This is the same thing I tell myself. When I’m tempted to drink I tell myself that I’m not just craving one drink, I’m craving the whole bottle, and it’s a stark reminder every time why I cant “just have one”
I just posted this in the DCI but mine is “Old keys won’t open new doors” (shout out to whoever posted that in this sub)
Drinking will not do anything to help me achieve the goals I have set for myself. I have it on a sticky note on my computer so I am always reminded of where I was and where I’m going 🩷
That is the daily check-in here. Gets posted around midnight in USA and mornings in Europe. People comment there to express their commitment of staying sober, for today.
IWNDWYT or I will not drink with you today is a very, very common phrase
Well... To be fair...I think for a lot of us there's a ton of stuff we did while drunk that were accomplishments... Would they have been better or the same?
For example: met my wife while hammered at a party in college... Got married and had destination wedding with all family and friends that drank non stop... Traveled the world drinking and eating great food... Made business deals over drinks and long nights out...
Not that these were better because I was drinking... It just... was the past.
So that one maybe doesn't work for folks that drank away decades as well as for others...
But iwndwyt... And it feels great being sober and a not waking up hungover
Some people respond better to negative reinforcement than positive or vice versa. I have to think of myself like a third person that I'm helping out for me to actually do right by myself. It's easy to lose sight of that though
Currently on day 2 again (sigh) and although the hangover is still terrible for me, I am SAVOURING this feeling as I know I never ever ever want it again!!
Also dealing with that currently. Just sipping on tea and hoping for better sleep tonight. From experience, that’s still a few days off but it usually lasts longer every day. Until there’s one night of almost no sleeping after around a week. But after that both the duration and quality are back at a decent level.
“Play the tape forward”. I know from extensive research that i don’t just have one and then get super productive. I think with honesty about where I’ll be after 5 minutes, 5 hours, the next morning, next week and so on. If I’m honest, I don’t like what I see and that’s enough for me to put it down. Cravings come and go but the volume in my head is much lower now.
Not so much a saying, as a tactic I learned on here. When you have a craving, name it after something or someone you hate or dislike and say it out loud to yourself. "Man. I could really go for a handful of cilantro right about now!" Taste aversion kicks in and you suddenly don't want that drink as much anymore. Works for me anyway. IWNDWYT 🇨🇦
I did a similar thing. I got a bottle of naltrexone to try and quit. I got violently ill after the first pill. I didn't take any more of it, but I transferred the memory of the feeling to alcohol. Over three years later, and I still feel a little ill when I think of drinking.
Not a phrase but I just imagine what happenes after the drink. How the good feeling will fade. How I will buy another bottle and another until I black out. How I will wake up with the worst hangover in my life. How I will feel like absolute shite. The shame, the oh so funny messages sent, the money wasted, the calories.... and so on and on and on.
Aaaaaaaand it's gone.
Love that show!
There's one when he's asking Diane if she thinks he's a good person.. deep down? And she says she thinks there is no deep down, you're just all the things you do.
Think about that one sometimes.
no phrase, but if i do get a craving, i just play the tape forward.
I already know the ending, so after watching that movie thousands of times, i just turn it off.
I have a whole speech prepared and I use it. Along the lines of, was one ever really enough? Ok how much is enough? Ok, once you’ve had enough, will you feel better immediately? Will you feel better tomorrow? Will you be able to stop? And what will happen if you go back to business as usual? Business as usual = less money, less control, less peace, less self respect, less health, more problems, more anxiety & more fat. Still want one?
I've have successfully used "**I'm good**" - to myself when tempted. The unspoken context being: ' i don't want or need it'... I've had enough alcohol to last several lifetimes... so i'm really not 'missing out'... AND as a declarative idea... 'I'm good WITHOUT it and I want to continue that way.' (healthy/ sane/ in control/ at peace)
“I quit eating bologna sandwiches long before I quit drinking, and I’ve never craved one of those. I will not allow the drink to control me like that.”
"not today"
I told myself at first my sober would be a month or so. Hit the month mark and moved my goalpost to three months. Then six. Then a year. Then two years. Then five years.... About to hit my 6th year soon.
I've always told everyone that I may drink again if I'm ready, but if I'm being honest with myself, "not today" means "never"... But "not today" makes it manageable every day, and "never" feels impossible and daunting... So every day is just one day at a time.
