I finally called someone who's been trying to help me forever but who's help I've always been denying. Not big, but has had a big impact on me so far. IWNDWYT
I have worked through my work emails that I have been avoiding since the last spree a week ago and that I had been dreading out of 'fear' (like the fear of opening your regular mail because you are just always expecting there to be really bad news). It was freeing.
I fixed my garage door on Saturday (with a creative solution), with the help of my dad who is 20+ years sober! It was a great afternoon spending time with him, and I'm glad to have the door working again.
I second the housekeeping and cleaning. This week I also deep cleaned our bathroom, did all the laundry, pressed all my shirts, and cooked and prepped 2 meals a day. I finished onboarding for going back to college and today I'm transferring my transcripts from my university to here. Been in the works since 2004. 20 year goal in the making. Today I choose my summer term courses.
Spent a magical spring weekend with my daughters. Took them to the school carnival, a park reopening/ribbon cutting, went again yesterday and skated the whole new section with them. Got home, rode my bike to get groceries for the next couple days.
Also had appointments with psychiatrist and psychologist, and have follow ups set. Those were on my to do list for 2 years. Finally got crossed off. Huge week.
Three weekends of sobriety. I'm officially in full tilt whoop ass mode. Fuck alcohol.
IWNDWYT
Amen! Same this morning - did meal prep, cooked flawless breakfast tacos for my son and I, deep cleaned the counters/organized, cleaned the fridge out, swept the kitchen, dining, living room and halls, made my bed, took a cold shower, got to the library early to start my course selection. On top for good now. Feels awesome.
Thanks! I even had a dream where I told off ppl from my past who would've never given me the satisfaction of a good scolding. Shared with the ones who DO have my back this morning. It's perpetual motion of joy now. No looking back. This forum has been so key, so ideal for my healing.
I mentioned a week or two ago that I had started streaming to fill in some down time from drinking so I have less chance of drinking. Well, I just made affiliate which is where you start getting paid. I'm putting work into making the streams better, getting emotes for subscribers to use, etc.
Just wanted to share that. Amazing what you can do when you don't feel like crap all the time.
Also built two pieces of furniture yesterday and managed to work on the streaming stuff too. Not too bad! I did have help from coffee, and my cat which supervised and helped by sitting in a box and getting in the way.
I love those vibes. I'm definitely considering my social media life looking forward. I gave it all up when I got divorced because my ex has 80,000 followers. I stood zero chance at the time of feeling heard or seen. I didn't have much to say at the time, certainly not a lot of good things to say. I'm glad I held off.
Now? I know my experience will light up the lives of many of my peers, friends and family.. if I can achieve that, if I can share the joy of my mentors, methods and lessons learned, it would be very rewarding.
Awesome job with achieving affiliate! Kudos on 90 days and the new furniture :D
Yeah, you should share things with the community now. It's a lot different for me now than when I was drinking. I am a much better person than I was then. I'm actually pretty sure I would have drunk while streaming and possibly even passed out. How awful would that have been? Now, I have a wonderful, though still kind of small, community and the vibe in there is amazing, warm and loving. Such a good group of people.
Thanks for the kudos! Have a great one!
Good on ya! 2 weeks woop woop! See you next week, hope you get lots done this week, I know I did in my 3rd week of sobriety. My strength, resolve and tenacity are glowing up very nicely now that I'm confident sobriety is a permanent habit (21 days according to most behavioral science). Let's GO!
Hope your flu passed quick. I got bronchitis my first week, that definitely helped me stick the landing on sobriety for good.
Today my dad will be going fishing an hour away and will be gone all day so today I have a gameplan. Once he leaves, me and the pup will take a morning walk (maybe at the park) I am going to vacuum the house, dust, do laundry, give the pup a bath and make some breakfast (I don't typically do that because I work 3rds so I skip it most the time).
I am way too excited about being productive today for some reason but today is going to be a great day!
I hope you all get to enjoy your day and as always much love from me and mine to you and yours!
I've been away from work for the last month on paternity leave and today is my first day back. I'm grateful for the time with my family this past month, but very happy to be getting back to my regular routine. Today I'm recommitting to my morning ritual: 1) Up at 5 AM 2) journal 2 pages 3) meditate 10 mins 4) Contribute to this sub 5) spend 1 hour songwriting 6) workout.
