Pardon me if I explain this poorly. Part of recovery is being completely honest with yourself. Alcohol brought on a roller coaster of emotions as I’m sure we all can agree. One part that’s always puzzled me is the physical mental state vs the emotional mental state. During my time of both drinking / sobriety I always managed and at times excelled with physical activity such as pushing myself in the gym, 5K races and losing a significant amount of weight. As a former athlete I had this drive that was embedded in me. When it comes to emotional response is where a majority of my problems with drinking occurred. Egotistical behavior, irrational reactions and impulsiveness. Emotional instability when something I thought I deserved didn’t go my way. I guess my main point is it requires mental toughness to get yourself up a hill in any race and the consistency to practice yet words or rejection from friends and strangers and I act as if I’m 9 years old. A punk so to speak who didn’t get his way. Hoping in sobriety and with therapy I can tackle these immature and irrational thoughts.
Amen man! Emotional pain is worse than any physical pain. Win the race against the beast inside. You got this. Affirmations said allowed are very helpful
It’s pretty big of you to admit that. I’ve heard it said (in AA) that we stop maturing emotionally at the age when we started drinking. I think that oversimplifies things, but for me, it was pretty true. I was like a 12 year old girl emotionally. It took working the 12 steps and some years sober under my belt before I began to develop (strengthen, if that is easier for you to think about) emotional sobriety. Think about it. It’s a muscle you have never developed. Have a fear, take a drink, have a negative thought, take a drink, have success, take a drink…a lot of us never learned to feel the stuff as it comes up. Emotional won’t kill us. Taking a drink over them just might. Glad we’re both sober!
Well put!
It’s like you speak my language!! Your post is full of wisdom about emotional sobriety, I feel a lot of people get in a rut of just trying to keep substance out of their bodies and struggle. I feel it’s imperative to get in touch with our emotions and begin the journey of emotional growth in sobriety, that’s where we find joy again. Great post
I’m agreeing with all here. Just not drinking was not enough for me. I had to do the work to address my thinking problem. Because I learned that my disease is centered in the mind.
So I use the 12 steps to help me learn how to change my mind and not react like a juvenile when things don’t go my way. It’s been a amazing journey.
You can! I'm the same way. Personally, the 12 Steps have helped me immensely. Recovery is a journey of self-discovery. Being patient is the hardest part for me.
AA and counseling has been a tremendous help for me. Definitely a roller coaster ride I finally had to jump off or it was going to derail. Thanks for the great post!