Every time I win the battle at night, I make sure to thank myself the second I wake up. The nights are still hard but the daytime "high" of waking up sober seems to last a little longer each day.
I am fighting the night battle right now. I wanted to stop and buy wine on the way home from work. My husband sent me a picture of my baby and I abstained… but the craving is still present. I’m going to focus on how I’ll feel tomorrow.
Shoutouts to Brandon Sanderson. Lots of good quotes about dealing with adversity and addiction/substance abuse in the Stormlight Archive. This one always sticks with me. The quote is about dealing with depression but the sentiment is applicable for many things.
Kaladin said. "You told me it will get worse." "It will," Wit said, "but then it will get better. Then it will get worse again. Then better. This is life, and I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. I promise you Kaladin: You will be warm again."
Good to see someone else staying sober with help from the cosmere!
Dalinar's whole arc really helped me. I always go with "You can not have my pain" when I think about drinking. I gave up my pain to booze for a long time, but I also gave up so much more of myself at the same time. I wasn't learning or growing from my failures, I was just forgetting them. Now I try to accept and learn from all the things I was trying to avoid, and just keep taking that next step to becoming a better person.
Honestly, any quote from Bojack. Rewatching the show over the past week and realising how much like him I was seriously sucked. I always used to wonder how anyone could be like Bojack, but then after I realised my alcohol problem was as serious as it was, I just felt called out.
I'm not advocating for anyone. Each to their own. But I was Bojack, and after already half-destroying my life, went badly to salvage it. I loved it because it was real to me.
I never thought the show I'd relate to most was about an animated horse 😂
I've found that thinking back over my regrets - like the mistakes and fucked up stuff I've done while drunk - snaps me out of the craving. Think about your rock bottom. If it happened once, it can happen again if you drink again. Then feel the relief and thankfulness that you never have to be in that place again.
I've been using this one a good buddy shared with me. "My emotions are temporary feelings and this feeling will pass." I say that enough times to make it sink in AND then I get busy doing something other than staying stuck in my head.
For me, I was able to take the central message of this sub to heart: i will not drink today. The connotation for me was, maybe tomorrow, but not today.
When tomorrow came, said the same thing. Maybe timorrow
I got tired of blacking out. My memory became a minefield of shame-filled, missing moments. I vowed not to create more.
So for a while mine was “I’ve replaced blacking out with working out.” The gym became my sanctuary.
Ya, "go to a meeting" it was repeated to me in AA so many times. It does help. It reminds me whatever I'm feeling, I should get it off my chest, through text, phone call, or in-person meeting. It will take the power away and I can process it and move on. Also, physical activity has killed cravings a few times, too.
"Your future self will thank you"...another one is "If you need a drink to celebrate, than you didn't accomplish what you think you accomplished. Not needing a drink means you did."
I've had a phrase that helps me through a lot of things "black ball, white wall." There is imagery involved and breathing. Helps me to take myself away
I often ask myself “what is the choice that takes the very best care of myself?” It’s surprising how challenging taking care of myself has been in the past around drinking… well and not surprising really.
Not a phrase specifically but I know exactly what I will get back when I take a drink. That realization saved me and keeps me going. One drink will not make me happy, it will make me agitated for more. I will not be able to stop until something bad happens.
I have control up until I let myself have one sip. So I don’t take that sip.
Play it out! (in your head)
As far as you have to; from one drink won’t hurt, to rock bottom again…
I usually say ‘fuck that’ pretty early in the process and find something else to do or eat…342 days.
Would it be better for my little boy if I drink tonight, or worse?
Or if that doesn’t do the trick: do I want to play with my grandchildren someday or would I rather drink every day and die before my son goes to college.
Treating it like an actual competition gets me through. Trash talk and all. I seriously just don’t want alcohol to win or control me anymore. So far, I’m 30 days undefeated ;)
“If I drink, I’ll die a miserable death in less than a year.” For my situation, the logic behind that is pretty air-tight.
Or someone on here suggested giving your craving a name you hate so, “SHUT THE FUCK UP, MUESLIX” works great for me. It’s the grossest-sounding word I can think of and I’m instantly reviled.
Or “best case scenario, it goes horribly.” Which is true. If I drink, the best thing that could possibly happen would be that I have such a bad time that I don’t want it anymore. It would have to be a really really bad time though because otherwise it just breaks down the wall and I’ll be more likely to do it again.
