Newbies Nest

[Byrdlady]

14 years of blessed MindPeace. Thank you, MWO.

[Lavande]

Hey there TJAF, good to see you!
Yes the nest has been quiet but we’re mostly all here hanging around somewhere. Glad you are doing well, come join us on the Monthly Abs thread.

Lav

[TJAF]

Re: Newbies Nest

Greetings Nesters & Happy New Year!

I’m so happy to see some folks checking in & remembering how MWO was just what we all needed! Dedication, time & hard work has led us to our main goal - freedom.
We all have learned a lot about ourselves & about life. It’s not always easy but certainly doable.

Jane, CONGRATS on your 10 years AF :welldone:
Your gratitude is palpable, mine is too. Keep up the good work, we know how worthwhile it is, right?

Steady, Hello to you & I hope you are well!

3BOW, I’m happy to read about your successes. Freedom from all addictions is absolutely the best!
Check in once in a while with us & let us know how you are doing.

Hello to Shades, Mulberry & Slo.

Let’s all make 2024 the best year yet!

Lav

Wow. To echo a few here. Its been a while. The nest seems empty but then all you need to do is scroll through the thousands of posts and you will see a wealth of experiences, struggles and for those in need, successes! I'm one of those who reached out here and found success. If you are still here and looking for help just scroll on back.

[KENSHO]

Hi Nest! On a whim, I decided to try and find my post form the day I quit on 12-12-17. I found it, and read the painful month prior, and the two months after. What a weird thing to read back. It was uncomfortable remembering it all, and it feels far away. 6 years later, I picked up on some common themes - some still exist. But I am a non drinker now - it's just who I am. I can't even begin to express my gratitude for the people here who read my words, shared their stories and helped me find sobriety. I am forever grateful for you all

Frances! Good to see you, and I'm sorry you are going through a rough time. I remember when we tried to moderate. It didn't work. The thing that sealed the deal for me was accepting that I would always struggle with alcohol as long as I tried to consume it. Then I had to decide I didn't want to struggle. You deserve all the good things that come with sobriety - and you get to choose them for yourself, if you want.

Best to everyone!

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hello Nesters,

It’s been a while, thought I should stop in & see what’s going on.

Frances, I remember you, welcome back.
Sorry to hear about your brother, it sure sounds like he needs to quit asap! Alanon for yourself sounds like a good idea, you need support too. I hope they can help you understand why your brother is resisting getting help. It’s my personal belief that chronic depression plays a big role, getting that addressed first may help pave a way to sobriety for him. We can’t make anyone quit, they have to want to quit. Stick around with us, we will support you from here :hug:

Hi to Ginger, it’s nice to see you again.
There’s been so many people here in the nest over the years, it’s nice to see some checking in from time to time. Protecting our quits is top priority!!

Wishing a nice night for all!
Lav

[Ginger999]

Re: Newbies Nest

Byrdie, congrats on 13 years AF. You've always inspired me to live a life AL free. Thank you for that!

The same goes out to you, Lav!

May we all find and keep our freedom from AL.

[frances]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi all - Frances here. Been around for so so long and still haven't been able to stop drinking. Jane27 a huge congratulations to you on 10 years sober! Amazing!

I am not doing too badly, but my brother has gone into a deep hole with his drinking and I'm terrified. He is 62 and lives alone and since early December he has been drinking so much - he lost his job and he is losing track of days - he missed our traditional Christmas Eve with the family and I picked him up and brought him to my house on Christmas for dinner. This was before I realized just how bad things were and I hadn't realized what was happening and he drank so much so quickly that within probably an hour he had passed out. I thought OK this is it, he'll be devastated that this happened and he'll stop. When I took him back home he told me he didn't have any alcohol in the house and I thought that meant he wouldn't get any more. Of course I was wrong. We have a regular Wednesday commitment that he's been missing. He actually did go last week but he was a complete mess and wound up vomiting. I've talked to him about how worried I am but it doesn't seem to matter. I don't know what to do - I guess I'll go to Alanon to see if that helps me. I can't see how he can live like this and I'm afraid he's going to die. Thank you for giving me a place to come and vent about this.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Greetings Nesters & Happy New Year!

I’m so happy to see some folks checking in & remembering how MWO was just what we all needed! Dedication, time & hard work has led us to our main goal - freedom.
We all have learned a lot about ourselves & about life. It’s not always easy but certainly doable.

Jane, CONGRATS on your 10 years AF :welldone:
Your gratitude is palpable, mine is too. Keep up the good work, we know how worthwhile it is, right?

Steady, Hello to you & I hope you are well!

3BOW, I’m happy to read about your successes. Freedom from all addictions is absolutely the best!
Check in once in a while with us & let us know how you are doing.

Hello to Shades, Mulberry & Slo.

Let’s all make 2024 the best year yet!

Lav

[jane27]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hello Nesters, 3 BOW, I liked your long post. It made me reflect on the fact that sobriety doesn’t equal a perfect life, and that there is no such thing. I also liked Kensho and G’s post. All that we can do is our very best to be honest with ourselves, learn from our mistakes and nurture our determination to succeed at the things we want to.

