sunday Oct 15

[InnerStrength]

Hey my muffins

Happy sunday morning!! I hope eveyrone is well....good job to everyone on the "Once upon a time" thread...its HILARIOUS!! Mike, I gotta say - a complete kudos to you for thowing yourself in there...great
job. You are a complete champ!
Anyways, it just occurred to me (and I notice that no one reminded me ) that I never started a topic yesterday....but because Mike (from absville) started such a great one yesterday (which I feel is really important), Im gonna still his...
He started his with this quote...
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“There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept from fear and apprehension. One of those days is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone beyond recall.

The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise, and perhaps its poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow’s sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is as yet unborn.

This leaves only one day – today. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burden of those two awful entities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened yesterday or the dread of something which tomorrow will bring. Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time.”
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So - I think this is important because I think we can easily drive ourselves crazy worrying about the past (esp when we have drinking issues - "what did I say!?" What did I do!?" or the future - "whats the point? Can I keep this up? worries worries worries etc"? And this can really hinder people getting better...
So,,,,do you find this to be an issue? AND how can we or do you cope with this?
How can we - or do you - stay grounded in today??

Love you all
Jen

[Guest]

sunday Oct 15

Really great post, Jen.
Today, I'm being good to my body, my family, and my mind.
That is a promise.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!

How 'bout them TIGERS????

[Mary Anne]

sunday Oct 15

Happy 15th everyone

Thanks Jen, what a great thought to start the day with, as I have already started worrying about tomorrow, but now, thanks to you will put those worries to rest!! And enjoy this beautiful day!! It is another cool one here, but yesterday turned out to be awesome once the chill in the air went away.

We sat outside and enjoyed the birds, (no bugs! ) and watched our chickens play........the kids rode their bikes for a while, and my son & I went on a little ride on the horses.:heart:

Today is a busy day, off to get movies for my son's school project, dinner at the in-law's, always a big "to-do", anyway, muffins, have a great one and thanks again Jen for the great start!!!!


Mary Anne:l

[mary8305]

sunday Oct 15

fustrated

have not been able to post,I'll see if this works

[lushy]

sunday Oct 15

I have something utterly profound to say here but I need my coffee first so I will write in a while! . Jen, you are not going to get busted for plagiarism or anything like that are you???

[InnerStrength]

sunday Oct 15

Let's hope not Lusch, my dear, let's hope not - cant wait til you post that profound stuff

[lushy]

sunday Oct 15

While I do worry too much about yesterday and too much about tomorrow I also am very good about living for the moment and taking things one day at a time and being in the moment. But I am finding that is part of my problem which leads me to continue to drink. When I comes to drinking it is all about the here and the right now and, as I have said many times before, instant gratification. If I am enjoying the moment I want a drink, if I am sad or stressed in the moment I want a drink, if I am bored in the moment I want a drink. It was not until the last year or two that I started looking beyond today and into the long-term and realizing I need to worry about the future with regards to the drinking. It is sort of like someone who never saves for retirement because they are busy spending all of their money today. And then when I get worried about my health I think, "Oh, what's one more day of drinking? I will try again tomorrow." Sort of the same way I approach exercise. Funny thing is in all other areas of my life I am annoyingly organized (most of the time anyhow) so I just do not get it. So my goal needs to be living in the moment, enjoying the moment but without always thinking it needs to involve a glass of wine. None of if will be worth it if down the road I end up with some liver ailment or some other disease because of this warped thinking. And the other thing I need to figure out, and sounds like some of you can relate, is this getting angry when I do not drink. How silly is that really? Are we 4 years old having a tantrum because we can't have that piece of candy? That is what it feels like to me. Is that how you felt Friday night Jen? I know it is very complex and has to do with the dopamine and the chemicals in our brain playing tricks on us but cannot our logical selves somehow rationalize above it all? Thanks for the food for thought, Jen.

[Guest]

sunday Oct 15

I can completely relate to your thoughts on this one, Lush. It's only been these last months that I can get beyond the instant gratification of "now I want wine so I'll have it" to "tomorrow I need to feel good and I'll be proud of myself and be HEALTHY for NOT having wine".
I understand the quote of Jen's post, but I must be thinking about the regret of some times that have passed that I was too drunk to participate in, some scary things that have happened, some helluva hangovers I've had to endure, some stupidity I've created to move beyond being THAT person and continue to morph in to THIS person. I do want to continue to hope for tomorrow!
I've got a race to run, dammit!

