Aa
Breakthrough! My Important Lesson Learned
Ok, first of all please humor me a bit, lol. I know many of you have likely told me this very same thing that I am about to share and, as well, many of you have also discovered this fact for yourselves. Well today, my dear sweet friends, I had an awakening:
KEEPING *VERY* BUSY OCCUPIES YOUR MIND FROM OBSESSING OVER PILLS!!
Ha! I know - simple right? But, I should also add that I am a stay at home mom with a dreadfully boring routine and I have a lot of time around my house with access to my pills. As soon as I change a diaper, prepare lunch, get the educational Pre-K desktop program running and fetch my coffee - I'm officially on downtime. Downtime makes me bored and boredom brings me back to thinking about the bottle of pills in my nightstand.
Well today was quite different. I have a sideline business buying things for low prices from Amazon then selling them for a profit locally on Craigslist. I also am a member of several FB resale boards where I buy and sell new and used items all the time. Today, Thursday, was a HUGE day for me. I had orchestrated to meet half a dozen people at one location for a variety of sales and purchases. It had taken me all week to put together and my notebook was crammed full of phone numbers, prices and items in preparation. I spent all day packing my items and checking up on meeting times - it was the busiest day I've had in several months, lol!
When it was all said and done and I arrived home to collapse into my favorite recliner from a fruitful day's work I find a message in my inbox from one of my MedHelp friends asking me how I'm doing on my taper.
My friends, it was not until that SINGLE MOMENT that I realized I had only take 3 pills ALL DAY. I woke up this morning, popped my 3 for the early part of the day and then got so caught up in the preparation and execution of today's events that I COMPLETELY forgot about pills in any shape or form and what's better - I was feeling fine! :D It had been nearly 12 hours since the thought of a Tramadol had entered my mind and I wasn't even craving one!!
So the secret ingredient to my sobriety is clearly: keeping busy. Activity, not necessarily involving the dreaded exercise that I loathe, but just keeping my mind on OTHER things - it's as simple as that! This is a HUGE weight off my shoulders and a conclusion I could only come to myself on my own terms since, as my Mom always said, "I have to learn things the hard way" lol. ;)
Thanks for still being there with me every step of the way, my friends. :)
KEEPING *VERY* BUSY OCCUPIES YOUR MIND FROM OBSESSING OVER PILLS!!
Ha! I know - simple right? But, I should also add that I am a stay at home mom with a dreadfully boring routine and I have a lot of time around my house with access to my pills. As soon as I change a diaper, prepare lunch, get the educational Pre-K desktop program running and fetch my coffee - I'm officially on downtime. Downtime makes me bored and boredom brings me back to thinking about the bottle of pills in my nightstand.
Well today was quite different. I have a sideline business buying things for low prices from Amazon then selling them for a profit locally on Craigslist. I also am a member of several FB resale boards where I buy and sell new and used items all the time. Today, Thursday, was a HUGE day for me. I had orchestrated to meet half a dozen people at one location for a variety of sales and purchases. It had taken me all week to put together and my notebook was crammed full of phone numbers, prices and items in preparation. I spent all day packing my items and checking up on meeting times - it was the busiest day I've had in several months, lol!
When it was all said and done and I arrived home to collapse into my favorite recliner from a fruitful day's work I find a message in my inbox from one of my MedHelp friends asking me how I'm doing on my taper.
My friends, it was not until that SINGLE MOMENT that I realized I had only take 3 pills ALL DAY. I woke up this morning, popped my 3 for the early part of the day and then got so caught up in the preparation and execution of today's events that I COMPLETELY forgot about pills in any shape or form and what's better - I was feeling fine! :D It had been nearly 12 hours since the thought of a Tramadol had entered my mind and I wasn't even craving one!!