The I am sober app lets you keep adding reasons you want to stay sober, including pictures. I keep adding to it every dat, quotes and pictures of all of the amazing experiences i have had sober. Every time I get a craving I scroll through it. It has helped me a lot.
The only mantra I say is, I refuse to keep robbing myself of todays.
Not really a phrase but I just tell myself “you look so good right now. Do you really want your face to look puffy again”. That does the trick for me lol because I do care about my looks the most 🫣
"If I drink again then I'm allowing myself to be a person who does terrible things. As long as I don't drink I can work on forgiving myself for those things and moving forward."
Basically I say the first part to myself and the last part is given.
My version of the serenity prayer, instead of God I use Group of Drunks, which is my AA home group and my sponsor and the rest of his sponsees. Just had a craving yesterday and reached out to them, it's important to have people that can talk us through those moments, who know what we're going through, and have been there. A 6 pack of sober friends to replace that 6 pack of beer.
“Play the tape through”. Last time I drank I ended up in the hospital with my head getting stapled back together because I busted my scalp open. That and I don’t want to go back to detox. The detox ward at Tarzana Treatment Center is a fkn zoo.
“Character + consistency = credibility”
“if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” -ghandi
“What does any length look like to me?”
“How willing am I?”
“One is too many, and a thousand is not enough!”
“We don’t make those decisions anymore, Jean, we make new choices.”
“If I want what I’ve never had, I’ve gotta do what I’ve never done.”
“The definition of insanity isn’t doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, it’s doing the same thing over and over again knowing the result, and doing it anyway.”
Half of these are cheeseball, but they work for me.
Bop your head back and forth: 🎶 "I'm all right, I'm okay, everything going to be just fine🎶 DUN DUN DUN I'm all right, I'm okay, everything going to be just fine 🎶 DUN DUN DUN...🎶"
and repeat as necessary
I saw this in a movie. An alcoholic dad has died and is currently wandering around as a ghost. He is able to see the various events that are happening in his family. Some are bad and he wishes he was there to help. Others are his daughter’s marriage and him wishing that he was around to join in the celebrations.
In the closing scene he says “I thought I enjoyed my life. Only if I had known what I would be missing out on and how much I would wish I were there, I would have never done what I did”
I tell myself that this feeling is temporary, I’ve gotten through it before and that it’ll pass. Then I don’t give it any more attention, as annoying and loud as it wants to be.
I just 'don't drink' anymore.I remind myself of this. I've deleted this option of drinking out of the equation. So when I get disregulated and crave alcohol I remind myself that's not actually a choice from the choices I have to choose from and I must move on to a different option available to me.
The voice that wants me to have just one is the same voice that wants me to have twenty.
This is the same thing I tell myself. When I’m tempted to drink I tell myself that I’m not just craving one drink, I’m craving the whole bottle, and it’s a stark reminder every time why I cant “just have one”
That’s a good one
Boom
I just posted this in the DCI but mine is “Old keys won’t open new doors” (shout out to whoever posted that in this sub) Drinking will not do anything to help me achieve the goals I have set for myself. I have it on a sticky note on my computer so I am always reminded of where I was and where I’m going 🩷
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That is the daily check-in here. Gets posted around midnight in USA and mornings in Europe. People comment there to express their commitment of staying sober, for today. IWNDWYT or I will not drink with you today is a very, very common phrase
It’s the daily check in and it’s a pinned post at the top of this sub 😊
“List all the things you did while drunk that you’re super proud of accomplishing.” That list would be NOTHING.
Ooof. That one stings for some reason.
Well... To be fair...I think for a lot of us there's a ton of stuff we did while drunk that were accomplishments... Would they have been better or the same? For example: met my wife while hammered at a party in college... Got married and had destination wedding with all family and friends that drank non stop... Traveled the world drinking and eating great food... Made business deals over drinks and long nights out... Not that these were better because I was drinking... It just... was the past. So that one maybe doesn't work for folks that drank away decades as well as for others... But iwndwyt... And it feels great being sober and a not waking up hungover
Never want to make my wife cry again
I'm sure she'd love that, too!
Damn.
No, but what helps me is thinking about the regret I'll feel the next morning if I do.
"I've gone to bed wishing I could drink but I've never woken up wishing I had."
This needs to be a top level comment!
THIS!! I’ll be telling myself this.