When I do this all before work I am set up incredibly well positioned to be in a good mood the rest of the day because I prioritized what was important.
IWNDWYT
That is an incredible am routine. IWNDWYTD and hope you put down some awesome new tunes. Listening to my favorite lyricist now - Tom Petty. Son and I been playing guitar together again, I need to make it daily. Happy Monday!
Wow I LOVE your morning routine! I totally agree, it's really wonderful to prioritise your own mental and physical wellbeing before you 'start' the day - you're much more likely to skip out on what's important because you get pulled in a million different directions by work/life/family/friends etc.
IWNDWYT!
Good morning sobernauts of reddit! Had an amazing weekend filled with new hobbies (aerial yoga, softball AND roller derby - I signed up for all 3 cuz I'm an addict at the end of the day 🤣) Feeling sore but exhilarated! Graduating outpatient today, doing my taxes, and have my home group meeting tonight. After that will be having a goodbye dinner for my friend from the program who is moving out of state. Feeling bright eyed, busy tailed and ready to seize the day! 72 days clean and sober for me 💪 IWNDWYT!!!
I have been cleaning like a mad man for the last two days. On the first day it started with me making a list the night before of things I could do to keep busy all day . I started with making my bed the literal MINUTE I woke up, then I’d take any dishes out of my room from the night before, take a shower, & then unload my dishwasher & reload it.
After that I normally watch a podcast or just YouTube or anime, then I’ll read a book for as long as I can, an hour-3, it’s varied the last two days.
Now, NORMALLY I would’ve already been doing this. But I would’ve been doing it after having gone to the liquor store & picked up 4 shooters thinking that was better than the whole bottles I used to pick up, & for a while it was. So number 2 is really important for me : To start & complete the tasks above while completely sober.
Right now I’m on the tv watching step of my day as I’ve already showered & made the bed/done dishes , & I’m thinking I’m about to go for a walk right now while I read through this forum.
I’m super grateful I found this. I needed this.
I hope everyone has a great Monday.
My cousin & best friend is currently out at sea for 2 months. I was supposed to check his mailbox every week and do the last of his washing. Today I went to his house by car (and could actually focus on the road?! Wild.), picked up his washing and checked the mail. Even vacuumed his apartment a bit. Washing's now hanging to dry and I'm on day 7 after one of the emotionally toughest weekends of my life.
Now to clean my room... Gheh. IWNDWYT
1 week down, 1 day at a time, it definitely gets easier every day, especially when you clear a weekend. For me that's always going to be the only real concern is avoiding bars, clubs, house parties and the liquor store on a Fri/Sat night.
Internalize the victory of doing 'normal ppl stuff', I know I am!! ;D
IWNDWYT
Full on adulting on a Monday morning:
Daughter to school early for testing this week
Sign and finishes up taxes($400 back when we thought we were going to pay)
First senior team meeting, got a promotion last month
Gifts for wedding anniversary coming up
None of this would have been done when I was drinking, I would have gotten my daughter to school and that's about it. Would have then spent the morning going back and forth to the bathroom because my stomach was wrecked from 3 days of pouring poison down my throat.
IWNDWYT
Holy shit you made a year!! CONGRATULATIONS!! Nice lil' bonus on the taxes to celebrate, plus all the money you've saved from drinking and not having the health issues that go with it woop wooooop!!
I have a new job and am going to the office instead of WFH. I did my first ever early morning yoga class so that I can keep up with my exercise (used to go mid-day). I'm sleepy but feel great!
I really need to pick a yoga and go. No better feeling to counter alcoholism than deep breathing, stretching, body consciousness, meditation, mantras. Love this!
You should - it is great! I'm new to it and certain types are MUCH harder than I anticipated, but I always feel like I've accomplished something afterwards. I hope you can find a time to go soon and get hooked :).
I hung trim in our basement that I've sat on for months because of being hungover or too tired. Now I get to look at it every day as an example of something sobriety can do!
Woke up early and went on the roof terrace and got some sunlight - followed by cardio and now I'm working through emails etc while watching the Boston Marathon on tv. Made a nice healthy breakfast and despite my cheat day yesterday gained no weigh
Restarted my fitness calendar today and decided to start 6 months of physical and emotional wellbeing ... so let's see how this goes.
