October 5th, 2023 Mrs D's Blog
Cravings are arseholes. They hit and they can be so powerful and they suck.
Often they come on the back of some emotional pain, so they’re pain on top of pain. And they can be so hard to resist.
My mind would get utterly obsessed with the craving, all I could think about was how much I wanted a drink, how a drink would be just lovely, how easy it would be to just have a drink, how lots of other people were having a drink right now and enjoying it, how a little wine would’t hurt, boy did I want a drink, couldn’t I just have a wee drink?, I deserve a drink, I WANT A DRINK!!!!!!
On and on and on the craving would go inside my head – because predominantly that’s what a craving is, a wall of non-stop words inside the head that just won’t shut up. Meanwhile my body would be restless and itchy and jittery and out of sorts. My whole being would be out of sorts. Craving, CRAVING a drink.
Bloody arsehole craving.
I tell you what. Those cravings are not going to go away if you feed them. This is the awful truth. If you feed them, they stay strong. You have to ride them out again and again and slowly you will starve the bastards and they will fade away.
Know this when a craving rears it’s ugly head. Try to step back a little from inside yourself and detach. It is not you, it is a passing feeling.
Talk out loud to the craving. Say, “I’m having a hard-out craving right now” to your loved ones or your reflection in the bathroom mirror. Even that little act will diminish it’s power a little.
Be curious about the craving. Examine it in a clinical fashion. Where you are feeling it in your body. Is it a tightening in the chest? Is it tension in the shoulders? Then do some things to help you get through;
Do one or many of these things, or your own things, and slowly over time, the more cravings that you resist the weaker and less frequent they will get until eventually they will disappear altogether. Gone.
Trust me on this. I used to experience such strong cravings all the time but now I’m twelve years sober and never get them at all. NEVER!
And I sure don’t miss those bastards at all.
Love, Mrs D xxx
Yesterday was lovely – my Three Years Sober celebration day!
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This week’s Sober Story comes form Toni, a 52-year-old living in Silverdale in Auckland.
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