It's strange, posting today. I'm not that into blogging right now. But I know I check out some blogs and like to see how people are doing.
I think I've written this before.....deja vu......But, in the early stages I felt like my blog lurking was more like watching the Indy 500. Was I really watching for the crash or was I watching for the different racing techniques, and to see who won? Sometimes I wasn't sure. As I struggled, it did give me a perverse warm fuzzy when I saw someone who had been sober fall off the wagon.
But as I've struggled over the years I realize it's more than that now. Now I'm cheering others on so that they win with whatever their goals are be them moderation or total sobriety. My heart hurts when someone truly crashes, especially if they feel bad about themselves because of it. I am inspired by blogs of those succeeding in their lives, inspired by quotes they post, inspired by thoughts they dive into.
I no longer look at blogs to search for the negative, to justify myself. I look to blogs to inspire me to be a better person in many ways even more than in regard to alcohol. I've become a bit addicted to this universe. If I'm not careful I would spend too much time here. So I no longer do. I very quickly check the feed for blogs I follow. Sometimes I read in depth, sometimes I just peruse, sometimes I comment.
I felt a need today to just check in. I do seem to outwardly commit and then let myself fail. My failures, though, nowadays, seem to be just "sighs". A "dang it", shouldn't have done that, followed by a get back up on my feet. No real drunk moments, no real hangovers, can't remember the last time I drank and had a headache the next day. But definitely still too many "I shouldn't have drunk that much" times.
It's still work in progress. If I get somewhere I'll let you know but for now know that I'm trying, feeling okay. Actually I feel great. I should say that. I have integrated exercise into my life as someone who hated exercise. If you look at the full web version of this page you can see other pages I post from time to time and there is one there of my exercise log. I don't know if it would help anyone but if you hate exercise, there is hope.
I've heard it takes 3 months to change a habit. As I come to the end of my 3rd month of trying to daily exercise, I feel a change. I now feel I have to fit something in, whatever it is. I put no pressure on myself as to what but I have a huge desire now to just do something. And I enjoy it when I do it which is the biggest change. For me I had to incorporate accountability. I work with a trainer 3 times a week and go to Pilates twice a week. I can rest a day and then do something else, anything else the other days. I'm about to drop the trainer down to 2 days to keep learning how to exercise on my own.
I'm also really happy in my relationship with the hubs, so calm now, so accepting. I think exercise and some mindfulness have helped in that regard, some gratitude exercises. I still lose to the stress monster sometimes but I don't sit with him for too long. Instead I try to work through the stress and turn it back into something positive.
I'm fortunate that, as someone who needs external accountability for things, that I can afford the trainer and pilates right now. Okay, well, I really can't but I'm prioritizing it. I haven't bought that many clothes or shoes in a very long time! I do feel pretty good financially now. My own income has come back up and the hubs is making a major career change soon that I think will work out well for us. Fingers crossed.
My mood is awesome. Sure I have low moments but I have great, wonderful moments. I'm not happy with my body but I'm more patient and diligent about getting there someday to where I am. Turning 50 this year has made me face a lot in my 49th year. As I get closer to my birthday I feel that I have worked through a lot this year in regard to aging. I guess just becoming more accepting of it.
I want to continue to work on exercise, eating better, and spirituality development. I am still working on the alcohol but I'm trying not to let it be the obsession it has been. I didn't do well this past week. Went for a week without drinking and then did. Nothing big, just did. Then did again, then finished the bottle the next night.
What I hate is that I don't drink or really need to drink unless I start drinking. I have been better about keeping cravings at bay. The "must have a drink" isn't that strong. I cave to the "hmm, might be nice, let's just have one". And then, of course, I never have one, I have four.
I do wonder if there is some accountability I can set up. I do have that friend who proclaims she almost always has one, maybe two but never more than two because she can't handle it. Tells everyone. My problem is that I only drink too much at home, with hubs. I don't drink too much with others around and I don't drink anymore by myself. Making the hubs my alcohol police isn't really fair to him so I would have to figure out other incentives. Or just quit entirely.
For now I'll just keep trying for full sobriety and see where it leads me.
I leave you with this: (click it) HANGOVER HEAVEN I really have no words. So sad this exists. So glad this is not the state I'm in no matter how much I struggle with the difference between 1 glass and 4. One of the reviewers has "been going there since the start". OMG Start of what? Their office? Which is what I think she meant. But how often would one need their services? Scary. I don't mean to be judgy of anyone who is hurting so bad they need their services and want to quit. My heart goes out to those of you. I'm thinking of those who are giving zero thought to their drinking, to their health, who think it's hilarious to go out and get so ill that they need IV treatment the next day. I am sure THEY are not on these blogs. Unfortunately they are likely on our roads......
