Just started a journal.hope it helps.

NMac, what I forgot to post was that for the first three days, I took it one hour at a time! By day 3-5, I found my positivity again! It's not easy, but it is doable!!

Thanks lost that makes me feel better I had my last drink Saturday at 8pm beginning day four.

For me the most difficult time of the day is right after I get out of work with my brain on fire. Instead of heading straight for the store to by my daily dose of misery I eat a good meal. When I have a full stomach the craving for the alcohol practicly goes away.

Rene that sounds like me out of work raced home to drink

Excersise is also a vital part of my routine. I start the day early with a bike rida or a walk.That not only helps me burn those extra pounds it helps keep the "comitee" in check.

I'm going to divide my reply to you because for me there has been a huge difference in short term abstinence and long term recovery.

Short term:
Each time I stopped drinking (and I was physically dependant) it took longer to recover from those effects. Once the physical effects had settled I became more optimistic that I could stay away from alcohol, even though I was plagued by thoughts about it. I did a lot of what previous replies have contained such as exercise, affirmations, journaling my feelings etc which all make common sense.

Long Term:
I am an alcoholic so unfortunately my rational mind was affected in active alcoholism by a form of delusional thinking as far as alcohol was concerned, even when alcohol was not in my body. The delusional thinking was not active all the time so there would be periods of time when the reasons why I should not drink were readily summoned - like knowing I shouldn't eat peanuts because I have a nut allergy. But I had mental blank spots too when the delusion was active and that's what lead to me picking up a drink again. My time not drinking varied from a couple of years decreasing to a couple of months decreasing to a couple days to a point where I just could not seem to stop at all.

This is what I was facing as a chronic alcoholic - broken dreams, broken and damaged relationships, two marriages down the pan, being fired from a job, injuries and hospitalisation, dangerously poor health, rejection, debt.

This is what I was doing as a chronic alcoholic - lying, cheating, being selfish, stealing, resenting, loathing, demanding, hurting, isolating.

This is how I was feeling as a chronic alcoholic - angry with myself and anyone who tried to help me, self pitying, critical of others, self-loathing, self-important, depressed, anxious, fearful, jealous of others, unfairly treated, unlucky, misunderstood, obsessive on and on.

The lists are longer but that's quite enough for now.

So facing all this, and bearing in mind that escape into alcohol was my biggest obsession at any cost in price, time and effort, it was obvious a lot needed to change with my mental health, my physical health and my relationship with others.

So what to do? I needed help and for me the best help came from other alcoholics who had recovered from the same sort of situation I was in.

This involved finding some kind of faith in something stronger and bigger than me that I could believe in and was available for me 24/7. I had to open my mind, start getting honest with myself and others and be willing to work through the mound of problems and fears.

I had to realise what character traits and ways of thinking were most troublesome and would need to be changed. I had to make peace with the past and put right what I could by paying back money owed and making good, as far as possible, my responsibilities and amends to the people I had hurt or harmed.

Then I had to continue to learn how to conquer fear through faith and action and be productive and helpful so that I can contribute to life rather than be at odds with it. I had to learn a lot and I still do but I have come to love the journey, not least the gratitude for my recovery and mended fences, peace of mind and years of happy sobriety so far that have been the result of a spiritual path.

All that works for me!

I've found recovery is a frame of mind and when tapped into it creates a thirst for understanding across the board. If I dwell to heavily on any form or interpretation I close myself off to a far less free flowing interpretation based more on standards set out on anothers yard stick . The people in AA and other discipline's related to me, knowledge is only as far as I personally am willing to take it , based primarily on my own misconceptions I have acquired in general ...like many have said to me, the Day is early, get busy.....but try and steer clear of limitations or expectations set upon me thru penance or over achieving rhetoric....the possibilities are unlimited with both a open mind and a thirst for understanding...the internet which I did not have, is like a balloon game at a fair, throw a dart at the prizes and win big and find yourself again:))) With of course others to bounce it of,which has great merit. Plain and simple stop the insanity of conformity or uniqueness with.....a clear eyes view of Moi(me)....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpomgKF1ewo
Billy.....

Taking things day by day seems to be what works for me. I also remind myself what happens when I drink and the fallout/anxiety.

Meditation and prayer , it's funny ,, when you lock yourself in a room and it's just you and GOD ,, you do a lot more listening ,,,and a lot less talking ,,, and my talkin was usually about how I could handle my alcohol ,,, I do make myself laugh at times.

I'm like pebble. meditation and pray, getting away by myself and spending time with God. And making a list of everything good about being sober and everything bad about it. I would look at the bad list when I even thought about a drink. And I did not want to go back to high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and rotten sleep along with many many other things.

I recently heard while watching T.V. And you know everything is right on T.V. or cable.. Whatever... From a Life Coach to ask yourself every day.. What went right about today? It's kinda cool and true. We always dwell on the negative but what was right about what we I did or asked or...? Basically stop concentrating on the idiocy that is part of the day to day, but what impact or positive was there. There is always something even if it's small!!!

good one Thirsty.. I like that.

I did some transactional analysis before I got sober, but I wasn't able to get the full benefit of it until I quit drinking. Sounds silly now, and a lot of people poo-poo the whole thing, but I wrote a lot of letters to myself, to my "inner child" and to my "adult" self. It really helped me get centered and find balance in my life.

One of the best self-help books I've ever read, and it goes along those same lines, is called Me, Myself and You, by Vincent P. Collins. It's old. First published in 1974. But it was excellent, and I highly recommend it.

Finally, although I hesitate to say this, I actually DID the steps of AA. You know, it's not like you just show up at meetings, talk to people, pray, and then read a book. The program gives you things to think about and to do on your own, and I did them. Some were spiritually oriented, but many were not. Sorry, but you did ask what worked for me!

Oh Laura! You misunderstood me. I meant what did you find most useful about AA, not to not post about AA. I just didn't want people to simply state "AA worked". I was hoping to have people learn why it worked, or anything else we did was working, so that they would get a better idea of what might work for them!!