Tough times

I can't pretend its been easy the last few weeks. Lots of horrible horrible stress which has nothing to do with alcohol and lots to do with a family issue which is not going to get a lot better, until it gets a lot worse :(

BUT it is NOT the sort of issue where me drinking will make it better.
So I have not.

Today I saw a comment on a Mumsnet  thread which asked about going to AA. The reply was

I have been to precisely 3 AA meetings, ever, and all in the first week. They just didn't "chime" with me.  Just do whatever helps YOU stay sober! If a tool doesn't work, add a different one and USE IT not just look at it. Lots of sober treats for getting through an hour, a day, a week. Reward yourself for doing a really hard thing FOR PEOPLE LIKE US. Podcasts, books, running, sleeping, cake, talking,. Whatever it takes.

Just because others can just not drink does not mean we can. We find it hard. We think about not drinking. We try to "moderate" It's hard. I have found the best thing is to just Not Drink. 

And that, I think, sums it all up.

Progress

I'm feeling a little fragile today.  Discovering that alcometer left me a little shaken. As it triggered a bout of examining lots of past stuff which I found a bit distressing.

Not done to beat myself up and all ultimately good to go through, but today I feel a bit raw.

So, what to do?

My previous self would have had some wine to numb the pain.

The newer version of me, the more sober one, the healthier one, has recognised I'm feeling, how I'm feeling. I've let myself experience being sad for a bit, then I went for a walk, I did some meditation,  had a nap for half an hour,  I read a book for a bit, I had a cup of tea and I cuddled one of the cats.

Later I'm going to have a bath with lots of essential oils and when I get out I'm going to smother myself in body lotion and then go to bed and read and listen to pod casts from the sober world.

Progress. This is healthy progress :)

De - cluttering and clearing out

Spent some time  over the weekend  de cluttering and putting stuff ready for charity shop/recycling.

Guess what I found hidden in a wardrobe at the back?

 An alcometer. I actually bought a  digital alcometer at some point in the distant (drinking) past.  I remember, once I found it, that I got it when the rules changed and you had to have one in the car to drive in the EU? And the price of each of the disposable ones was high and when I saw this digital one on offer  it seemed like a good idea to get a re usable one ...

Wtaf? What was I thinking? Did it never occur to me that the best and only way to ensure I was not DUI of alcohol at any point, was to NOT FUCKING DRINK THE NIGHT  BEFORE! And to just have one disposable alcometer in the car to comply with EU law?

What kind of addict, Wolfie brained thinking, was this?
Actually don't answer that. Because I know exactly what kind of thinking it was.

Even now ( even now, after 3 months  sobriety and a couple of years of mostly being sober) when I found it and thought  "just shouldn't have drunk the night before" that voice (Wolfie, Belle calls it)  popped up and whispered "shouldn't have drunk TOO MUCH the night before, but, you know, you could always have just had a few and then stopped"

Well fuck you Wolfie no I could not, as that is  how I got into this mess in the first place!

I have no idea when I bought this gadget, must have been several years ago as that was when I went abroad with the car. Don't think I ever even used it apart from to check it worked.  And when I tried to think about it yesterday, Wolfie snuck in again with " well shows how responsible you were that you thought about the consequences and did something about it to avoid driving if you were still under the influence"

Fuck you again Wolfie! No! It shows how messed in the head I was, that I would ever even contemplate that it was a good idea to drink so much the night before that I had to check if I was sober enough to drive the next day. 

(N.B I have never actually driven under the influence, if anything I was always over cautious about not driving until there was no possibility of being over the legal limit to drive - to the detriment of my ability to go places, sometimes.) 

I am shocked at finding this gadget and at my (now) obvious addict thinking. Truly shocked. I have done a few things I'm not proud while drinking, but I think this is really my rock bottom moment.

However, it's good that I feel so shocked at myself and immediately recognize, now,  how wrong thinking I was,  then. So well done me :)

Despite this shock am glad to report I didn't find any other nasty surprises - no empties or half full bottles of wine stashed away. Thank God!

De cluttering is good. A metaphor for what I am doing right now with my emotions and thoughts!

A sober New Year Eve :)

Well that was interesting :)

A sober NYE, for the first time in many years :)

We don't go in for parties or stuff here anyway - used to in our youth but have not done so for many many years. However, NYE would always been "seen in" by at least one bottle of wine, possibly more.

This year, DH had a can of beer and later a small whisky - I had fizzy water and then a glass of AF sparkling white wine (Sainsbuys - it was very nice!)

We spent a lot of the evening talking, and I mean really talking, about the problems we have been having as a couple, as well as the other things we are currently having to deal with (which are of course making our relationship issues much worse due to the stress). It was really helpful to talk about our hopes and fears and worries in an honest and calm manner. There were smiles and tears and a lot of shared memories.

We both concluded we still love each other, still value our relationship and want to make it work, which is a relief!

Maybe we need some counselling, maybe we just need to sort out the external problems - but at least we are talking again and not just getting upset and angry with each other. And both of us are agreed that we will jointly and separately seek some counselling if things don't improve within a few weeks.

Best start to 2017 I could have hoped for :) Sober and still married :)