MNVillan Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 6 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said: The thing with addiction is that I’m totally addicted to sugar and the patterns of that resemble my drinking. If I put a drink inside me it’s near on impossible for me to stop until the damage is done. If I have one chocolate bar or even one square it’s near on impossible for me to stop at that and I’ll consume chocolate all day , all night and even through the early hours when I wake up through the night. I’ve been comfort eating the last couple of weeks and been hammering chocolate and cake bars. Makes you feel like shit , puts an extra stone around the belly but feels so good at the time. Same. I’m getting it reigned in, but my sugar intake the first 6 months of my sobriety was out of control. If given the opportunity, I will still eat an obscene amount of ice cream in one sitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNVillan Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 9 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said: These are the 12 steps of AA. I’m currently halfway through step 1 having got myself a sponsor a couple of months back . A lot of people are put off my the God bit but your higher power/god could be anything for instance a tree, a deceased love one or the universe . It’s helping . People that are not addicts apply this to their lives , so it’s basically a living programme as well . As I say it’s helping as I’m going through a very testing time with my wife at the moment. It really deserves to be put in the relationship thread and will in due course no doubt . 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Good on you for working the steps. I worked through them with my sponsor over the course of my first 10 or so months of sobriety. I found AA *very* helpful early in sobriety. I went to at least 1 meeting per day for a long time. Now I go more on an as-needed basis. AA is a safe space for me. My sponsor said that every time I walk toward an AA meeting, I am walking away from a bar. That is both metaphorically and literally true. Whenever I feel “on edge” I find my way to a meeting and it’s like taking my medicine. I always feel better walking out of a meeting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNVillan Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 6 hours ago, mjmooney said: It's a bloody good job I'm not an addict, because I'd never be able to buy in to all that God/higher power/spiritual guff. But if it works for you, great. While the traditional AA steps are undoubtedly rooted in spirituality and belief in a higher power, strict adherence to that isn’t a prerequisite to getting sober. I know plenty of atheists and agnostics who go to AA. My biggest gripe with AA and addiction recovery resources in general is that they always try to attribute my drinking to some underlying issue. Yes, I have had my past traumas, but so have plenty of other people who aren’t alcoholics. My personal opinion is that when I started drinking I really liked it (I associated drinking with relaxation and fun), so I continued to drink more frequently and in higher quantity until I couldn’t stop anymore. I don’t think I was drinking to mask deep hidden feelings or anything like that, I just really enjoyed it and abused it until the consequences overtook my life. The hardest part in my recovery wasn’t overcoming life issues or facing past traumas, it has been disassociating fun with alcohol. I didn’t know how to enjoy myself sober, so I had to learn. Some things I learned to appreciate even more sober, while other things I thought I enjoyed were actually excuses to drink and are dull in and of themselves. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugeley Villa Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 2 hours ago, MNVillan said: Good on you for working the steps. I worked through them with my sponsor over the course of my first 10 or so months of sobriety. I found AA *very* helpful early in sobriety. I went to at least 1 meeting per day for a long time. Now I go more on an as-needed basis. AA is a safe space for me. My sponsor said that every time I walk toward an AA meeting, I am walking away from a bar. That is both metaphorically and literally true. Whenever I feel “on edge” I find my way to a meeting and it’s like taking my medicine. I always feel better walking out of a meeting. Wonderful to hear mate keep it up. I’m doing 3/4 a week currently 25 days sober. I know of one member of AA who is an atheist but his higher power is the universe. I mean the universe was created right ? So whatever/however that came about that’s his higher power. You mention trauma in another post and I agree , not everyone who has trouble with alcohol has had trauma, and not everyone who has had trauma has trouble Witt alcohol. I can pinpoint my reasons for having problems with it, and one of those initially was that I enjoyed it a lot. Good to hear you’re doing well . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MNVillan Posted August 7 Popular Post Share Posted August 7 Today a friend of mine who has worked in chemical abuse counseling for years asked me if I miss drinking. I was so taken aback. Here I am 12 hours later, still thinking about it and I still don’t know my answer. The first words out of my mouth were “yeah, I do.” But I followed it up by saying, I miss the first drink, but I know that one drink will lead to 10 more and I don’t miss being on that destructive path. I’m 400+ days sober and will go weeks without thinking about alcohol, but I do think I miss it a bit. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nor-Cal Villan Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 4 minutes ago, MNVillan said: Today a friend of mine who has worked in chemical abuse counseling for years asked me if I miss drinking. I was so taken aback. Here I am 12 hours later, still thinking about it and I still don’t know my answer. The first words out of my mouth were “yeah, I do.” But I followed it up by saying, I miss the first drink, but I know that one drink will lead to 10 more and I don’t miss being on that destructive path. I’m 400+ days sober and will go weeks without thinking about alcohol, but I do think I miss it a bit. All I hear is honesty, and that’s good ps- gonna be in Minneapolis for several days just before Halloween Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rugeley Villa Posted August 7 Popular Post Share Posted August 7 46 minutes ago, MNVillan said: Today a friend of mine who has worked in chemical abuse counseling for years asked me if I miss drinking. I was so taken aback. Here I am 12 hours later, still thinking about it and I still don’t know my answer. The first words out of my mouth were “yeah, I do.” But I followed it up by saying, I miss the first drink, but I know that one drink will lead to 10 more and I don’t miss being on that destructive path. I’m 400+ days sober and will go weeks without thinking about alcohol, but I do think I miss it a bit. You’ve pretty much nailed it . It seems a good idea just to have a couple but we know where it ends . I’m on holiday at the minute. When we arrived I had a quick passing thought that it would be nice to have a couple but it was in and out my head straight away. Yesterday was my hardest day. Missus wanted a later night and wanted a few drinks. I felt myself talking myself in to having a few which effected my mood. The good thing is once we got in the club house and got some food I know straight away I weren’t going to drink, it’s just not worth it and I’d have felt terrible this morning for picking up again . What triggered me for some reason was seeing those 4 pint pitchers. well done on the 400+ days and yes of course a lot of us miss it sometimes. It’s a slippery path though. I know if I drink here on holiday it just sets off a cycle for when I get home and I ended up drinking and causing havoc. No good. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 7 VT Supporter Share Posted August 7 2 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said: Missus wanted a later night and wanted a few drinks Your wife's still drinking? That must make things 100 times harder (Kenneth). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugeley Villa Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 5 hours ago, mjmooney said: Your wife's still drinking? That must make things 100 times harder (Kenneth). Yeah it does but that’s her life not mine. It’s a wonder I’m still here after her actions over the last few months . I’ll put it in the relationship thread no doubt at some point . 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 10 hours ago, MNVillan said: Today a friend of mine who has worked in chemical abuse counseling for years asked me if I miss drinking. I was so taken aback. Here I am 12 hours later, still thinking about it and I still don’t know my answer. The first words out of my mouth were “yeah, I do.” But I followed it up by saying, I miss the first drink, but I know that one drink will lead to 10 more and I don’t miss being on that destructive path. I’m 400+ days sober and will go weeks without thinking about alcohol, but I do think I miss it a bit. Frank Skinner said he still misses drinking and he's been sober for nearly 40 years. You can miss it and still know you are better off without it. Well done on the 400 days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNVillan Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 19 hours ago, Nor-Cal Villan said: All I hear is honesty, and that’s good ps- gonna be in Minneapolis for several days just before Halloween Let me know if you want to meet up with Minnesota Lions and watch a match at Brit’s Pub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nor-Cal Villan Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 (edited) 18 minutes ago, MNVillan said: Let me know if you want to meet up with Minnesota Lions and watch a match at Brit’s Pub Will do, would love to if I can make it happen. October 26 is the only match for which I’ll be there. Is Brit’s Pub in Minneapolis? I’ll be there for music at Uptown Theater on 25th and 26th. Edited August 8 by Nor-Cal Villan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNVillan Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 1 hour ago, Nor-Cal Villan said: Will do, would love to if I can make it happen. October 26 is the only match for which I’ll be there. Is Brit’s Pub in Minneapolis? I’ll be there for music at Uptown Theater on 25th and 26th. It sure is - Brit’s is right downtown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nor-Cal Villan Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 (edited) 2 minutes ago, MNVillan said: It sure is - Brit’s is right downtown. Awesome! Not sure where my friend lives but think he’s reasonably close to downtown. He knows of Brit’s but says he hasn’t been there…yet Edited August 8 by Nor-Cal Villan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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