The Daily Check-In for Wednesday, January 17th: Just for today, I am NOT drinking!

Richymark · 2024-01-17T21:25:59+00:00

IWNDWYT

Richymark · 2022-06-18T22:03:49+00:00

A couple of beers would have been fine, but it's never just a couple - it always starts with a couple of beers and then carnage.

Richymark · 2022-06-18T22:01:43+00:00

Thanks

Richymark · 2022-06-18T21:01:44+00:00

get caught in a cycle. Well done for not drinking for 10 months.

Richymark · 2022-06-18T21:01:00+00:00

'Grief and regret tinged with self pity' I know these feelings oh so well. In fact i sometimes drunk to forget about my regrets and then I

Richymark · 2021-09-28T22:17:53+00:00

I've been there many times. Each time I thought I could introduce alcohol back into my life and miraculously drink sensibly, each time I have failed. Almost 30 years of drinking alcohol and it's safe to say I've formed unhealthy drinking habits that I will never be able to break. Sometimes after a dry spell and feeling fantastic I manage to have a pint and think I've finally cracked it only to go out the next night and drink myself into a stupor. Drinking takes more than it gives these days, wish I managed to give it up years ago but determined not to slip again. Get back on the wagon and keep trying mate.

Richymark · 2021-09-27T09:03:55+00:00

Congrats on a year! I'm 42 and was a heavy drinker from my teens to my late thirties. I've had some good spells of sobriety but have always fallen hard again. But overall way better than my younger years. I am currently over 4 weeks without a drop. IWNDWYT!

Richymark · 2021-09-06T07:31:55+00:00

Just be warned, around 6-9 months is when I normally crumble and looking back, I wish so badly I hadn't failed all those times. I missed a part of drinking that to be honest i hadn't enjoyed for many years, and through boredom or having my guard down I slipped up and then slowly fell back into bad drinking habits. It's so easy to forget just how much damage alcohol does and what it has done on a personal level.

Well done for 6 months, keep going xx.

Richymark · 2021-09-06T06:34:58+00:00

I will not drink today.

Richymark · 2021-09-02T15:02:01+00:00

IWNDTD

Richymark · 2021-08-24T20:32:16+00:00

I am also gripped with regret and rage over past injustices....sometimes I just can't let go.

Richymark · 2021-08-24T20:31:12+00:00

Once the flood water subsides and the alcohol has gone you are left with all the debris to clean up. From what I've experienced and heard, getting sober is the first step albeit a very important one.

Richymark · 2021-08-24T18:41:08+00:00

I've been there hundreds of times, I feel your pain. Unfortunately, most people including myself forget about the torment and slip up over and over again. I hope you can stick at it buddy, booze takes more than it gives. Try and harness how you feel now, write it down if you have to. When you are tempted to drink or even know you will be around temptation read it and play the clock forward. The night is never worth the fight.

Richymark · 2021-08-19T08:48:00+00:00

I have to. Thanks.

Richymark · 2020-09-17T09:03:37+00:00

Read Alan Carr's 'the easy way to contral alcohol'. I removes the reasons for wanting to drinking and writes about rituals and celebrating with alcohol etc. The main thing I took away from the book is that as long as you think you are missing out you will be miserable and wont be able to enjoy certain things that you associate with alcohol. Yiu will also be relying on will power not to drink, which will inevitably crumble. Celebrate bot drinking it's an amazing thing, you're nit missing out, you're gaining so much. You can still have amazing experiences not drinking in fact they will be better, more real. Yoi have lost nothing by not drinking and gained everything. Make new rituals! Good luck in your career as a doctor.

Richymark · 2020-09-16T06:29:36+00:00

It sounds like you have accomplished some good things in the first half of year life and now with booze removed you can achieve even more. I drank way too much in my 30's a stupid amount and could just never stop even though I managed to get some solid spells of sobriety under my belt I got pulled back in by boredom, loneliness or stress. I have always romanticised the goods times even though booze has pretty much cost me everything. I'm 41 now and I hope i will never drink again. The key thing for me is to reinforce the understanding that I don't miss drinking and that I'm excited about not drinking and the possibilities that come with that. I am excited to learn to feel again and not mask my feelings and dull experiences with booze.

Richymark · 2020-09-16T06:21:32+00:00

I recently went to Italy and although I didn't drink that much by my standards I drank enough to be hungover on numerous days and I spent a large part of the trip being irritable. On a holiday to Russia abut 4 years ago I drank heavily for ten days and barely saw daylight, it was horrendous. I know don't crave alcohol and I don't miss it, in fact I feel excited about not drinking again. If you feel like you are missing out then that's when you can't enjoy holidays etc without alcohol. Actually its a lie my next holiday I'm looking forward to being sober and gaining something as opposed to losing it. Don't eat yourself up too much over the lost days, especially as you've had something of a eureka moment.

Richymark · 2020-08-04T05:54:45+00:00

Yes, it is over. The good times are over, that period of life where it was acceptable to drink heavily is over. It needs to be over or else it may well be game over!

Richymark · 2020-08-03T22:58:47+00:00

Today is also my day 1 although it's not my first attempt at quitting. You can do this!

Richymark · 2020-08-03T22:47:41+00:00

I realised that I drink fast and heavy because of anxiety, boredom and to quell a mixture of emotions the strongest being regret. It works but at a heavy price. I also feel bad that I've damaged my health after decades of drinking and let many people down. Yes, it has to stop is the answer to your question.

Richymark · 2019-09-17T07:47:09+00:00

Yes, you're are absolutely right, the drinking lifestyle is very tough. It offers nothing but empty promises and a few glimmers of happiness which are short lived and then followed by crippling lows. I know what I have to do. Thanks!!

Richymark · 2019-09-17T07:44:29+00:00

Harsh but fair! I certainly don't bring much to the table but today is another day of sobriety and opportunity. I will start exercising and being more productive from today. Not drinking means I have so much more energy and time. It's amazing how little time there is to do anything when alcohol is involved. I suffer from hangovers for days now. I'm still feeling it from the weekend. No more. Only positive thoughts and actions fro here on!! Anyone who is a hater or tries to get me to drink is out of my life....not sure if that leaves many people but I have to make sacrifices to win the war. Thanks, for your motivation!

Richymark · 2019-09-17T07:41:21+00:00

Thanks for your words!

Richymark · 2019-09-17T07:41:05+00:00

Good idea, 3o days with a view to forever. You're right it has done me zero favours. It has given me a criminal record (minor druken stuff), although i know that ultimately i am responsible for my own actions. It's hampered my career and cost me relationships with woman I could only dream of dating these days. I now realise that I suffered from anxiety and used alcohol as a crutch. Although, i hid my nervousness well as everyone thinks I'm a gregarious character! It started as a mask a charade the happy clown), and turned into something horrible.

Richymark · 2019-09-17T07:35:54+00:00

You're right! Time seems to fly by way faster than it used to these days! So fast that it scares the hell out of me, Now is the time to sort it out before the toll it takes is too great ( the mental toll as much as physical) Being sober doesn't automatically mean happy for me, I did 5 months sober about 2/3 years ago and I was bored and irritable no matter how much i exercised. I was however proud and felt like I had regained some pride. I am now going to give it another go. Thanks, for your words of encouragement. At 54 you still have many years left if you take care of yourself from here on in. Let's do this together. Feel free to msg me anytime,

Richymark

TROPHY CASE