So the secret ingredient to my sobriety is clearly: keeping busy. Activity, not necessarily involving the dreaded exercise that I loathe, but just keeping my mind on OTHER things - it's as simple as that! This is a HUGE weight off my shoulders and a conclusion I could only come to myself on my own terms since, as my Mom always said, "I have to learn things the hard way" lol. ;)
Thanks for still being there with me every step of the way, my friends. :)
Yepper - 7.5 for the rest of this week and weekend then Monday down to 7.
Honestly, I know this is the SUPER easy part because my body can't even feel the difference yet.
The REAL sh!t is soon to come!! Dun dun dunnn... :O
Honestly, I know this is the SUPER easy part because my body can't even feel the difference yet.
The REAL sh!t is soon to come!! Dun dun dunnn... :O
yes, busy, busy, busy you have to occupy your mind with other thoughts that used to be occupied by pills.
are you still at 7.5 pills?
are you still at 7.5 pills?
>>"I'm sure you've heard this before, but just in case... it might be to your advantage to start thinking of an aftercare system to keep your hard work a success into the future. As addicts, nothing really will completely stop us thinking about our DOC every now and then, because thinking about it comes natural to us. But a good program of recovery will absolutely stop the obsessing."
Well, I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating: I just finished up my probation this month so I do NOT have a license which means it's still illegal for me to drive anywhere to a meeting.
The hoops I'd need to jump thru, like packing both my kids up in the car and having my hubby drive all of us to a location, then back home, then pack them back up AGAIN an hour later - it would really upset my 5 year old who would rather we actually "do something" when we all go out together.
It's better to just wait until I get my notice from the DMV with how much they want and what I have to do to get my license back. :/
Well, I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating: I just finished up my probation this month so I do NOT have a license which means it's still illegal for me to drive anywhere to a meeting.
The hoops I'd need to jump thru, like packing both my kids up in the car and having my hubby drive all of us to a location, then back home, then pack them back up AGAIN an hour later - it would really upset my 5 year old who would rather we actually "do something" when we all go out together.
It's better to just wait until I get my notice from the DMV with how much they want and what I have to do to get my license back. :/
I deal with the boredom issue every single day. I know exactly how you feel! Being in a semi I can't just get out anytime I want to and take a walk, or go shopping, or anything really. I have to remind myself constantly to stay busy so that my mind doesn't have time to start running away from me. I read, watch movies, listen to music, stay on this site. You are getting it girl and gonna do this! Keep on fighting!
What ever works for you to keep your mind occupied. Your taper program seems to be moving along well. This is great! Keep moving ahead and every day make a move towards your freedom. You're going to have lots of energy from just staying on the edge of the amount required to keep you going. Stay on that track, don't rush things. I've been on two tapers; Ambien and Elivil (depression med) and know how it goes. I made sure to stabilize each amount before moving along to the next cut and took my time. During my Ambien taper I did a 9 day windsurfing trip to Cape Hatteras and my daughters wedding. That indeed kept my mind occupied.
I'm sure you've heard this before, but just in case... it might be to your advantage to start thinking of an aftercare system to keep your hard work a success into the future. As addicts, nothing really will completely stop us thinking about our DOC every now and then, because thinking about it comes natural to us. But a good program of recovery will absolutely stop the obsessing. Just know that when you finally become free, you WILL be free. You'll have real peace in your life and you'll enjoy each day to the fullest. You're doing fantastic! Your miracle is right around the corner!
I'm sure you've heard this before, but just in case... it might be to your advantage to start thinking of an aftercare system to keep your hard work a success into the future. As addicts, nothing really will completely stop us thinking about our DOC every now and then, because thinking about it comes natural to us. But a good program of recovery will absolutely stop the obsessing. Just know that when you finally become free, you WILL be free. You'll have real peace in your life and you'll enjoy each day to the fullest. You're doing fantastic! Your miracle is right around the corner!
Keep doing whatever works for you :) Glad to hear you're feeling motivated and hopeful! I found that when I was detoxing Staying active was also key to success for me. I cleaned, shopped, walked dogs, etc etc. I'm not saying that'll do it for everyone- that's just what helped me along for sure! Best of luck on a continued successful taper.
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