This is awesome, thank you!
This is so true and good.
I would also like to add to that, "I never regret going to the gym." For health!
Some people respond better to negative reinforcement than positive or vice versa. I have to think of myself like a third person that I'm helping out for me to actually do right by myself. It's easy to lose sight of that though
I hear this. I've asked friends and family before to be mean to me to help me get stuff done/stick to goals lol
This!
Currently on day 2 again (sigh) and although the hangover is still terrible for me, I am SAVOURING this feeling as I know I never ever ever want it again!!
Keep going. You'll get there. It gets better!
Thank you friend 💛
Also dealing with that currently. Just sipping on tea and hoping for better sleep tonight. From experience, that’s still a few days off but it usually lasts longer every day. Until there’s one night of almost no sleeping after around a week. But after that both the duration and quality are back at a decent level.
Same. I have a fear of the hangxiety that keeps me from taking the first sip.
“Play the tape forward”. I know from extensive research that i don’t just have one and then get super productive. I think with honesty about where I’ll be after 5 minutes, 5 hours, the next morning, next week and so on. If I’m honest, I don’t like what I see and that’s enough for me to put it down. Cravings come and go but the volume in my head is much lower now.
"choose the life you want and say no to everything else" Alcohol is not the life I want
Not so much a saying, as a tactic I learned on here. When you have a craving, name it after something or someone you hate or dislike and say it out loud to yourself. "Man. I could really go for a handful of cilantro right about now!" Taste aversion kicks in and you suddenly don't want that drink as much anymore. Works for me anyway. IWNDWYT 🇨🇦
Similar trick: swear like wild at your cravings.
I did a similar thing. I got a bottle of naltrexone to try and quit. I got violently ill after the first pill. I didn't take any more of it, but I transferred the memory of the feeling to alcohol. Over three years later, and I still feel a little ill when I think of drinking.
Pavlov would be proud!
Exactly!
Wow I love this idea! Thank you! Mine will be "mayo" lol.
Yup. “Not worth your family.”
That is a great mantra
"I need myself right now and I'm showing up for that support". I can't be present for that support if I'm drinking. IWNDWYT
Not a phrase but I just imagine what happenes after the drink. How the good feeling will fade. How I will buy another bottle and another until I black out. How I will wake up with the worst hangover in my life. How I will feel like absolute shite. The shame, the oh so funny messages sent, the money wasted, the calories.... and so on and on and on. Aaaaaaaand it's gone.
I like *"Future you thanks you for not drinking."*
Love that show! There's one when he's asking Diane if she thinks he's a good person.. deep down? And she says she thinks there is no deep down, you're just all the things you do. Think about that one sometimes.
What show is this?
BoJack Horseman! Gets realll into addiction.
Almost too real haha
Thanks
You don't have to avoid **ALL** drinks. (Just the first one.)
Just the alcoholic ones.
no phrase, but if i do get a craving, i just play the tape forward. I already know the ending, so after watching that movie thousands of times, i just turn it off.
I have a whole speech prepared and I use it. Along the lines of, was one ever really enough? Ok how much is enough? Ok, once you’ve had enough, will you feel better immediately? Will you feel better tomorrow? Will you be able to stop? And what will happen if you go back to business as usual? Business as usual = less money, less control, less peace, less self respect, less health, more problems, more anxiety & more fat. Still want one?
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This is genius to me! Thank you!
Whatever situation triggered the craving, I remind myself - "I can't always make it better but I don't have to make it any worse."
*the only way out is through*
“Don’t drink, fuckface” works well. Especially when a craving pops out of nowhere.
I'm using this! Signed, fellow fuckface.
I've have successfully used "**I'm good**" - to myself when tempted. The unspoken context being: ' i don't want or need it'... I've had enough alcohol to last several lifetimes... so i'm really not 'missing out'... AND as a declarative idea... 'I'm good WITHOUT it and I want to continue that way.' (healthy/ sane/ in control/ at peace)
I’m taking this one!
“I quit eating bologna sandwiches long before I quit drinking, and I’ve never craved one of those. I will not allow the drink to control me like that.”
You will never regret not drinking.
I deserve better than neurotoxin exposure.
"not today" I told myself at first my sober would be a month or so. Hit the month mark and moved my goalpost to three months. Then six. Then a year. Then two years. Then five years.... About to hit my 6th year soon. I've always told everyone that I may drink again if I'm ready, but if I'm being honest with myself, "not today" means "never"... But "not today" makes it manageable every day, and "never" feels impossible and daunting... So every day is just one day at a time.
