going down the "wine&beer" isle at a store.

[Ds]

ok i don't know what it is, but i tend to walk down the beer and wine isle in grochie stores, and wallmart.
mostly because they have the juices, redbull and monsters energy drinks down the same isle.
I can't help but to look at the beer because it's down the isle, and i'm sure i might get some crazy looks if people saw me walking dwn the isle with my eyes closed, probly bumping into stuff.

is there maybe something i can do to not feel like i relapsed after walking down the isle?

anyone else feel weird going down the same isles?

 

[Legerity]

While I was in AA/NA I used to try to avoid staring too much at the alcohol, that's probably pretty common. Other drugs are easier to avoid but alcohol is all around. No need to stare at it for extended periods of time, but no need to stress too much about it

 

[wooger]

I'm not too sure of the layout of your supermarkets etc (I believe you are from the states right?) Well very often, here in the uk, espeically in the UK the stores have dedicated lines for alcohol and the juices etc are kept in the isle next to them, so you could try visiting a larger store and hope the sent out their products that way (like the next isle over for instance).

A good example of this thta happened to me a couple of days ago and i was in tescos express and they had been on one side of the isle and fruit juices on the other, I just turned my back to the alcohol section and started at the fruit juices and stuff. (if you are rather dependant on alcohol and have prices memorised, try keeping a list of what you saved, or a piggy bank, and add what you would have soent on alcohol into the piggy bank - trust me - it adds up very quicklu!

Additionally, do you actually need to go to the store, I may you may need to for smaller purchases on occassion but many stores to online delivery services so you can just for the items that you actually need on their websites, thus helping to minimise temptation.

Besides, alcohol can be quite expensive, if you do find yourself down an alcohol isle just look at the prices of the stuff, money which could be better spent on finding a new hobby/subsidising one you already have. Which in a way comes back to the piggy bank idea, I hope its at least of some helo for you. Either way, best of luck, Im sure you can do it .

 

[panic in paradise]

my last run with the stuff gave me a good lashing, so this part for me wasnt ever an issue, but i know it is.
all i can say, is that for me desensitizing is important.
youre going to have to see the stuff again, you cant avoid it the rest of your life...

the coffee at my local store, is right by the wine and beer, seeing it now makes me sick. seeing people buying it with that look of determination, or naivety, just makes me feel for them and the road they are on, or heading towards. and makes me that much more glad, relieved! to not be there... my god.
i understand whole-heartily this distress, and fear of craving&using, doing all that crazy shit over again.
your fear, is real sincerity to me.

but.

dont give that shit the credit man!
you chose to disassemble your self and emotions with drugs and alcohol, you allow(ed) them - give/gave them the chance to do so.
now your self, and emotions are free, they might run straight into a wall, but at least you can now recognize this, and move a different direction, instead of trying to move forward with that stuff guiding you, further into that wall.

trying to disassociate can take a whole lot of practice, but keep the thought in mind, and be safe about it.

the ostrich effect, it doesnt work...
its there just the same, be it alcohol, pop-tarts, coffee or condoms

they are objects on the shelf, with different connotations for different people.
you are your self, with associations towards these items. it will soon be what it is, labels with price tags, an awful addictive destructive soul thinning... beverage?!?

look at the ad's, are we that simple that a partial T&A shot, rugged masculine appeal, subtle promise's of.., color schemes, target audience key relation images/sayings...
and on and on..

you are worth more, then the sick but brilliant producers of this stuff's small piece of billion$.
their few $$$'s, for your mental and physical health, oh, and your families.
no sir thank you!!
kaltes klares wasserr!
(pelligrino)
or
coffee&espresso
(quad 16oz iced breve!)

 

[Tiesto]

Well, how exactly is the juice and stuff positioned in the aisle? Like do you have to walk all the way down the aisle until you reach the end where the juice is (passing all the alcohol products)? If this is the case, I would suggest entering the aisle from the opposite end so you are instantly in the juice section of that aisle. However if this were the case I'm sure you would've figured out to do that by now.

If it's in the middle of the aisle, I dunno what to say. Have strong willpower. Or look at your feet/the ground - better than having your eyes closed attracting attention.

 

[cj]

I think you should give yourself huge props everyime you do it and dont relapse. Like use that aisle to remember why your not drinking and fucking up anymore. Then you should be proud because it really is a hell of an accomplishment.

 

[Mehm]

From the Big Book, page 84. On the topic of giving in and letting a higher power control our lives.

"And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone - even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. we react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically."

So that is the promise. Make of it what you will

 

[Damien]

Cool post PiP.

look at the ad's, are we that simple that a partial T&A shot, rugged masculine appeal, subtle promise's of.., color schemes, target audience key relation images/sayings...
and on and on..

you are worth more, then the sick but brilliant producers of this stuff's small piece of billion$.
their few $$$'s, for your mental and physical health, oh, and your families.
no sir thank you!!

This made me laugh out loud. So true.