On day 14 of 28 days dry. I used to use the word sober instead of dry. However, that is not accurate, as even when I drink I am usually sober. Then, I guess everyone’s idea of what sober means is different also. I use sober in the title here as it comes up in searches more often.
Have I had cravings the last 14 days? Yes. Have I come close to close to giving in? No. Overall, it has been relatively easy. I think part of it is because I am more cognizant today of my triggers and how to get passed cravings. I am also very competitve and to give in would mean I would have to admit failure.
Cravings sometimes come at times when I would expect them to, and other times out of the blue. On Friday nights triggers are expected. Friday nights at dinner time is when I would normally have my first drink of the week. So, to have my wife and one or two others, as we often seem to have visitors on Friday eve, open a bottle of wine in front of me, I often have craving. But, I also had one while reading an article about how Miller Lite had taken over Budweiser as the #2 beer in the country. Just reading the article made me crave an ice cold Bud. Or, maybe I wanted to help them regain the lead.
In any event, getting over the cravings is much easier today. When something silly happens like getting a craving while reading an article, I simply change my thought to something else. When I have a craving on Friday eve, I can simply walk to another room for a few minutes. I have mentioned this many times before, but I can also eat to squash a craving. The more the better. I rarely crave booze when I have a full stomach.
I noticed again this year that my wife has not seemed to notice that I am not drinking. Either she notices more than she lets on and chooses not to say anything or she simply doesn’t pay as much attention to it as she once did. I always join her in a beer or a glass of wine on Fri and Sat night dinner. But, 2 weeks in a row I passed and she said nothing.
I was reading a few of my blog posts from one year ago. The first post after my dry January period stated that I went 2 drinks over the first week of resumed drinking. I already know that my first week back is going to be a challenge. I am sure I will have a couple of drinks the first night as I will be in Chicago for some training and I will be with a bunch of peers. Then, on the way home the next day, I plan to have a beer before hopping on the plane. The next night is the last night of our basketball season and we will be going out for drinks after the game. Finally, on Sunday is the Super Bowl. There’s a lot of triggers that week. I will have to give it some more thought and come up with a plan.
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Tags: AA, Alcoholic's Anonymous, BAC, sober, vodka
January 17, 2012 at 10:04 pm |
Being aware of the difficulties is the first step (and a huge one) to avoiding the problems. Good work, brother!