"You don't really want 'just one.' You want a dozen. And you know it."
Being sober isn’t about not drinking, it’s about creating a life I don’t want to escape from.
For real
Drinking equals death. This too shall pass.
Whether my cups half empty or my cups half full, *at least I have a cup.* Said it to a coworker today and he liked it.
"I have everything I need" Sounds odd, but it comforts me, and changes my mindset
Every time I win the battle at night, I make sure to thank myself the second I wake up. The nights are still hard but the daytime "high" of waking up sober seems to last a little longer each day.
I am fighting the night battle right now. I wanted to stop and buy wine on the way home from work. My husband sent me a picture of my baby and I abstained… but the craving is still present. I’m going to focus on how I’ll feel tomorrow.
I'm proud of you! IWNDWYT
thank you!!! IWNDWYT
“Nothing to it, but to do it” do it meaning (abstaining)
Shoutouts to Brandon Sanderson. Lots of good quotes about dealing with adversity and addiction/substance abuse in the Stormlight Archive. This one always sticks with me. The quote is about dealing with depression but the sentiment is applicable for many things. Kaladin said. "You told me it will get worse." "It will," Wit said, "but then it will get better. Then it will get worse again. Then better. This is life, and I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. I promise you Kaladin: You will be warm again."
Good to see someone else staying sober with help from the cosmere! Dalinar's whole arc really helped me. I always go with "You can not have my pain" when I think about drinking. I gave up my pain to booze for a long time, but I also gave up so much more of myself at the same time. I wasn't learning or growing from my failures, I was just forgetting them. Now I try to accept and learn from all the things I was trying to avoid, and just keep taking that next step to becoming a better person.
I'm planning on a reread before Stormlight 5 this December. It will be interesting to see Dalinar and Teft's arc with sober eyes.
Love Brandon Sanderson! Great comment.
I know what it feels like to drink all the time. I want to see what it feels like to not.
I say to myself, "So you want a drink? Too bad . . . Life's rough when you're not trying to kill yourself."
To self: What else do you want to lose?
Drinking will only make it worse.
Play the tape…
I don't drink poison
"Fuck that fucking poison"
"There's no problem that drinking won't make worse" is my go to.
I always say “bitch have some will power”
Moderation is misery
Honestly, any quote from Bojack. Rewatching the show over the past week and realising how much like him I was seriously sucked. I always used to wonder how anyone could be like Bojack, but then after I realised my alcohol problem was as serious as it was, I just felt called out.
It's hard for anyone, but I felt like it was almost the perfect show for an addict.
I could never watch it for this reason. A little too real. Maybe now that I've been out of that life for some time, I could handle it.
I'm not advocating for anyone. Each to their own. But I was Bojack, and after already half-destroying my life, went badly to salvage it. I loved it because it was real to me. I never thought the show I'd relate to most was about an animated horse 😂
Hi I am Diane and bojack 😂
Play the tape forward to the inevitable hangover
My new life may be boring, but at least I get to be alive.
I tell my wife I'm going to drink and look her in the eye, the disapproval is usually enough.
I can have no drinks or all the drinks. No drinks is better.
“This too shall pass.” Cravings are momentary. They *always* pass.
I've found that thinking back over my regrets - like the mistakes and fucked up stuff I've done while drunk - snaps me out of the craving. Think about your rock bottom. If it happened once, it can happen again if you drink again. Then feel the relief and thankfulness that you never have to be in that place again.
My Son deserves the best Father I can be
It gets easier but it never gets easy Sang like the Jason Isbell song
I've been using this one a good buddy shared with me. "My emotions are temporary feelings and this feeling will pass." I say that enough times to make it sink in AND then I get busy doing something other than staying stuck in my head.
For me, I was able to take the central message of this sub to heart: i will not drink today. The connotation for me was, maybe tomorrow, but not today. When tomorrow came, said the same thing. Maybe timorrow
“If you’re gonna take even just a sip you might as well buy a handle and a case.
I like to repeat “I am living in my intentions”
I usually just lie down for a nap.
If I could drink like a normal person, I would do it every single day.
"Drinking is a net loss for me."
Play the tape forward
Congrats on 99 days!