HD
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Friday, July 19, 2019
Drinking, Driving, and/or ??????
"Mom sentenced to nine years in prison for DWI crash that killed 5 year old daughter."
I was just heading to bed last night, on yet another Day 5, and I happened to look at my phone. I followed my normal path......checked my online scrabble games, flipped through facebook feed real quick and then skimmed headlines.
THAT headline caught my eye.
Samantha Jones, 32, had been to a party and posted pictures of full wine glasses, a pic of her and her daughter and #momsneeddrinks. She had drunk one and half to two bottles of wine in 3 1/2 hours and her blood alcohol was .186. She was driving home at 9pm and lost control of her car. The rear passenger side hit a telephone pole and broke it into two.
She told police she never drank that much. That her baby was her world. She didn't care if she went to jail but wanted her baby to be okay. Her daughter was sitting in that back passenger seat and suffered a head injury, dying within 3 days.
My first thought was "wow, I don't think I've ever drunk 2 bottle of wine that fast". My second thought was "how on earth will she live with herself?" While a lot of stuff can happen to our lives that is beyond our control, this moment was within her power to have not happened.
But all the remainder thoughts I had through the night were my own "what ifs". Maybe I've never driven after 2 bottles of wine but I know there have been a few where I've driven after a bottle drunk over a few hours. But 4 drinks in 2 hours for 185lb female is .091. DUI in my state.
I remember a few times where I was talking to myself the whole way home, convincing myself I was coherent to drive the short drive home or quick run to the store for more wine.
I scared myself good, you see, when I was 23. Newly married and a husband gone on a long trip, I drank with a friend one evening, on a worknight no less. I vaguely remember getting home and going to bed. It was a 25 minute drive home. I was pretty hungover but still made it to work on time for an early morning meeting. I must have looked like hell but nobody said anything. It wasn't until I was in my 40s that I ever drove under the influence again.
I think I can count on one hand the number of times I have but it just takes once! If I hadn't made it home at 23 my family would have been devastated and my son would not be.
There are so many things in life beyond our control. I worry enough about something happening to someone I love. Why on earth have I been poisoning myself with a possibility of contributing to something tragic? Tragic might be defined as something happening to them or even to me via an accident or health/illness.
I think of those times I had too much at night and don't remember going to bed. What if my son had slipped in the shower and hit his head and I didn't hear him call out? What if I tripped and fell and hit my own head? What if I forgot and left my dog outside and he jumped the fence and got hit by a car? All of these things could happen on their own, accidentally, but to maybe have been able to prevent something, intervened, but not physically been able to because of drinking? I don't know how I would live with myself.
Accidents strike, people get ill, tragedies happen. But I don't want any of that to be by my own hand. You think about how many murders occur due to alcohol, it's scary.
It occurred to me to wonder if this Smithville, MO woman was on our blogs. Every time I find a blog I want to check in on, I add it to my list. It's up to 74. Not all are active but I leave them on the list in case a blogger comes back, I don't want to miss them. It's like catching up with old friends. So I wonder if she is one of them. Probably not. I don't think by the time we get to this place of blogging and attempting to quit that we would still be posting on facebook about the glory of wine. Wine memes make me cringe now. I'm uncomfortable when I hear someone talk about needing wine. She may have truly been a fairly responsible normal drinker and therefore wasn't focused on the drinking and driving aspect. I'm a problem drinker. She may not have faced that she was. Or she just might not have been until that day. We'll never know.
Sorry to be a downer but as I went to bed last night I overwhelmed myself with the what if's from all my drinking episodes up until now. Took a long time to go to sleep and I had very scattered and vivid dreams. I think it's important to write this down because this will be a post I can refer back to when I get a craving.
I'm not taking a break from drinking this time. I feel like I am a non drinker. The hubs and I talked about how it will be nice to get to a place where we can sit and chat and not feel grumpy because we have no wine in hand. I guess it's like the smoker who smokes while drinking coffee in the morning. It will just take time. I am in the health business and have clients, more and more regularly now, who say they don't drink, smoke or do any drugs. They could be lying but they look so good I don't think so. They may have had issues in the past which make them proclaim it now out loud but it's refreshing to hear. I want to be like that, where I can say that.
