Showing posts with label Being Sober. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Being Sober. Show all posts

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Big Spring, Texas AA Group Celebrates 70 years of Sobriety

What a day Saturday turned out to be. Big Spring, Texas is about 40 miles east of Midland, Texas and I went to celebrate their anniversary of 70 years for this group. There was a meeting at 1:00PM followed by a Al anon Speaker who was really good , then lunch from kitchens of alcoholics comprised of southern fried chicken and you name it the food was there. My uncle from Bedford Texas was the key speaker for AA and his wife Vera. I never had heard his story and it was good , he has over 37 years of sobriety and his wife about the same. Friends from Odessa and other cities across Texas gathered at this meeting for the celebration.

My father who drinks hard at times even came which blew my mind. He came with his brother Pat H. to this whole event which might mean he is interested. You never know who will show up at these gatherings. I was really proud of my father attending this celebration, for he might be one of us. He is the only one that would know, however. It was 90 degrees in Big Springs, Texas this winter day of Saturday the 12th of 2017 and that was a mind blower as well. The meeting drew approx. 100 people from all over Texas and lasted about five hours. I was exhausted afterwards and went back home. It was a day in history to see my father in a AA meeting on his own will. He recently lost his wife to Lupus after fighting this disease most of her life. My father is 80 years old but surely does not look the age. He still works and is active, but I am sure a little bit depressed from losing his wife.

I decided I better get the one love in my life some chocolates for her Valentines, that would be my mother. She has helped me in so many ways and support my sobriety with no end. I am very blessed to have both parents still living and healthy. Days like Saturday humble ones self like me. It makes you think about the good times and the not so good, maybe that was why I was drained. I don't usually go to these type conferences, I usually stick to the one hour meetings and leave. I see now why it is important to come to these gatherings, I had nothing else to do , plus I never heard my Uncles' story but I experienced  his drinking when I was young, and those thoughts were in my head. What a better man he is now. If you get a chance go to a conference like this one, it can be long and you do need to take breaks. Chris Hyer , One Day at a time.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Sobriety and Living Life

Being sober is just the full time attitude we must have in order to enjoy this life. What do I mean by enjoying life sober? I had to ask myself this question, because I have been sober seven years now, and for some reason I get very isolated with myself. That is not what I mean by enjoying life. I percieve enjoying life as celebrating something every moment, but that is my sick thinking. Not every thing is exciting in life. It is good to wake up with no hangover , and it is good that family members like your sobriety as well. But what about me?

I enjoy going to AA meetings because there are others there just like my personality. They are also seeking out resolutions to their lives being sober and some whom are so high on the pink cloud that I envy those people. They are always cheerful and upbeat and I am not this way at times. I get lost in my sobriety at times. I just want to go back to bed and not have to deal with life and the headaches at times, but I don't I stick it out even in the rough times. When you get a lot of sobriety, people like your family must think it is normal now that you will not drink again,but we all now someone that has slipped even after a few years or 20 years, and why is that I wonder.

I guess that might be the disease part of alcoholism when one slips through the gap and goes out and drinks, but it must be hard as hell to come back into sobriety, in fact the thought scares me straight to even think about a slip. I try to enjoy my life sober on a daily basis, and then I think maybe it is the town I live in that keeps me somber and mellow sober. There is nothing to do but go to a movie theater or go out drinking in my town. No lakes or mountains to explore and nothing to photograph except for those having parties. I am confused today as I am still trying to acquire just a job, any job for that fact. I cannot seem to get hired, or I am not qualified for the position. I live in a oil and gas community and they also work 24/7 with weeks out at a time, and mentally I cannot handle this type of work. Have you been through what I am going through? Please give me feedback. Chris Hyer

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Accepting God Into Your Life Sober or Not

I know this is a strange heading I am writing about . However it is true that if we just acept Jesus into our lives , we will all go to heaven. Now some religions such as Mormons do not believe in this simple act, which is fine. I am not teaching religion on this blog, this blog is about saving lives through knowing a spirit greater than your self , named God. God and Jesus are the same. God is not man and Jesus is the spiritual advisory for God. If you are sober you have come to believe in a power greater than yourself, if your in AA, you know this spirit must be God or Jesus. Once you take the simple step and invite Jesus into your life, you will go to heaven. Period.

I don't know about you but when I die I want to go to heaven. I don't know what Hell is but I have a feeling I have visited Hell many times while I was in my addiction. Maybe you have felt this way also. It is enough to convince me that there is a loving God who can take away my sins and forgive me and help me to stay sober if I just ask for this act. Simple as it may sound , we find all the wrong answers to sobriety, maybe we think we can handle one more drink, maybe just one more pill. In some instances this may be true, but rare for us who have been diagnosed as alcoholic, and the AA book is a spiritual book with a chapter for Agnostics , so maybe some relief for those who have a hard time believing in a higher power such as God can come to rest with their alternative solution. I am here to say that God has blessed me with sobriety because I ask for it. I have not had a alcoholic drink in over 7 years which does not mean one thing except that the obsession to drink was taken away from a power greater than myself. That power is known to me as the spirit of God.

