Press Start

Thats right.. I am double dipping today.

I had a minor freak out today. It was nothing super major.... alright, it was. You can see a little bit about it in my previous post. I was having somethings happen to me today and I had to express myself about them.

There are things that I know that are good for me.. but at the same time I don't want them to happen because they are going to hurt me emotionally. They feel like sandpaper on my face and I don't want them to happen... but I KNOW that it is the best for me.  Usually this revolves around stopping communications with specific people that I have no business communicating with because there is really nothing good for me to say to them.

Time and space are the things that are most needed... but to do this would mean that I would have to admit to myself that these feelings of pain are immanent.

I really hate feeling pain especially when it comes to relationships. I know that these are the times that make me grow and change.. but they still suck.

Last year at this time I was talking about the same thing as the new year came around. I was talking about how this new year was going to revolve around me.. and it was going to be the ALL ME 2013...  It was like that for a good amount of time.. all the way until April. I am hoping that I will be able to recapture some of that same spirit that made me change as a person at the beginning of last year.

I know that this is possible. Everything is possible in my world. Always was and it always will be.

The pain sucks.. but it is the touchstone for positive change in my life. It has been the past couple of times that it has happened to me.

Plus... Evidently.. I am a catch.

Thank God for this Blog

Thats all that I have to say....

I dont know where I would be if it I didnt have this blog as an outlet. I have used it on and off for the past almost 6 years as a place to express myself and be heard. Even if I dont get a whole lot of response on it.. I do sometimes. 

I have heard from people though that they have been given advice and inspiration through my words.. and that is all that I want to do. 

Sometimes I just think that I cant talk to anyone and I just want to write it out.. so this is what I do. I have few people that I am close to that I can reach out to and express myself too.... but I find that this avenue is essencial for me.... 

I really appreciate you all being here and reading this for the last 6 years.. it means a lot to me. As you can see I have been through a lot... but I never put my head down. I am always fighting.. I am a professional survivor... just the way that I like it. 

I went to a meeting today for the first time in awhile. I do not recommend taking so much time in between meetings. I dont even want to tell you how long it has been... way too long for an alcoholic of my type. 

It was good to be there. Reminds me that I cant control things.. and when I try to things get messed up. This is not my job anymore.. I have a new employer. My higher power is always looking out for me... and I have to let things go... and let it get handled elsewhere. 

Ups and Downs

So today has been a whole bunch of ups and downs.... one moment after the next.

The downs have been tempered by talking to close friends of mine about what is happening to me. Thats the way that it is supposed to go though. That is what I have learned through almost 6 years of recovery. It still really sucks though because I hate feeling like this.

The ups have been nice though even though there has not been that many of them. I know that will changed as time goes by. I hate knowing that is true though... that things will get better as time goes by. I know if for a fact because of how many times that I have been through this before.

I am really thankful that I have to work right now... working has been a savior for me because it keeps my mind occupied... and it means that I am with a group of people that cares about me.

Its the little things. Still really sucks though. The future will work itself out.

Cry Me A River

I hate being an adult sometimes. Sometimes I just want things to go the way that I want them to go. I want people to act the way that I want them to act. 

I guess I am just sore lately because of all of the things that have been going on with me lately... I know that I have no control over those things.. And that is a beautiful thing. 

Sometimes I have to make adult decisions... Or others have to make those decisions for their own good and they effect me. I have to respect the wishes of these people.. But I don't have to like them.  

I know that these things are happening and that they are for my own good. But damn it... It sucks. 

Good Place

Today has been one of those days that I can't explain. I really have no words for.. but I am going to try and put something together.

I woke up this morning on the wrong side of the bed. I was just feeling that everything was going wrong. My head hurt and I felt that my heart was not in the right place in my body. I knew what I had to do... I had to say a prayer and see how the day would play itself out.

I posted about my day on Facebook.. hoping to get some sympathy I guess. Sometimes I think that is what I need.... is just a little acknolodgement. I seek these things from other people....

I wrote another blog post... .on another blog that I write..  www.beaconhouse.org/blog and I started thinking about the Big Book and when it gives the example of your daily routine. What you should do in the morning and what you should do when you turn in.

I really don't have a daily routine.. i just kind of let everything go and just let the chips fall as they may. Things are beyond my control.. but I feel that I don't have any idea what is going to happen next. I don't have a lot of skills when it comes to knowing what is going to happen in my day. I know when I have to work and I know when I have to go to school.

I went to Marin and had some coffee and wrote. That is something that I have been trying to do everyday now.. is write about what I feel. A lot like I do when I am writing here.. but it is different. It is more like a journal... and I don't know what it is but I really enjoy the act of physically writing.... and I don't remember it ever being like that before.

When I got home from that... I was in this amazing place. I really couldnt desc
ribe it except for the fact that everything felt right.

I have been reading this book..... called the Untethered Soul. I have only read the first chapter so far but it really made me think..... about the inner dialog that goes on in my head and how that dialog is not me. Disconnecting myself from the dialog is something that I have never thought of before... That realization was something that took me to a really positive place...