This time I'm not having huge cravings yet but I'm also not trying to recreate the same life without alcohol. I have alcohol free wine on hand for me to drink this weekend with family here but I'm not gravitating toward a replacement drink in the evening. I may be guilty of an extra Diet Coke during the day but if 2 of those per day keeps me going, I'm good with that. I'm eating healthier and avoiding too many sweets. I'm still exercising. Hubs is doing all the cooking while we have no kids around and I'm keeping busy with housekeeping right up through dinner. We are talking at dinner and not before. After dinner with a full belly I am good to go. Ready to relax with a book and a cup of decaf tea.
This is a post I'm bookmarking for myself to come back to, over and over.
Happy Friday,
HD
I was just heading to bed last night, on yet another Day 5, and I happened to look at my phone. I followed my normal path......checked my online scrabble games, flipped through facebook feed real quick and then skimmed headlines.
THAT headline caught my eye.
Samantha Jones, 32, had been to a party and posted pictures of full wine glasses, a pic of her and her daughter and #momsneeddrinks. She had drunk one and half to two bottles of wine in 3 1/2 hours and her blood alcohol was .186. She was driving home at 9pm and lost control of her car. The rear passenger side hit a telephone pole and broke it into two.
She told police she never drank that much. That her baby was her world. She didn't care if she went to jail but wanted her baby to be okay. Her daughter was sitting in that back passenger seat and suffered a head injury, dying within 3 days.
My first thought was "wow, I don't think I've ever drunk 2 bottle of wine that fast". My second thought was "how on earth will she live with herself?" While a lot of stuff can happen to our lives that is beyond our control, this moment was within her power to have not happened.
But all the remainder thoughts I had through the night were my own "what ifs". Maybe I've never driven after 2 bottles of wine but I know there have been a few where I've driven after a bottle drunk over a few hours. But 4 drinks in 2 hours for 185lb female is .091. DUI in my state.
I remember a few times where I was talking to myself the whole way home, convincing myself I was coherent to drive the short drive home or quick run to the store for more wine.
I scared myself good, you see, when I was 23. Newly married and a husband gone on a long trip, I drank with a friend one evening, on a worknight no less. I vaguely remember getting home and going to bed. It was a 25 minute drive home. I was pretty hungover but still made it to work on time for an early morning meeting. I must have looked like hell but nobody said anything. It wasn't until I was in my 40s that I ever drove under the influence again.
I think I can count on one hand the number of times I have but it just takes once! If I hadn't made it home at 23 my family would have been devastated and my son would not be.
There are so many things in life beyond our control. I worry enough about something happening to someone I love. Why on earth have I been poisoning myself with a possibility of contributing to something tragic? Tragic might be defined as something happening to them or even to me via an accident or health/illness.
I think of those times I had too much at night and don't remember going to bed. What if my son had slipped in the shower and hit his head and I didn't hear him call out? What if I tripped and fell and hit my own head? What if I forgot and left my dog outside and he jumped the fence and got hit by a car? All of these things could happen on their own, accidentally, but to maybe have been able to prevent something, intervened, but not physically been able to because of drinking? I don't know how I would live with myself.
Accidents strike, people get ill, tragedies happen. But I don't want any of that to be by my own hand. You think about how many murders occur due to alcohol, it's scary.
It occurred to me to wonder if this Smithville, MO woman was on our blogs. Every time I find a blog I want to check in on, I add it to my list. It's up to 74. Not all are active but I leave them on the list in case a blogger comes back, I don't want to miss them. It's like catching up with old friends. So I wonder if she is one of them. Probably not. I don't think by the time we get to this place of blogging and attempting to quit that we would still be posting on facebook about the glory of wine. Wine memes make me cringe now. I'm uncomfortable when I hear someone talk about needing wine. She may have truly been a fairly responsible normal drinker and therefore wasn't focused on the drinking and driving aspect. I'm a problem drinker. She may not have faced that she was. Or she just might not have been until that day. We'll never know.
Sorry to be a downer but as I went to bed last night I overwhelmed myself with the what if's from all my drinking episodes up until now. Took a long time to go to sleep and I had very scattered and vivid dreams. I think it's important to write this down because this will be a post I can refer back to when I get a craving.