Now 103! IWNDWYT!
I got tired of blacking out. My memory became a minefield of shame-filled, missing moments. I vowed not to create more. So for a while mine was “I’ve replaced blacking out with working out.” The gym became my sanctuary.
I tell myself if I really want it, it will still be there tomorrow
Ya, "go to a meeting" it was repeated to me in AA so many times. It does help. It reminds me whatever I'm feeling, I should get it off my chest, through text, phone call, or in-person meeting. It will take the power away and I can process it and move on. Also, physical activity has killed cravings a few times, too.
I called people from my meetings when I got cravings
"You don't *have* to drink."
You have X days in a row, it will take so long to get back there
"Your future self will thank you"...another one is "If you need a drink to celebrate, than you didn't accomplish what you think you accomplished. Not needing a drink means you did."
"I don't drink the same way I don't sniff glue."
I've had a phrase that helps me through a lot of things "black ball, white wall." There is imagery involved and breathing. Helps me to take myself away
I often ask myself “what is the choice that takes the very best care of myself?” It’s surprising how challenging taking care of myself has been in the past around drinking… well and not surprising really.
Mine is simply, "Pancreatitis." Don't want don't want don't want. 😖 That's enough to make me shudder, remembering those bleak days in the hospital.
Not a phrase specifically but I know exactly what I will get back when I take a drink. That realization saved me and keeps me going. One drink will not make me happy, it will make me agitated for more. I will not be able to stop until something bad happens. I have control up until I let myself have one sip. So I don’t take that sip.
“What’s changed since you decided to quit?”
No, I just remember the night I put the knife to my throat because I was drinking too much.
“Such sacrifice for so little to show” Lyric from Polaris song titled Pray for Rain
"Play it forward" ie, imagining the horrible hangover and bad aspects that will inevitably come
It’s easier to not drink at all than it is to just drink a little
Play the tape forward.
When you choose peace it comes with a lot of goodbyes
"Just have to get on the other side."
This too shall pass.
“It’s not gonna help anything.” Then I try to distract myself, have a snack, drink some water.
Play it out! (in your head) As far as you have to; from one drink won’t hurt, to rock bottom again… I usually say ‘fuck that’ pretty early in the process and find something else to do or eat…342 days.
This too shall pass... In my head, it reminds me that whatever I'm feeling won't last forever.
"Nope, Nope, Nope!"
It'll never be enough.
"It's a moment in time. It'll pass"
I don't miss you alcohol. Goodbye
Would it be better for my little boy if I drink tonight, or worse? Or if that doesn’t do the trick: do I want to play with my grandchildren someday or would I rather drink every day and die before my son goes to college.
Treating it like an actual competition gets me through. Trash talk and all. I seriously just don’t want alcohol to win or control me anymore. So far, I’m 30 days undefeated ;)
"eh, maybe later"
‘This here’s some stinkin thinkin ‘. And if it persists I switch to OmManiPadmeHum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Don’t want to break 136 day strike and it’s more and more motivating every day!
“If I drink, I’ll die a miserable death in less than a year.” For my situation, the logic behind that is pretty air-tight. Or someone on here suggested giving your craving a name you hate so, “SHUT THE FUCK UP, MUESLIX” works great for me. It’s the grossest-sounding word I can think of and I’m instantly reviled. Or “best case scenario, it goes horribly.” Which is true. If I drink, the best thing that could possibly happen would be that I have such a bad time that I don’t want it anymore. It would have to be a really really bad time though because otherwise it just breaks down the wall and I’ll be more likely to do it again.
I like this quote. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to use this from now on.
The man takes a drink. Then the drink takes a drink. Then the drink takes the man.
This will pass in seconds or minutes.
The next time will hurt worse! Was having kidney stones and distended liver. Never again!! IWNDWYT
The I am sober app lets you keep adding reasons you want to stay sober, including pictures. I keep adding to it every dat, quotes and pictures of all of the amazing experiences i have had sober. Every time I get a craving I scroll through it. It has helped me a lot. The only mantra I say is, I refuse to keep robbing myself of todays.
As much as today sucked, tomorrow will be worse if you drink tonight.
“I’m retired”
Not really a phrase but I just tell myself “you look so good right now. Do you really want your face to look puffy again”. That does the trick for me lol because I do care about my looks the most 🫣
"If I drink again then I'm allowing myself to be a person who does terrible things. As long as I don't drink I can work on forgiving myself for those things and moving forward." Basically I say the first part to myself and the last part is given.