Just said to my M-I-L yesterday that I'm kind of worried for this race to be over. I NEED that goal. It certainly has worked for me. What next? I saw there's this Double/Double race in Durango Colorado next summer. It's 2 half marathons 2 days in a row. A trail half marathon Saturday then a road half marathon Sunday. Maybe I'll sign up for that. Or maybe I should start doing Triathalon training.

Am I going crazy???? I'm going crazy. Does anyone want to start training with me?

...help.... pre-race anxiety a bit, I think!

Anyway, back to the original topic, today needs to be a set up for a great tomorrow for me. And today also has to be a celebration of conquering some demons of yesterday.

Love to all muffins! Off to son #1's football game followed by son #2's soccer game. Fun!

[Saint Jude]

sunday Oct 15

Oh Becca! Durango is Beautiful!! Go FOR IT!!! That's about 2 hours drive from Telluride (where I lived, for 20 yrs), I have some wonderful friends there! Maybe I could meet ya!! I don't run because I don't have an acl in my knee... but the Animas river runs thru Durango!

OK, back to topic... And it is a great one Jen!(and Mike).
I'm also pretty good at living in the moment, at least these days... now that I'm not filled with remorse, self-doubt, & self loathing... Don't miss that at ALL!

One thing I have noticed though, something I didn't used to do at all... is when I do have few glasses of wine after work (which is most nights ), I do think about THE NEXT DAY... I NEVER used to do that. Before it was always..."Well there's still wine in the bottle, it wants me to drink it" No thought of how BAD I'm gonna feel in the morning. I guess just considering consequenses... some of us take a bit longer to catch on to that one!! HUH.... Who da thunk..?

[Allie]

sunday Oct 15

Jen and Mike,
That topic is really, really good. However it hit me in a bit of a different way - not so much with the issue of drinking, but with my Mom and her cancer. I really, really struggle with not worrying about the "what if's" that it can easily sabotage the joy and happiness in my life today. I often find myself lying in bed at night and the next thing I know I am picturing her (possibly at my house) on IV's, nurses coming and going, what this scene would do to me, to my children, etc. And I then I get all sweaty and nervous and then I realize I am worrying about something that may NEVER happen. And even if it does, I believe God will give me the grace to deal with it at the time, but because as the quote says, "tomorrow is still unborn", it is useless to take on the pain of it. All I can control is today, and every struggle and every joy that today brings, I am trying to make the most of it. But I agree with Lush as well -- we have to find that balance to not "take ON" tomorrow, but it is good to set goals for tomorrow and the future and think about the consequences of how our actions today will affect our future.

I am printing that out because it is very timely for me. Thanks for a great topic. Much better than peeing stories. (We need balance here, okay?) LOL...

Allie

[lushy]

sunday Oct 15

Sorry, I prefer the peeing stories.............

[lushy]

sunday Oct 15

Wow Fan did you know you were up to 10 AF days. Good for you!!! What aspects of the program are you doing? Are you trying for the 30? My 40th birthday is on the 26th (ahem, ahem......would like a party as nice as Kanga's please, except I don't need you muffs jumping out of a cake) and I plan to do AF until Thanksgiving. Until then a few AF days here and there. I have NEVER gone a weekend without drinking so it will be tough but I will stay busy, busy, busy. Congrats on the 10 days..........and no I cannot write my name in the snow. That is Spacie. Hey, Spacie where are you? You never come around......

[lushy]

sunday Oct 15

And BTW Fan, are you hitting on me now??? Wonder who will be next?

[Saint Jude]

sunday Oct 15

Ha!! Floozie!:H Isn't your old boyfriend still in town? My Hubby would be S****n BRICKS!!

I have a great example of living in the moment... Last night @ work I had table of 10 "old timers"... a few of em were trying to give me a hard time in kidding kind of way...

When the guy who was at the end of the table, closest to the coffee machine asked for a cup of decaf,(he was only about 10 feet from the coffee station), I very loudly said "What's the matter, did your legs fall off when ya sat down? It's right there! What do I look like ? A waitress?"

They were from out of town... I think I kinda suprised em!! Thank God they had a good sense of humor! They started it though...

[lushy]

sunday Oct 15

Good story Jude. And no ex Mr. Hottie left yesterday but I did not see him again after Thursday night. I think that was about all we could both handle. NOTHING HAPPENED so don't anyone start judging me. However, I am enjoying my new nickname of Floozie. I needed a little lift this month with turning 40 and everything so it was all a good thing. And as far as the scope of my talents, Fan? Too many to mention here. Just too many.