I'm not taking a break from drinking this time. I feel like I am a non drinker. The hubs and I talked about how it will be nice to get to a place where we can sit and chat and not feel grumpy because we have no wine in hand. I guess it's like the smoker who smokes while drinking coffee in the morning. It will just take time. I am in the health business and have clients, more and more regularly now, who say they don't drink, smoke or do any drugs. They could be lying but they look so good I don't think so. They may have had issues in the past which make them proclaim it now out loud but it's refreshing to hear. I want to be like that, where I can say that.
This time I'm not having huge cravings yet but I'm also not trying to recreate the same life without alcohol. I have alcohol free wine on hand for me to drink this weekend with family here but I'm not gravitating toward a replacement drink in the evening. I may be guilty of an extra Diet Coke during the day but if 2 of those per day keeps me going, I'm good with that. I'm eating healthier and avoiding too many sweets. I'm still exercising. Hubs is doing all the cooking while we have no kids around and I'm keeping busy with housekeeping right up through dinner. We are talking at dinner and not before. After dinner with a full belly I am good to go. Ready to relax with a book and a cup of decaf tea.
This is a post I'm bookmarking for myself to come back to, over and over.
Happy Friday,
HD
Monday, July 15, 2019
Hello Blog
I took a blog breather. I've been trying to do less social media as well although that hasn't been as successful.
What has gone well is my offline communication with fellow blogger, Lia. Over the past month we have both gotten in touch with our feelings about drinking while drinking. We're both ready for another good long stint of not drinking, maybe this time forever.
As Lia put it to me, she wants to get "to the other side" of not drinking. That point we all read about. The depressing thought is that that point can take many months if not years. But it will be so worth it, we both think.
I've thought a lot about taking that first drink. I've realized that the first two drinks help me cope with my life but the rest just encourage me to lose it. If I ever stopped at two drinks I probably wouldn't have any hang ups about drinking. I might feel a little relaxed and mellow. I probably wouldn't feel guilty about my drinking.
I know folks who would tell me that I don't really have any issues. So what that I like to mellow out at night? So what if I drink more than the recommended amount? I realize, though, that those folks who are likely to tell me I don't have a problem with drinking are likely to be ones that have some inappropriate relationship with alcohol themselves.
The bottom line is that I think about drinking/not drinking all the time. I have to say this obsession over the past years has taken my mind off obsessing about other things. I think it really gave me time to heal a bit. Unfortunately it may also have let me push aside things I need to deal with. But if that's the case then I need to deal with them anyways.
It's time to be done. Whether I can "handle" my wine or not isn't the issue any more. It's no longer fun to think about it, to beat myself up about it, to have anxiety about it, to obsess about it. That isn't normal.
I want to get to that other side too so here I go. Hubs is joining me for the most part. He'll drink with my family when they come to town and may still go out for an occasional beer with the guys but he's supportive of my desire to dry out.
Anyone else with me and Lia, trying yet again?
HD
What has gone well is my offline communication with fellow blogger, Lia. Over the past month we have both gotten in touch with our feelings about drinking while drinking. We're both ready for another good long stint of not drinking, maybe this time forever.
As Lia put it to me, she wants to get "to the other side" of not drinking. That point we all read about. The depressing thought is that that point can take many months if not years. But it will be so worth it, we both think.
I've thought a lot about taking that first drink. I've realized that the first two drinks help me cope with my life but the rest just encourage me to lose it. If I ever stopped at two drinks I probably wouldn't have any hang ups about drinking. I might feel a little relaxed and mellow. I probably wouldn't feel guilty about my drinking.
I know folks who would tell me that I don't really have any issues. So what that I like to mellow out at night? So what if I drink more than the recommended amount? I realize, though, that those folks who are likely to tell me I don't have a problem with drinking are likely to be ones that have some inappropriate relationship with alcohol themselves.
The bottom line is that I think about drinking/not drinking all the time. I have to say this obsession over the past years has taken my mind off obsessing about other things. I think it really gave me time to heal a bit. Unfortunately it may also have let me push aside things I need to deal with. But if that's the case then I need to deal with them anyways.
It's time to be done. Whether I can "handle" my wine or not isn't the issue any more. It's no longer fun to think about it, to beat myself up about it, to have anxiety about it, to obsess about it. That isn't normal.
I want to get to that other side too so here I go. Hubs is joining me for the most part. He'll drink with my family when they come to town and may still go out for an occasional beer with the guys but he's supportive of my desire to dry out.
Anyone else with me and Lia, trying yet again?
HD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)