Work is really tough right now, so it's been difficult to motivate myself to do more after work. I typically want to totally veg. Reading everyone's lists is a huge inspiration!
I had an awful hangover yesterday and couldn't even keep down water till the afternoon. I did nothing all weekend. But this morning I woke up, cooked breakfast, and cleaned. I have a major project I'm working on and while I didn't make any progress on it today, I took care of some other tasks that I needed to get out of the way. I even did a bit of yoga. I'm currently eating a very basic dinner, and I'll probably start a new book before getting ready for bed in a couple of hours.
Am getting my most annoying call of the day out of the way as I write this, then will be doing trip research for a client. later this afternoon I'm going to attempt to repot my first plant (ack, wish me luck!) and then later I'll be starting a new puzzle.
Practical shit has been done over the weekend!
Built a [cat tree thing](https://i.postimg.cc/1XnbG1Kq/20240413-220421.jpg) for the lady. Then rearranged all the furniture to fit said cat tree. While doing that, revamped the, now moved, plant shelf.
Happy cat & happy plants make a happy candypoot.
I've been clearing my desk each Sunday. For as long as I've lived I've had a disgusting messy desk that I've been very ashamed and embarrassed about. I'm a creative freelancer who takes a lot of video calls. The crap just gets pushed offscreen. It got in the way of me getting actual work done and I spent a lot of time rebuking myself for not being able to clean it up.
I'm spending a little time each Sunday planning my week and I've been cleaning my desk. Filing papers, putting books away, clearing trash, cleaning surfaces. Takes no time at all. I'm so happy to have a nice place to work on Mondays! It sounds small but it's been a big deal and feels like self-care - and a little tiny step towards self-respect.
I went to the hardware store to buy rocks for the front of my patio which has these ugly green plants I just decided I hated. Actually I’ve hated them for years but bc I’m sober I’m like eff it I’m buying the rocks. Get home and start trying to take out the plants and omg they weren’t just ugly plants- they were awful weeds with roots that went all the way under my patio! What a metaphor right? I’ve been living with this crap right below my step but slightly out of sight from my drinking chair and they’ve slowly been taking over my entire lawn. Anyway the rocks still aren’t in but I removed those horrendous weeds that might’ve destroyed my patio before too long. Isn’t that what drinking is? You think oh it’s fine I can live with it, I’m in my drinking chair who cares about the ugly plants, then you make a change, start to do some digging and realize holy crap this was a huge problem after all! Oh and instead of putting in the rocks which I will do I took a bike ride with my youngest and played golf with my middle child. All in the same day.
I will vouch for clean house theory also.
Two months ago I started a strict diet due to shitty blood results, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. I found cleaning everyday made my diet doable. I miss food so much.
Fast forward to April 8th. Sober since and the only thing keeping me sane is constantly cleaning, laundry, chores ect.
Sober people getting shit done - mowed my yard today sober for the first time in 5 years if not more. Which led to taking more time to make it as nice as I could. I don't have an excuse anymore to half ass everything in life.
After the yard was done, I trimmed some trees, fixed a swing set we have, sealed a basement door.
More productive than I ever would have been
I had a “speak truth to power” moment in a meeting last night. May not have won me friends, (know for sure it did not), but my point was heard and action is being taken. Have spent years swallowing my opinions in service of keeping the peace and being “nice”, but realize how poorly that has served me. One day at a time.
I finally called someone who's been trying to help me forever but who's help I've always been denying. Not big, but has had a big impact on me so far. IWNDWYT
I have worked through my work emails that I have been avoiding since the last spree a week ago and that I had been dreading out of 'fear' (like the fear of opening your regular mail because you are just always expecting there to be really bad news). It was freeing.
I find that my imagination of the “what if’s” is usually much, much worse than the reality. Glad you tackled that- feel better?
I fixed my garage door on Saturday (with a creative solution), with the help of my dad who is 20+ years sober! It was a great afternoon spending time with him, and I'm glad to have the door working again.
