like a tea bag?

[Guest]

its about time i started a post.

I saw a really inspiring show about a woman overcoming some rather huge obstacles... and there she was with her disabilities doing motivational speaking and she said something i just loved...

'a woman is like a teabag.. its not till she gets in hot water that you discover how strong she is'.

Now, blokes, of COURSE, this could refer to men ... i'm just telling it as she did...

I love it. There are a lot of teabags in the world.. and when we get in hot water.. we find the strength.

i know i'm posting this early for you americans but its a new day here - 16th already.

Neil.. while i'm posting it must be the 15th for you.. one month to a year, mate. Countdown is ON.
Brigid

[xtexan]

like a tea bag?

Hi Brigid:

Yep, today makes 11 months! Still going strong.

I saw that movie "28 days" with Sandra Bullock at the Wally World for $5, so I decided to throw it in the shopping cart. I read some other members talk about that movie, and said it's pretty good, so I got it. Besides, she looked pretty delicious in "Demolition Man", and a couple of other movies. I know that this movie is about a woman who gets into trouble with the booze, and has to go to rehab, so that will be tonights 11 month celebration for me.

I told one guy at work, who is a"hella" boozer (as "SouthPark" Eric Cartman might say) that I hit 11 months today, and he just shook his head. He gets the shakes bad if he goes 24 hours without a drink. He always says, "I don't know how the heck you did it. I figured you would have cratered last September!". Actually, September was probably one of the hardest months I had to get though. The nine month syndrome as I call it now. I wrote a post about how maybe it has to do with the 9 month human gestation period, and rebirth or something.

Anyway, I always tell that guy my milestones, as he has seem me falling down, passed out drunk on quite a few occasions. I've been very close to getting into a fight with him several times while we were both drinking whiskey and such back in the day. I mean a knock down, punch out your lights fight. When we're sober, we're fairly good buddies at work. I don't socialize off hours with him anymore, as he just hammers the hard liquor with abandon everyday. He says somedays, he can stop at 5 or 6 drinks, and that is what he considers moderation. The guy has a hollow leg if I remember right, and always had a much higher tolerance than I did.

So there it is. One year, here I come!

Be well.

Neil

[gabby]

like a tea bag?

Fun count down Neil! i'll be countin down with ya my friend.

[helen mary]

like a tea bag?

Well done on 11 months. I really am going to get there this time, I don't know why I just know it. You will enjoy 28 days its a good film. I wish I had been financially able to go to rehab as I they it would good to be in that little bubble type atmosphere with other recovering addicts.

I am quite newly sober compared to you. One of the things I have noticed is the need to fill the time that I used to spend drinking. I watch loads of films and read masses of books and this helps, but I have also enrolled on an English Exam Course on-line. I didn't pay much attention at school but now I am ready to go and am "reading around my subject", I am really excited about it.

I love the teabag line, I have copied it to email to my sister and friend.

Helen
x

[mikeupnorth]

like a tea bag?

Neil: Well done! I am so happy for you! And 11 months MUST feel wonderful. You will soon be celebrating your first "birthday" and I look forward to helping you do that. Then you and Brigid will both officially be toddlers! (And I loved the movie 28 Days. And Sandra Bullock -- even I can agree she's hot! But Viggo Mortensen is more my type...)

And the teabag analogy is very true, Brigid. It's too bad we humans can't just be plopped into this life fully cognizant of our potential, but it seems to take the "hot water" situations to help us see what we have inside ourselves, and to let it out.

I know in my own case I kept my own potential -- my own power -- locked up inside. I felt like a pressure cooker. The pressure kept building up and up on the inside, and on the outside I kept getting more and more rattled.... things were staring to shake and shimmy as the pressure grew. I think I knew on some level what I was capable of, but it scared me. I was afraid to let go and allow myself to grow and be who I was meant to be -- and I suffered tremendously because of it.

Over the years I have gone through some situations I thought I never would have survived, and here I am, doing fine. I also survived over a decade of heavy drinking which, at the end, could have killed me. Something has clicked in my head (thank God) and unlocked some of my personal power, and I can feel it flowing through me now. And it's not just in the area of staying sober, either. I feel stronger in my work. I feel stronger in my relationships. I feel stronger in general. I see this as the beginning of a transformation. What's it called when a caterpillar emerges from the cocoon as a butterfly? Metamorphosis. That's what I feel is happening to me. It started before I got sober 2 months ago, and this is just the beginning. But one thing is for sure: going back to drinking is the surest way to sabotage that growth.

So I wish that it hadn't taken the hot water to get me where I am today. But that's what it took, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. So I am glad for the hot water, if that makes sense.

[dilayne]

like a tea bag?

Yes, the tea bag analogy does fit...it can work the other way too..when you are inflated and THINK you are strong and can handle everything, that hot water can be humbling..for me that was a good thing. I learned that I was only human and needed some deflation before I could no my 'real' strength...or to understand what 'strength' really looks like..sometimes our strength is our weakness and vic-a-vers-a.

[spacie]

like a tea bag?

Whenever I'm feeling a little weak I'll say to myself "just add hot water" I like it!

Way to go Neal how cool is it going feel to be able to say ONE YEAR - wow!!

I caught Robin Williams on Ellen yesterday and he briefly talked about his fall. He explained it like this - when you're at the top of a cliff looking down there's a tiny little voice that says "jump" but you don't jump. It was that tiny little voice that told him that it would okay to have a drink and he listened. I guess we need to make sure if that little voice tells us it's okay we tell it to jump off a cliff!

Any way, 28 Days is good, if it pops on the tv I like to watch certain parts and I like Viggo but Sandy is cute and I've liked all of her movies and Viggo's too

Later gators,
spacie

[Guest]

like a tea bag?

Like Di, my hot water has taught me humility. As a few here may remember, I first found MWO a couple weeks after being charged with "drunk in public". That was one year ago November 19th. I was very fortunate in that the charge was dropped, but it was a huge wake up call for me. I had never even had a speeding ticket, let alone been handcuffed and taken in to custody til my husband could pick me up. Humility, unfortunately, didn't quite stick, as I still fought this battle of obsession a few times since being here, trying to control it and/or make the problem go away. Now that I have finally made a decision and surrendered to it, I feel free. I accept that I can no longer drink. I am at peace with that. I feel like my life is just starting, at least a huge part of it. Thank you all you long term absters! I couldn't do this without you....6 weeks and 1 day today!

[spacie]

like a tea bag?

WAY TO GO GINA!!!

It's not easy to come to terms with what you want to do and what you must do and it takes a long time to sort it all out but when you make the decision it is a huge mental and physical relief. It's not easy but knowing others on this board share the same inner battles makes it much easier.