This is perfect https://www.facebook.com/share/r/cv8mi6QkQaBV1vxE/?mibextid=0VwfS7
“ i can control the movement of my hands, now control the inside”
My version of the serenity prayer, instead of God I use Group of Drunks, which is my AA home group and my sponsor and the rest of his sponsees. Just had a craving yesterday and reached out to them, it's important to have people that can talk us through those moments, who know what we're going through, and have been there. A 6 pack of sober friends to replace that 6 pack of beer.
“Play the tape through”. Last time I drank I ended up in the hospital with my head getting stapled back together because I busted my scalp open. That and I don’t want to go back to detox. The detox ward at Tarzana Treatment Center is a fkn zoo.
“Roll the tape forward.” I remind myself of what happens after the initial buzz. Never good.
Sparkling mineral water
Drinking is as necessary as owning a gravy boat. I simply don't need it in my life.
I have an more eloquent one but mine atm is: “I just can’t live like this anymore”
Not really something I say out loud to myself, but it’s certainly a reoccurring thought. I used to hate who I was, now I don’t.
Play the tape forward. Basically, ask myself, how'd that work out for me last time, or the time before...
"I deserve to be happy. I deserve not to drink."
There is nothing I’m gonna encounter that someone else hasn’t also encountered and stayed sober though.
Every thing will go to shit again, if I drink. Then I make a sad face and keep on going.
I learned "play the tape forward" here and it's helped me immensely.
“Character + consistency = credibility” “if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” -ghandi “What does any length look like to me?” “How willing am I?” “One is too many, and a thousand is not enough!” “We don’t make those decisions anymore, Jean, we make new choices.” “If I want what I’ve never had, I’ve gotta do what I’ve never done.” “The definition of insanity isn’t doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, it’s doing the same thing over and over again knowing the result, and doing it anyway.” Half of these are cheeseball, but they work for me.
I remember how much it costs and add the days of work I miss because of it. Turns a few hundred dollars into a few thousand extremely quickly.
Not today Satan
Play the Tape Forward!
Bop your head back and forth: 🎶 "I'm all right, I'm okay, everything going to be just fine🎶 DUN DUN DUN I'm all right, I'm okay, everything going to be just fine 🎶 DUN DUN DUN...🎶" and repeat as necessary
Do not fucking drink. Do not fucking drink. Do not fucking drink. Quite similar to what I said while running through arty.
I saw this in a movie. An alcoholic dad has died and is currently wandering around as a ghost. He is able to see the various events that are happening in his family. Some are bad and he wishes he was there to help. Others are his daughter’s marriage and him wishing that he was around to join in the celebrations. In the closing scene he says “I thought I enjoyed my life. Only if I had known what I would be missing out on and how much I would wish I were there, I would have never done what I did”
I have rote memorized the 12 steps and recite them to myself. Same for all 5 verses of Amazing Grace.
I say to myself to remember why I want that drink, that it is because I want to drown my issues in it. Somehow it works for me.
"The Horrors persist, but so do I." Has been a heavy hitter lately, to be honest.
This too shall pass.
I just tell myself ah here we go again. I’m an alcoholic, it would be weird for me NOT to crave it sometimes.
"One day at a time" helps me. Keeps me focused, lol.
Embrace the suck.
I tell myself that this feeling is temporary, I’ve gotten through it before and that it’ll pass. Then I don’t give it any more attention, as annoying and loud as it wants to be.
“I Will Not Drink Today” Shout out to the sub because it really stuck with me. It’s perfect in its simplicity. 💙 IWNDWYT
In the words of Cormac McCarthy - "There is no such joy in the tavern as upon the road thereto."
"Hey remember being a broke pos who had no friends?"
Not really. I just play the tape back. Not putting myself through all that again.
I have a similar thing as well… I just redirect the thought as much as possible
If I drink today, all my tomorrows are up for grabs.
I just 'don't drink' anymore.I remind myself of this. I've deleted this option of drinking out of the equation. So when I get disregulated and crave alcohol I remind myself that's not actually a choice from the choices I have to choose from and I must move on to a different option available to me.
My sister saying “no one likes the drunk girl”
Regret, It feels like jerking off when you have a wife. It’s just not good to do lol.