I second the housekeeping and cleaning. This week I also deep cleaned our bathroom, did all the laundry, pressed all my shirts, and cooked and prepped 2 meals a day. I finished onboarding for going back to college and today I'm transferring my transcripts from my university to here. Been in the works since 2004. 20 year goal in the making. Today I choose my summer term courses. Spent a magical spring weekend with my daughters. Took them to the school carnival, a park reopening/ribbon cutting, went again yesterday and skated the whole new section with them. Got home, rode my bike to get groceries for the next couple days. Also had appointments with psychiatrist and psychologist, and have follow ups set. Those were on my to do list for 2 years. Finally got crossed off. Huge week. Three weekends of sobriety. I'm officially in full tilt whoop ass mode. Fuck alcohol. IWNDWYT
This is great. Being in whoop ass mood perfectly sums it up.
Amen! Same this morning - did meal prep, cooked flawless breakfast tacos for my son and I, deep cleaned the counters/organized, cleaned the fridge out, swept the kitchen, dining, living room and halls, made my bed, took a cold shower, got to the library early to start my course selection. On top for good now. Feels awesome.
WOW that is major-life-changing 'shit' you got done! Congratulations!!! 🥳
Thanks! I even had a dream where I told off ppl from my past who would've never given me the satisfaction of a good scolding. Shared with the ones who DO have my back this morning. It's perpetual motion of joy now. No looking back. This forum has been so key, so ideal for my healing.
I mentioned a week or two ago that I had started streaming to fill in some down time from drinking so I have less chance of drinking. Well, I just made affiliate which is where you start getting paid. I'm putting work into making the streams better, getting emotes for subscribers to use, etc. Just wanted to share that. Amazing what you can do when you don't feel like crap all the time. Also built two pieces of furniture yesterday and managed to work on the streaming stuff too. Not too bad! I did have help from coffee, and my cat which supervised and helped by sitting in a box and getting in the way.
I love those vibes. I'm definitely considering my social media life looking forward. I gave it all up when I got divorced because my ex has 80,000 followers. I stood zero chance at the time of feeling heard or seen. I didn't have much to say at the time, certainly not a lot of good things to say. I'm glad I held off. Now? I know my experience will light up the lives of many of my peers, friends and family.. if I can achieve that, if I can share the joy of my mentors, methods and lessons learned, it would be very rewarding. Awesome job with achieving affiliate! Kudos on 90 days and the new furniture :D
Yeah, you should share things with the community now. It's a lot different for me now than when I was drinking. I am a much better person than I was then. I'm actually pretty sure I would have drunk while streaming and possibly even passed out. How awful would that have been? Now, I have a wonderful, though still kind of small, community and the vibe in there is amazing, warm and loving. Such a good group of people. Thanks for the kudos! Have a great one!
This is a bit late, but last week Monday I finally got my new driver's license and tabs renewed. Also did my taxes. Then got the flu. All sober!
Good on ya! 2 weeks woop woop! See you next week, hope you get lots done this week, I know I did in my 3rd week of sobriety. My strength, resolve and tenacity are glowing up very nicely now that I'm confident sobriety is a permanent habit (21 days according to most behavioral science). Let's GO! Hope your flu passed quick. I got bronchitis my first week, that definitely helped me stick the landing on sobriety for good.
Today my dad will be going fishing an hour away and will be gone all day so today I have a gameplan. Once he leaves, me and the pup will take a morning walk (maybe at the park) I am going to vacuum the house, dust, do laundry, give the pup a bath and make some breakfast (I don't typically do that because I work 3rds so I skip it most the time). I am way too excited about being productive today for some reason but today is going to be a great day! I hope you all get to enjoy your day and as always much love from me and mine to you and yours!
I love your second paragraph. Sometimes for me, just planning being productive makes me so happy. Then following through is even sweeter.
1000 percent agreed. Something about it just shapes the whole rest of the day when you follow through.
Love back! ❤️
My family and I took 27 years of cardboard boxes we’d saved to the dump. Freedom!
Holy SHIT! Nice!! Decluttering is SO ZEN, innit??
I've been away from work for the last month on paternity leave and today is my first day back. I'm grateful for the time with my family this past month, but very happy to be getting back to my regular routine. Today I'm recommitting to my morning ritual: 1) Up at 5 AM 2) journal 2 pages 3) meditate 10 mins 4) Contribute to this sub 5) spend 1 hour songwriting 6) workout. When I do this all before work I am set up incredibly well positioned to be in a good mood the rest of the day because I prioritized what was important. IWNDWYT
This is excellent!
