Staying Sober When You Don't Feel Like It

How do you stay sober when you don’t feel like it?  I’m in one of those moods right now.  Perhaps you are too!  The motivation of January has come and gone or maybe the hopes you have for a different life are starting to give way to the reality in front of you.  Or maybe you just aren’t feeling it.  I am in a combination of all three at the moment.  I am in yet another career transition that was not entirely my choosing.  I was all for the transition, just not the timing.  The thing is I have been through this multiple times with the last two years being the last two times.  I feel like I have my optimal career choice narrowed down to a few fields and cannot seem to make any of those doors open.  Actually, it seems that I cannot make any doors open right now - well, except for the ones I want to stay closed.  I had a lot of hope riding on a new job and a new city, but that doesn’t seem to be panning out.  The fact that I have been through this multiple times makes me wonder if the universe is trying to send me a message - a message that I am clearly not understanding.  I don’t want to keep fighting if I am going to be continually knocked to the ground and continue to loose whatever gains I previously made.  I am loosing the will to fight.  So what then?  How do you stay sober when you don’t feel like trying?

Meetings.  I am making my meetings a priority.  I am going.  I am sharing.  I am connecting.  I am offering advice to newbies or just being in the room for the newbies.  I am doing my part in the community of recovery.

Gratitude.  I am doing my daily gratitude lists whether on paper or in my mind.  I am reminding myself of the things I am thankful for and reminding myself that it can always be worse.  I am also utilizing a daily check list from DailySoulCare.com.  It is kind of similar to a daily inventory only it focuses on the things you need to do for your soul each day like doing one thing you enjoy and writing down your victories, no matter how small.

God/Higher Power.  I am making a point to really let God know how I feel right now.  My concerns, my disappointments, and my yearnings.  And I am asking for guidance and clarity on thought and movement.  And I am making space for answers via quiet time and meditation and church attendance.

I guess the way you stay sober is very similar to the way you got sober.  You just do it.  You work the program and while doing so you let the program work for you.  I know enough to know that I can’t always trust my emotions or trust what I see in front of me.  What I can trust is the 12 steps of AA and the pathway it lays out to right living.  What I can trust is my Higher Power to hear me, understand me and provide for me even when I don’t necessarily understand its movement’s in my life.  And I can trust and know this one thing for sure: If I drink - I lose.   If I drink, I loose the option of anything ever getting better and that is what keeps me sober when I just don’t feel like it.