The Daily Check-In for Monday, January 20th: Just for today, I am NOT drinking!
We may be anonymous strangers on the internet, but we have one thing in common. We may be a world apart, but we're here together!
Welcome to the 24 hour pledge!
I'm pledging myself to not drinking today, and invite you to do the same.
Maybe you're new to /r/stopdrinking and have a hard time deciding what to do next. Maybe you're like me and feel you need a daily commitment or maybe you've been sober for a long time and want to inspire others.
It doesn't matter if you're still hung over from a three day bender or been sober for years, if you just woke up or have already completed a sober day. For the next 24 hours, lets not drink alcohol!
This pledge is a statement of intent. Today we don't set out trying not to drink, we make a conscious decision not to drink. It sounds simple, but all of us know it can be hard and sometimes impossible. The group can support and inspire us, yet only one person can decide if we drink today. Give that person the right mindset!
What happens if we can't keep to our pledge? We give up or try again. And since we're here in /r/stopdrinking, we're not ready to give up.
What this is: A simple thread where we commit to not drinking alcohol for the next 24 hours, posting to show others that they're not alone and making a pledge to ourselves. Anybody can join and participate at any time, you do not have to be a regular at /r/stopdrinking or have followed the pledges from the beginning.
What this isn't: A good place for a detailed introduction of yourself, directly seek advice or share lengthy stories. You'll get a more personal response in your own thread.
This post goes up at:
- US - Night/Early Morning
- Europe - Morning
- Asia and Australia - Evening/Night
A link to the current Daily Check-In post can always be found near the top of the sidebar.
Good morning all, on this Day 2 of my shift, hosting the Daily Check-in.
First I'd like to say that my anxiety yesterday about posting the DCI for the first time was totally ridiculous and unfounded! It was just about copying and pasting and actually quite trivial to do. It worked perfectly. I guess it must be some kind of irrational subconscious thing.
So if any of you suffer from the same thing and are holding back from volunteering to host this wonderful DCI, don't worry about it. Just contact u/sainthomer (if you have more than 30 days).
For today's intro, I'd like to talk about the lesson that I learnt this weekend. It was Saturday (the day before I had to post my first DCI post!) and I was at a trade fair all day. Im in the hospitality biz so I was surrounded by wine and beer all day. Which was ok for me as I've been doing it regularly for over a year. (I wouldn't recommend it if you are in early sobriety. I'd wait until you feel stronger and more confident before going to bars, restaurants, fairs, events, etc where alcohol will be offered)
The thing is, I had decided to take my leave and go to bed a few hours after dinner, at around midnight. BUT I allowed myself to be persuaded to stay on for a while even though I didn't really want to!
I was tired after working all day, I was nervous about posting my first ever DCI post here, and I was looking forward to a nice hot shower, lying in a cozy bed, reading a bit, and getting some lovely restful restorative sleep.
But I was also having a great time and good conversations with friends and people I hadn't seen in a long time.
Bad decision. I ended up not enjoying any conversations bc we went to loud music dancing places, where it was difficult if not impossible to talk much! And I only got to sleep for about 4 hours as I had to get up early!
So the lesson I'm taking from this, is to prioritize your self-care and from now on to take decisions that favour your physical and mental wellbeing.
With hindsight, I see now that it was my dormant inner addiction lizard-demon that sent me a sneaky curve-ball, lol! If I'd thought it through, I'd have seen that no way could I expect to continue to have "good conversations" after midnight, as my friends and acquaintances continued to drink alcohol!
What do you all think about this? What can you learn from this?