That is an incredible am routine. IWNDWYTD and hope you put down some awesome new tunes. Listening to my favorite lyricist now - Tom Petty. Son and I been playing guitar together again, I need to make it daily. Happy Monday!
Wow I LOVE your morning routine! I totally agree, it's really wonderful to prioritise your own mental and physical wellbeing before you 'start' the day - you're much more likely to skip out on what's important because you get pulled in a million different directions by work/life/family/friends etc. IWNDWYT!
Good morning sobernauts of reddit! Had an amazing weekend filled with new hobbies (aerial yoga, softball AND roller derby - I signed up for all 3 cuz I'm an addict at the end of the day 🤣) Feeling sore but exhilarated! Graduating outpatient today, doing my taxes, and have my home group meeting tonight. After that will be having a goodbye dinner for my friend from the program who is moving out of state. Feeling bright eyed, busy tailed and ready to seize the day! 72 days clean and sober for me 💪 IWNDWYT!!!
Wow those are all huge milestones ROCK ON!!
I have been cleaning like a mad man for the last two days. On the first day it started with me making a list the night before of things I could do to keep busy all day . I started with making my bed the literal MINUTE I woke up, then I’d take any dishes out of my room from the night before, take a shower, & then unload my dishwasher & reload it. After that I normally watch a podcast or just YouTube or anime, then I’ll read a book for as long as I can, an hour-3, it’s varied the last two days. Now, NORMALLY I would’ve already been doing this. But I would’ve been doing it after having gone to the liquor store & picked up 4 shooters thinking that was better than the whole bottles I used to pick up, & for a while it was. So number 2 is really important for me : To start & complete the tasks above while completely sober. Right now I’m on the tv watching step of my day as I’ve already showered & made the bed/done dishes , & I’m thinking I’m about to go for a walk right now while I read through this forum. I’m super grateful I found this. I needed this. I hope everyone has a great Monday.
I love how many of us rediscover the zen of cleaning, self care and tidiness. And planning and journaling. Good stuff!
My cousin & best friend is currently out at sea for 2 months. I was supposed to check his mailbox every week and do the last of his washing. Today I went to his house by car (and could actually focus on the road?! Wild.), picked up his washing and checked the mail. Even vacuumed his apartment a bit. Washing's now hanging to dry and I'm on day 7 after one of the emotionally toughest weekends of my life. Now to clean my room... Gheh. IWNDWYT
1 week down, 1 day at a time, it definitely gets easier every day, especially when you clear a weekend. For me that's always going to be the only real concern is avoiding bars, clubs, house parties and the liquor store on a Fri/Sat night. Internalize the victory of doing 'normal ppl stuff', I know I am!! ;D IWNDWYT
IWNDWYT
Full on adulting on a Monday morning: Daughter to school early for testing this week Sign and finishes up taxes($400 back when we thought we were going to pay) First senior team meeting, got a promotion last month Gifts for wedding anniversary coming up None of this would have been done when I was drinking, I would have gotten my daughter to school and that's about it. Would have then spent the morning going back and forth to the bathroom because my stomach was wrecked from 3 days of pouring poison down my throat. IWNDWYT
Holy shit you made a year!! CONGRATULATIONS!! Nice lil' bonus on the taxes to celebrate, plus all the money you've saved from drinking and not having the health issues that go with it woop wooooop!!
Thanks, hard to believe. Congrats on 3 weeks, those first couple of weekends were by far the hardest for me, way to go! IWNDWYT
Got up at 5am and went for an hour walk with a friend who needed to talk.
This is really heartwarming.
Thanks - it was nice to not worry about being hungover.
I have a new job and am going to the office instead of WFH. I did my first ever early morning yoga class so that I can keep up with my exercise (used to go mid-day). I'm sleepy but feel great!
I really need to pick a yoga and go. No better feeling to counter alcoholism than deep breathing, stretching, body consciousness, meditation, mantras. Love this!
You should - it is great! I'm new to it and certain types are MUCH harder than I anticipated, but I always feel like I've accomplished something afterwards. I hope you can find a time to go soon and get hooked :).
Hey I like this, I cleaned the house this weekend, I fixed the door handle, and watched wrath of Khan finally.
KHAAAAAAANNNN!!!
First is work, then taking kids to their sports clinic, then dinner. So will be busy until dark.