I hope who reads this understated the power of God in the steps of AA are not just writings on the wall or in the Big Book, we do have to take action and for go our old ways and develop new ways of living in the world as we are living. Understanding a God can be confusing with all the hate in the world, but I do know i sin every single day, and I ask for forgiveness in the day or evening for my sins. I have had miracles that have come true and spiritual experiences that would blow your mind. Is staying sober worth it? Yes, it is when I have so much going for me and sometimes I take this for granted. I forget God when things are going good and times, and when they are going bad I pray to God to make a wrong decision I have made into a right one to pleasure God.

To be honest I probably pray more now than ever. Maybe that is why when I am weak I do not think about alcohol, when I am strong and happy , I do not think about alcohol. There has to be a power that is informing me in some manner that drinking is not my answer. This is just a small part of living is the drinking. But it is big enough to kill a person who goes out and re-tries drinking . I have lost three people who are my age this month from drinking or drugs. They tried AA and they tried the program, but how much of a relationship did they have with their God? Happy Sunday. Chris Hyer

Monday, January 23, 2017

God, Living, Death, and Sobriety

Recently my father lost his wife to a disease and even though we all knew her time had come, reality sets in after a while. My father has not changed, in fact he may be even more bitter about things in life. He is too hard to read. He is alcoholic and it is hard for me to understand when he is down because he is not drinking or if he is always negative like when I grew up. Anyway , the death has not really affected me, as I loved this lady but she was in great pain. I would rather die than live in pain. However I have mental pain and I sure have been praying for God to take my life over and make it tolerable. I refuse to drink over my insecurities, and I refuse to do anything stupid. I think this giving it to God stuff actually works, or it has with me.

I am a loner in the seance that I go to AA meetings to live life, then I try to stay occupied by my Uber driving while I wait and see about future opportunities come. I have hit the computer hard with Resumes and I am getting feedback, but it has been almost 5 months without a steady job. This bothers me and I even have stooped down to convenience stores cause they are always hiring, well no the case with me. It seems the easier the job , the harder it is for me to get hired, yet a computer position or IT position is quite virtually easier for me to get into. Maybe because of my background, I just don't know. I have had a few bites on a couple of jobs I am waiting to hear back from and have gotten off the couch to drive as this keeps my mind occupied and I make a little money .

I have to have help with my bills from my family and I know they are tired of this. I feel like all I am is a job seeking fool. I am not being picky now, as the time has been rolling on. However if I look back seven years ago , I would of just drank my problems away and that is the only difference with me at this point in my life is that I have stayed sober. I hold onto every penny I have and do not waste money . Sobriety is the key with God on my side, and I do believe he is on my side or I could not keep my head high, as the night falls I get restless and anxious about bedtime and the worying I do before I sleep. I try to giv that to God also and it works if I think about it. God is doing for me what I cannot do for myself, He is telling me I am worth a damn in this world, even though I get depressed at times and try to watch comedies at night that are easy to swallow and maybe make me laugh. Laughing is hard, and my relationship with my family is all about work and money. I just pray that soon all will be ok, and the job crisis will end and the borrowing of money will stop , so I can live life as I expect it to be lived. Have a good day for we not know what the next will bring, and this is so true. Chris Hyer

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Living By God's Will Not Mine Sober

I have had a rough time lately, and the problem is I have not been living by God's will for me. I have taken control and forgot that I have to give things up to God in order to live a sober and meaningful life. So what do I mean by this? Well for me I am starting a new job on Monday and I have had nothing to do. I was quite isolated the last few days and was sick of going to AA every time I turned around. I was bored out of my skull. I was not thinking of drinking but all the options I may have as this job pays poorly but it trains me from the start, then the money rises. I should be grateful and I am but I don't pay attention to what God has given me in preparation to start this or any job. I have a roof over my head, I have money, I have food, I have a car. I was looking in my past and could not understnad what the meaning of life really is. I went to my home group this morning and discussed this and what I found is I have not been working the steps the best that I could have. It was all about me, self centered and all about myself. That is not a good sober living strategy, as you wil become more reliant of your pass and wish to change it,but that is not possible. I was looking back at the times when I could of gotten a better education or had a good job only to drink it away.