I had never even thought of disconnecting myself from that voice.

Things are happening.. exactly the way that they are supposed to be happening and its a beautiful thing.

Life Happens

Hello everyone...

Just thought that I should say hello to everyone and check in. Well.. there have been somethings happening.

Namely.. my most recent relationship has just ended. Much like the way that the last one did... but not as dramatic and much less messy. There was a whole lot more understanding and talking after this one.. and I understand where she is coming from.

What I want to talk about this time is the way that I am feeling right now. How my eyes and mind feel right at this moment....

My eyes are open and my emotions are raw... I am feeling everything right now. My eyes are wide open and my skin is raw. Much like it was when I first got sober. I could feel everything with a magnitude and depth that I had never felt before.

I know that things will be alright... everything will be alright.

The way that I love is that I put my heart out there.. and I make myself vulnerable. I will not change the way that I love....

I think that it is time for a gratitude list.

1. Grateful for my recovery and the life that has come from it. 
2. For the way that I choose to love 
3. Knowing that I can love and that I am worthy of love. 
4. My amazing Higher Power... who has shown me that i am full of love. 
5. My friends.. who are right there for me. Even though they know the routine and this has happened before

Life happens... and I am a fan of it. Even though sometimes.. it really sucks.

These Are The Time

These are the times. The times that I remember how it used to be and I am very thankful for what I have. I am so glad that I have learned the importance of gratitude in my life. It is the foundation for so much of the way that I see things. I can look at something and almost all of the time I can see the positive side in it. I guess that I can see the glass half full.
Right now it is Christmas Eve and I am all alone in my room. Just thinking about all of the gratitude that I have for my life right now. Earlier I was feeling myself slip right into a bad place but I was able to get myself out of it. It is getting easier to do that as time has gone by since my break up.

Sometimes I think that I might just be being way to public about the way that I am dealing with the whole situation. Really, I think that is the right way for me. Sometimes I feel that nobody wants to hear me bitch and moan about it anymore.... but my friends are more then that. They are there for me through thick and thin... or atleast most of them are.

These are the times that I remember and am grateful for my friends and my family. Well... it's time to start my second movie of the evening. It's called Polar Express and I have heard that it is a great holiday movie.
Merry Christmas to all of those that are reading this.... and to all of those out there that are still suffering... I offer my love and prayers for you. I hope to see you soon and share some of my hope with you.

One Door Closes.. Another One Opens

So that was it. That was the end of that entire chapter of my life. It was a chapter that I though was going to last a whole lot longer. I wanted it to last forever. Things are not what they seem. Maybe I was just in love with the idea of being comfortable.
I think that I was really in love with that idea. Someone to be there for you for the rest of your life. Maybe its just too good to be true. No.... its not. It is out there somewhere.

Today I was feeling pretty good about the closure that I had experienced the night before. I was not feeling really good about the way that the entire thing ended. I said somethings that I really should not of said, but I just really wanted them to be said. I think that it was just my heart lashing out. It was a place of power that I had not felt since the whole break up. I felt that I was moving backwards when I did that. I felt that I was going back to some of my old behavior patterns.
I had a long talk about it when my sponsor and I have gone to a couple of meetings and talked about it. It is something that I am really not to proud of it and I do not think that I will have the opportunity to make an amends to her.
What I do feel really good about is the notion of being by myself for awhile. I really have not had the opportunity to get to know myself in the last couple of years. I have not been alone and right now I am very alone.
Today was a new beginning. Things are looking very bright. I am going to leave you with an amazing poem that I have carried close to my heart for the past couple of nights.

"Hardship may dishearten at first, but every hardship passes away. All despair is followed by hope; all darkness followed by sunshine."- Rumi

We Go On and On.

Another day... another feeling and another way to cope with it.
I love my friends for taking such good care of me during this time.

I have to try and fill up all of my time because of this whole thing. It seems to me that time alone is my enemy. I have somethings that are in the works that will help me address this.... and hopefully give me a whole new perspective on myself. More to come.

Went to a friend's show at a local bar and have had this song in my head for the last couple of days.
Hope that you all enjoy it. Check out their other stuff too.

Want to Know a Secret.

It;s so very amazing just how my Higher Power works in my life. I can never really get my head around it but I know that it is what is supposed to be happening.

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about my early sobriety... and just what it all meant to me. The way that it made me feel and the things that it made me do to keep it. That gift of desperation that I had was the very thing that vivid and sharp for me. For me, now and then, to drink is to die.

I was thinking of ways that I could recapture that urgency that I felt then... but there really wasn't any way to do that short of taking a drink. There was no way that I was going to do that.

Well, my Higher Power just gave me exactly what I wanted... and I didn't have to take a drink.

This works in so many mysterious ways. I can never even begin to grasp what my Higher Power has in store with me. I do know that it is going to be a very wild and interesting ride.  As if it hasn't been already.

Start from the beginning.

So today is where the healing will start from. This is the day.

