30 Seconds

The old AA adage is to take it 24 hours at a time. The extension of that adage is that sometimes it's 10 minutes at a time. For me, it seems like it's usually 30 seconds. I haven't really had any strong urges to drink during my most recent sobriety period, but I have had many moments where I had to make a decision quickly, often when I was surprised. For example, I was in a Gas Station getting a Diet Coke and saw not only beer but hard alcohol and wine near the cooler. This really surprised me and threw me off. It sent a bit of a shock through my system, and I stepped back, re-gathered myself, got my pop and walked out. I've already written about another time I went into an airport lounge at 8 AM and was confronted with a shelf full of every kind of hard liquor you could imagine. In that case, I got some cereal and sat down on the other side of the lounge. The real trick to this is that I actually don't have to make an active decision. Sometimes I can just not make a decision at all. These things come in waves, the shock or surprise passes in 10-30 seconds and it's gone. I got my 90 day coin this week in South Carolina and today is my actual 90th day. My drinking seems so far away and at the same time it feels like it was yesterday. I have a lot of confidence in my continued recovery and, maybe for the first time, I can say I'm comfortable with it. By this I mean I don't feel tension, anxiety, or nervousness when I think about staying sober. It's starting to feel very normal. Why is this? I think part of it is just the passage of time. It's the "new normal". Part of it is that in the past I had long periods of abstaining from alcohol (e.g. when we went to the Baptist Church in Elkhart), so now I'm returning to a familiar behavior pattern that I recognize, a little like getting on a bicycle after having not ridden one for several years. The final part I learning new behaviors to undo damage from my drinking days, including 1) When confronted with the urge to drink "eat a sandwich, say a prayer and wait 10 minutes" is my personal coping strategy. I have to admit that I've never had to use this one, but I think it would be very effective- alcoholics don't eat when they drink(it kills the effect, so what's the point), even a bad prayer is a great deterrent, and cravings come in waves that you just need to wait out. 2) Don't go or leave early. When confronted with a difficult situation, I can just leave-- or just not go in the first place. I've used this on work trips. I backed out of the wine tasting in France, for obvious reasons. Another night we had dinner and it turned out they had an hour of cocktails first. I drank a Perrier, talked to the important people, skipped dinner and went back to the hotel and ordered room service. 3) Make the world a little more friendly. I'll always encounter alcohol everywhere, but I now take some simple steps to make it a little better. I usually stay at Hilton's when I travel and my profile says to remove the alcohol from the mini-bar. I now take short layovers on flights so I have less dead time in airports. My Delta profile now says not to bump me up to First Class so I don't have to cope with free unlimited alcohol (and seatmates drinking Bloody Mary's). Every little bit helps. and 4) 30 seconds. When confronted with the thought of drinking, decide not to- but if you can't, at least don't make a decision for 30 seconds while the shock passes.