Yesterday was 10 years sober for me. I can’t believe that it has been 10 years… how much has happened in that time (technology, Covid, politics). I am so deeply grateful for MWO and so many of its members… Birdie, Lav, the Ladies on a Mission, all of the folks that have shared their personal battles. Alcohol had such a hold of my life before I found this website. It took multiple attempts and failures before my quit stuck. The first time was 4 days followed by 13 days and then 57. Weeks, months and years passed between. So much has happened along the way. I have experienced highs and lows and witnessed the same among the regular posters. I wouldn’t trade my quit for anything. It took so much grit. So many layers of fight- finding new ways to out fox the demon and get through life which can have tricky moments.

For anyone struggling to quit and remain sober, I hope you will do the work to make it happen. If your drinking has bothered you to the point that you are here, it’s likely that you can’t control the amount or frequency and it’s causing you to feel badly. For me, the feeling badly got worse. Quitting never got easier. What made my quit stick, was doubling down my efforts, and seeking out new tools to help me get through each day (sometimes an hour at a time). I looked to the folks that had some sobriety rhythm and aligned myself with them.

No motivational speech was requested, but I wanted to express something about how I’m feeling about my 10 years sober. I am so grateful to MWO and my friends here. My life was changed exponentially for the better by this community. Freedom from addiction is a great gift. If you are reading this and suffering or feeling bad about yourself, please try to get through an hour or 2 without drinking. If a couple of hours seems easy, push yourself further. If you feel like you need to drink, try going to sleep for an hour. Try distracting yourself with anything else.

Each craving you push through is a bigger victory than you know. You are changing the circuitry of your brain. It’s hard. It takes time, determination, creativity and same kind of sly muscle that it requires to be a committed drinker. You’ve got the sly, it just needs to be channeled with the goal of NOT DRINKING.

Happy New Year, love and strength to all!

[STEADFAST]

Re: Newbies Nest

I hope [MENTION=24307]ThreeBottlesOfWine[/MENTION] reconsiders & comes back.

Just want to say hello and send love to my My Way Out friends.

Wishing you all well
:heartbeat:

[Slo]

Re: Newbies Nest

@Three BottlesOfWine, I liked your post! Why would you want to take it down? I appreciate you authentically sharing your thoughts & feelings; that’s what this site is for. There’s no worries, and there’s very few people reading it anyways. I do hope you will come back! You are a valued member here.

[Mulburry]

Re: Newbies Nest

I wish there was a way I could delete the above message, I was up all night trying to figure it out - but for some reason I cannot edit or delete it, I even asked an admin to remove it with no avail - so please kindly ignore it - I will not return to these forums even for the day count. I am very sorry for rudely interrupting the flow, I have no right to come in blurting my arrogance. Take care everyone

Of the two, I feel like this is probably the post that you should have deleted, haha.

[SHADES_of_IDAHO]

Re: Newbies Nest

Sending blessings your way for the Holidays and Love, Happiness and Good Health for the New Year. You all are always in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs Shades.

[ThreeBottlesOfWine]

Re: Newbies Nest

I wish there was a way I could delete the above message, I was up all night trying to figure it out - but for some reason I cannot edit or delete it, I even asked an admin to remove it with no avail - so please kindly ignore it - I will not return to these forums even for the day count. I am very sorry for rudely interrupting the flow, I have no right to come in blurting my arrogance. Take care everyone

[ThreeBottlesOfWine]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi folks, I don't visit this thread, I mainly use the day count thread and no more.

But today I want to share something with those who fear stopping, who are looking and wondering should they stop and when. I imagine the mind is saying all sorts of stuff like "in the new year, why quit now so close to Christmas?" well, let me advise you, this is the perfect time, there is no better time than now to quit and it's not difficult at all, the mind might tell you it is and I'm just talking rubbish, but trust me, a month ago I was on alcohol, weed and cocaine, this is no joke.

I thought I was okay with weed, I thought it was okay to have a bit of cocaine every now and again, I thought it was okay to drink here and there, but now that I'm sober of all that I'm looking back and noting what a fool I was and how lucky I was to come to my senses before it got worse.

I might say I'm not an alcoholic, I might say I'm not a junkie, but I am. And I'm proud of it, I'm proud to say I am these things so I can do something about it.

And it's so easy once you get into the mindset, once you see how subtle the addictions are and how each day is a little better, my body looks well, my face is radiant, I am full of joy and happiness because I'm doing something wonderful for me and each day I thank myself, I fill my day with stuff I would never do when I was a junkie, I did my whole garden, completely spring cleaned my apartment, I go for long walks and swims (I live in warm climates) I take my kayak out and I'm a much better person, people genuinely like me (sober people).

My spiritual path has also reopened and I know I'm on the right path now. There is nothing better than sobriety, nothing can improve what's already here in this moment, so listen not to the excuses the mind makes up, give yourself and loved ones a Christmas present and be sober, you will be so grateful next time you watch the sunrise, you will feel joy and happy to be alive.

All you got to do is absolutely nothing and you're already here...no waiting months or years, no...once you do it, once you get the mindset, once you make the decision its already happened, you're already sober and every day while sober is a blessing. Sure, I'm only 11 days alcohol free, but for me it might as well be a lifetime.

Happy Christmas to you all, be sober, there ain't no other way to be.

Love to all