HR Ep 12 – Living Sober

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For more information visit HammeredRecovery.com  or e-mail me at justin@hammeredrecovery.com

Show Notes

• Family Trip – Glensheen Mansion
• I believe there is a marketing Opportunity
• If you do the research I think you can pretty much conclude who did it, but I am not going to get into that since this is not a murder mystery Podcast although if I could figure out a way to tie those together I definitely would.
• However, I’ll tie it together in this way Sobriety could use a bit of a marketing campaign as well.
  • I think for those starting out they look at it as loosing something
  • We need to start looking at it as gaining so much more.
• First you need to get through that first year.
  • All the studies will show that if you can make it a year the chances you stay sober go way up.  Why is this?
    • A lot of the research will say that your brain starts to reset and not think about it anymore.
    • I also think you get past all the firsts that can be hard
      • First work trip
      • First Happy Hour
      • First Vacation
      • First Birthday
      • First Xmas
      • First Meeting
  • But how do we do this?
    • 24 hours at a time
    • All you need to do is string 365 24-hour periods together
• I have already talked about
  • Meetings
  • Sponsor
  • Working the steps
• Today I am going to focus on a few more ideas
  • Technically one day at a time is a tool, but I’m going to talk about how to get through 24 hours.

• There is a book by AA called Living Sober – I’ve become a little addicted to books written before I was born. This book was written in 1975

• Because you find things like

• “…Treatment primarily involves not drinking…” American Medical Association
• I like this book because it’s written by AA, not doctors.
  • People with experience.  They don’t know why things work; they just now that they do.
  • Of course, there are doctor’s
    • Bill W and Dr. Bob – Founders of AA
    • Bill was a Businessman
      • Managed to stay sobor 5 mos. by helping others (12^th step) he traveled to Akron for a meeting that didn’t go his way.
      • After he felt compelled to drink, but instead he searched out another alcoholic to talk to and found Dr. Bob.  May 15^th, 1935, first AA meeting.
      • Dr Bob was still an active alcoholic, but never drank again
      • Took 4 years to put together 100 former alcoholics to write the Big Book.
        • Maybe I’ll do a more informative podcast on that…
  • Eating or drinking something – usually, sweet
    • This booklet is based on our own personal experiences, rather than on scientific reports.  So, we cannot explain precisely, in technical terms, why this should be so. We can only pass on the word that thousands of us – even many who said they had never liked sweets – have found that eating or drinking something sweet allays the urge to drink.
      • Arnie Palmer
      • I was a Diet Coke drinker – I moved back to Regular Coke, and now on to Coke Zero because … that’s healthier
      • I like ice cream all of a sudden.

• Anyone can quick drinking.  I’ve done it lots of times. How do we Live Sober?

1. Play the Tape Forward
   1. Quins Story

• Getting Active
  • It is very hard just to sit still trying not to do a certain thing, or not even to think about it.  It’s much easier to get active and do something else.
  • What to do with all this time on our hands we had once spent planning, getting our drinks, drinking, recovering…
  • Substituting a new and different activity is easier than just stopping the old activity and putting nothing in its place
    • Vacation
  • Active in AA
    • Not going to say much about this other than this is a good step for those that are on the fence about being an alcoholic too.
      • Don’t worry sitting at, and observing, AA. Meetings does not make you an alcoholic, or an AA Member, any more than sitting in a hen house makes you a hen.
      • Not required to do anything
  • Active out of AA
    • Taking walks
      • Eddie
    • Reading
      • Not a big fan, but I do it for the podcast
    • Going to museums
      • Usually don’t but… Gleensheen
    • Starting on long-neglected chores
      • I just moved instead, but may be good for you
    • Trying a new hobby
      • Grilling/Cooking
        • YouTube
        • Something that takes a lot of time and seems out of your league (bacon)
      • Podcast
      • Sober House
    • Revisiting an old pastime
      • puzzles
    • Taking a course
      • I’m thinking about learning a new language
    • Volunteering
      • Many opportunities out there
    • Doing something about your personal appearance
      • Easier said than done.
      • I checked myself into Hazelden at 185, I’m currently at 202
      • Going on a trip in November and I am committed to be back at 185, but a healthy 185
      • I quit drinking… I am not going to quit eating.
    • Taking a fling at something frivolous
      • Realize how much money you are saving not drinking.

• Remembering that alcoholism is an incurable, progressive, and fatal disease!
  • The key word her is fatal.  This disease is trying to kill you and it won’t stop until you are dead.
  • Let’s break it down
    • Incurable
      • Just like people who have an allergy to peanuts I have an allergy to alcohol.
    • Progressive
      • I know that at the years went by my problems related to drinking continually got worse
    • Fatal
      • Not only have we seen many alcoholics drink themselves to death, dying of withdrawal’s (DT’s or seizures) and cirrhosis of the liver, which can be directly attributed to drinking
      • But also: Car accidents, drowning, suicide, homicide, heart attack, fire, pneumonia, or stroke.  All caused by drinking but classified differently
  • If you get on a bus bound for a town a thousand miles asway, that is where you will end up, unless you get off the bus.
  • Many people just deny it is true, ignore the conditions, accept no help, suffer, and die.
  • Or you can accept the diagnosis, so you can still live many happy, productive, healthy years.
    • Then we can figure out how to live comfortably, not bitterly, with the knowledge as long as we simply avoid that first drink (just for today)
  • Anyone who wants it is welcome to a free trial period of this new concept of self.  Afterword, anyone who wants the old days again is perfectly free to start them all over.  IT is your right to take back your misery if you want it.  On the other hand, you can also keep the new picture of yourself, if you’d rather.  It too is yours by right.