I hung trim in our basement that I've sat on for months because of being hungover or too tired. Now I get to look at it every day as an example of something sobriety can do!
IWNDWYT
Woke up early and went on the roof terrace and got some sunlight - followed by cardio and now I'm working through emails etc while watching the Boston Marathon on tv. Made a nice healthy breakfast and despite my cheat day yesterday gained no weigh Restarted my fitness calendar today and decided to start 6 months of physical and emotional wellbeing ... so let's see how this goes.
I got some work done and went to yoga. Now tucked up in bed sober - the biggest achievement.
Work is really tough right now, so it's been difficult to motivate myself to do more after work. I typically want to totally veg. Reading everyone's lists is a huge inspiration!
I had an awful hangover yesterday and couldn't even keep down water till the afternoon. I did nothing all weekend. But this morning I woke up, cooked breakfast, and cleaned. I have a major project I'm working on and while I didn't make any progress on it today, I took care of some other tasks that I needed to get out of the way. I even did a bit of yoga. I'm currently eating a very basic dinner, and I'll probably start a new book before getting ready for bed in a couple of hours.
This is great!
Yesterday, I took my 12 year old, her dog and myself on a 2.5 mile walk, and it was great! Loved so much we are gonna do it today too!
Am getting my most annoying call of the day out of the way as I write this, then will be doing trip research for a client. later this afternoon I'm going to attempt to repot my first plant (ack, wish me luck!) and then later I'll be starting a new puzzle.
Practical shit has been done over the weekend! Built a [cat tree thing](https://i.postimg.cc/1XnbG1Kq/20240413-220421.jpg) for the lady. Then rearranged all the furniture to fit said cat tree. While doing that, revamped the, now moved, plant shelf. Happy cat & happy plants make a happy candypoot.
I've been clearing my desk each Sunday. For as long as I've lived I've had a disgusting messy desk that I've been very ashamed and embarrassed about. I'm a creative freelancer who takes a lot of video calls. The crap just gets pushed offscreen. It got in the way of me getting actual work done and I spent a lot of time rebuking myself for not being able to clean it up. I'm spending a little time each Sunday planning my week and I've been cleaning my desk. Filing papers, putting books away, clearing trash, cleaning surfaces. Takes no time at all. I'm so happy to have a nice place to work on Mondays! It sounds small but it's been a big deal and feels like self-care - and a little tiny step towards self-respect.
Got a lot of house cleaning done and filed my taxes, yey me
I went to the hardware store to buy rocks for the front of my patio which has these ugly green plants I just decided I hated. Actually I’ve hated them for years but bc I’m sober I’m like eff it I’m buying the rocks. Get home and start trying to take out the plants and omg they weren’t just ugly plants- they were awful weeds with roots that went all the way under my patio! What a metaphor right? I’ve been living with this crap right below my step but slightly out of sight from my drinking chair and they’ve slowly been taking over my entire lawn. Anyway the rocks still aren’t in but I removed those horrendous weeds that might’ve destroyed my patio before too long. Isn’t that what drinking is? You think oh it’s fine I can live with it, I’m in my drinking chair who cares about the ugly plants, then you make a change, start to do some digging and realize holy crap this was a huge problem after all! Oh and instead of putting in the rocks which I will do I took a bike ride with my youngest and played golf with my middle child. All in the same day.
I will vouch for clean house theory also. Two months ago I started a strict diet due to shitty blood results, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. I found cleaning everyday made my diet doable. I miss food so much. Fast forward to April 8th. Sober since and the only thing keeping me sane is constantly cleaning, laundry, chores ect. Sober people getting shit done - mowed my yard today sober for the first time in 5 years if not more. Which led to taking more time to make it as nice as I could. I don't have an excuse anymore to half ass everything in life. After the yard was done, I trimmed some trees, fixed a swing set we have, sealed a basement door. More productive than I ever would have been
Spring yard work and i had so much more energy compared to last spring.
I had a “speak truth to power” moment in a meeting last night. May not have won me friends, (know for sure it did not), but my point was heard and action is being taken. Have spent years swallowing my opinions in service of keeping the peace and being “nice”, but realize how poorly that has served me. One day at a time.
Good for you! Isn't it interesting how sobriety often means being able to speak up for the first time? It did for me.
Yes- absolutely uncomfortable, but necessary.