yet still supportive. But seriously, how much do you think you help by encouraging them to continue doing the same thing?
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