I am going to have to grieve a bit though... so maybe the healing has not started yet. No matter what I think that today was a very big step for me.

I said goodbye to the person who I was in love with. I am still in love with. It will take me sometime to not be able to say that. This person meant so much to me that everything that I was envisioning for myself in the future revolved around her. That may not be healthy... but it sure is warm and comfortable. I really like the way that it felt too.... Knowing that someone was there for you and had your back.

Well things can change in that way... and when they change, the change can show you what is really important in my life. When all of this came down on my head tonight I started to get text messages from all kinds of friends in my life. That made me feel warm and comfortable in a whole different way.

Someone that I have met and hang out with a couple of times sent me something that really hit me hard... I will share it here.

“This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind…let it be something good.” Author Unknown

It is exactly what I need to hear... and I think this is exactly where I am supposed to be. It is a very uncomfortable place, but it is where my life is taking me. 

So I will go to bed.... very emotionally exhausted and with a throughly broken heart... but knowing that this is what the start looks like. 

Hit Hard

Today I have been hit really hard. There are so many questions that are just riding around in my brains. so many things that I want answered. Even if they were answered I really don't think that it would matter.... but thats what I want.
Today was the first time that I really cried about the whole thing. You would think that I would of cried when it was happening... but I think that I was more in disbelief. It had come out of no where and I had no idea that it was coming.
I feel like I am going crazy, I have to remember that I have to breathe.

When I was drinking, there were somethings that would really scare me. They would scare me half to death... and it was a reason that I would drink more.
One thing that really scared me was time, and the other was sleep.
Time scared me because it was all that I had and I hated being alone with it. So I drank and then I would pass out and that would help me waste time.
The second is sleep... or really the lack thereof. I used to hate that I would not be able to fall asleep. I would have to drink so that I would pass out.

Some of those same fears have come back to haunt me right now.

One thing that I keep thinking about is the commitment of the whole thing. You choose the words that you speak. You choose the things that you are going to say to someone else... and those are the words that are part of how they will feel.
All of a sudden, those words just don' mean anything anymore. Like they never did.

Thats how I feel right now. I am calming down a little. I have to go to a meeting tonight.... or I think I might explode.

The End of Day One. Back to Basics

Its so crazy to me how when I am comfortable and things are all good I really drift away from the program. I guess that I think that I have something to substitute for it. When the going gets tough and I really need it, it's there.
I know that when all else fails I have my program as my foundation. I went to a meeting tonight and heard from some people who were going through some similar situations as I am. they may neot be the exact situations, but they involve the same feelings. Its always great to get another perspective on things.
Someone said to me, "Do something for yourself." The really funny thing is I have that tattooed on my arm. It was something that a very good, old friend and I have tattooed on ourselves. Today I went and did a little retail therapy, and bought a new hat. It is something that I like to do to make myself feel better.
I have no idea what is going to happen with this whole thing. I don't know where it is going to end up, but I know that I am going to get there.

Day One. Start Your Clocks.

So today is day one of my life without her.... and the day has started off really pretty crappy. Last night I was feeling pretty motivated about what was going on with my life. I was looking at it as something positive that I could build on.
Today has started and it is a much different story. Its like when you get kicked in the balls, and you feel fine for about 30 seconds... and you think, this isnt that bad. Then it really hits you and you are on the floor. Thats how I feel right now.
I just need to put one foot in front of the other and do the next right thing. That is really a lot easier to say then do today because I really feel as though my trust was betrayed. I feel like I have been taken to the cleaners with this whole thing.

Last night, well early morning.... I was having a lot of trouble sleeping. I was having dreams, but I would wake up in the middle of them and then not be able to go back to sleep for a while.
I know that this is supposed to get better with time... but this is day one, and it really sucks.

Punched in the Gut.

Wow. Have you ever just felt like you have been punched in the gut. Not by a fist.... but by another persons actions. Well.... that is what has just happened to me. Someone that I though that I was going to build a life with has just broken my heart. This just happened, just about 20 minutes ago. So this is all still pretty raw.
Thank God that I have my recovery and sobriety. Thats all that I can think of right now. Lessons that I have learned in the rooms are coursing through my brain right now. I can just see peoples faces and hear other peoples words right now. It almost like when people that are in the military say that their training just kicks in... and they are on auto pilot. Thats how I feel right now. Auto-pilot.

I know from what  have learned in recovery.. that I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now. I don't know why I am here... but I know that this is where I am supposed to be, and it sucks. I know that my higher power has a plan for me... and that plan is way better then anything that I could of designed.

One thing that I have learned, just in the last couple of minutes is that I will try not to rest on my laurels with the next person who gets my heart. I will not just sit by and think that everything is alright... when there may be some communication that is necessary.

I know that I am going to feel the range of emotions over the next couple of weeks... and I know that I will be writing them down here. It is the one place that I have always been able to express myself... and air out my feelings.
One thing that is really amazing to me is how tired that I have gotten... just over the past couple of minutes. It really takes a toll on me.... I will talk to you all soon.. stay tuned.