You have to live in the now. You can't look back and be thankful to God for helping me be sober today, and not look back in disgust over your life. I have a bad problem in doing this , looking back. I am 53 and honestly I did not expect to live this long when I was drinking but I have since I sobered up seven years ago. I was in my head going to die before I was forty so my future did not matter towards the end. However God makes the choices when you shall live or die, instead he saw a need to keep me around and I should not second guess why? As I lay on the couch watching movie after movie, I was restless and bored and not thinking about maybe this is what God is showing me how to just relax , because I have already gotten myself ready as far as food and clothing were needed for this new job. I ran out of things to do, and my old response to this was to go gambling in Hobbs. I need the cash I have now so the option really turned me off. Hell, Gambling is suppose to be fun but I do not have disposable money to do this right now and I am damn tired of the drive to Hobbs and back to Midland. So today after my meeting I was reading a educational bible that I got at treatment and kept reeding on it. I found all these cool things God has done such as healing the sick and , in a way I was sick. Then a miracle of sorts said to myself, get up and get doing some of the things that would make God happy and I have been doing these. Well time flies and I am at a stopping point.

It is very easy to let up on the program and on God even though I pray most all day for help. I lost that help prayer and was running my own show, but when I asked God for help, things started popping up that needed to be done. How cool is that. ANyway don't give up like I have on God and keep very close to him that heals us all from bad things when we are trying to do right. Have a good day and God Bless..Chris Hyer

Monday, January 9, 2017

Love in the New Year Sober

It has been some time since I have written in this blog. I have had ups and downs every single day. I had a up on December 30th a girl called me and express an interest. I have know her for a while but I always said the wrong things I guess and we never met. She is in the AA program and we went out for the last week, almost everyday. I really enjoy this woman and she seemed to enjoy me. I guess you could say I feel in love very quickly and when she did not feel the same it drove me fucking crazy. When a person text another person and then leaves them hanging you know you said something wrong. I got that twice and I don't understand all the crap she has gone through but it must of be devastating to her. She is 6 years sober and I am 7 years sober. We were going to AA meetings together and out to eat and even a kiss now and then. Love , is something I have not experienced in years with the opposite sex, and so my heart was broken when she had other plans the last few days.

I told her how I felt and she did not answer back on text. SO I waited then waited, and nothing. I have never felt like bursting into a rage or tears. I did not know what I did or said to piss her off. However , I realize we all have our own things to do in this life. When someone new comes in the door, you either make room for them or you don't. I guess I thought she felt the same and she might , She just has a hard time with men because she has ben shit on so many times. I don't do that to women, I never have except when I was drinking so I discovered I have new emotions that I have not felt since marriage. Strange as it is I love this girl , and no I have not had sex with her, she just fits perfectly with what I have been looking for. I am going to have to give her space and that drives me crazy. Anyway, I am gaining new experiences daily and some are good and some are just mind blowing.Chris Hyer

Saturday, December 31, 2016

The new Year 2017 Sober Living and Other Such Things

2016 was just another year for life to move forward. I had my ups and downs in 2016. I cannot say it was my best year nor can I say it was my worse year. I can say this much for 2016, that my family was very supportive of my sobriety more each year as I keep growing in sobriety. That is a great thing for Chris this last year. I have also grown up as a preson and made many mistakes and many mistakes were learned so I don't do them again. Sobriety is a growing lifestyle and the more involved one gets with the AA program and the people that are in AA the more you will grow as a person. I am living proof of this. Sure I sometimes do not want to go to meetings and yes I don't go some days, but it is when I go and learn from each time that I go what I missed from not showing up for the missed meetings. My group is small so we all know most every ones story, but there is a book to be made about the living aspects of each one's lives. We are there in fact to live sober and deal with crisis and learn how to react . That is what AA should be about is the newcomer who knows not which way to go in this new life of sobriety. We are there to give guidance , and help them, if they don't want it we don't force it as they sometimes come back for good to the meetings.

There is no quick conclusion to staying sober, just not taking the drink is most important. If you can conquer that aspect of the program then you are ready to grow. Once you start living the spiritual life then your whole world will turn around, and many good things will happen to your life. I know because I was homeless a few times and when I went to AA and did not like feeling dirty I was not pushed away but greeted to stay on with the group, that was many years ago, but it could happen with just one drink. So 2017 is here and we are all growing up in our bodies and our minds and who knows what is around the corner for us to help for our own sake of sobriety. Thuis should be the year you help one person at least . If all the readers from this blog just helped one alcoholic that would be over 30000 alcoholics that were justified as being exposed to the sober non drinker. Many AA groups grow upon the Holidays. I have to admit it is a hard time for myself, but I made it one more year, and this is my ninth year of sobriety I am going on. Good Luck and may God be with you today. Chris Hyer 2017

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Thanksgiving and What it Means To Sober Alcoholics

Thanksgiving is a time spent with family to get together and enjoy each others company. My family is split , so it usually means having to drive to two towns and celebrating with my Mother and my Father. This is difficult and I spend most fo the day going between homes than I do actually staying there and relaxing. My family is always on the go , so relaxing is something that rarely happens for me, as I am always on my toes trying to pleasure whom I am with.
As an alcoholic , there is seldom any drinking going on at either house for fear that I might want to indulge, this has been going on for years. I really don't pay much attention to this but when I leave they pop open the liquor at my fathers house, SO am I in the way? I don't care really they should not invite me if they did not want me to come. Putting up the liquor is ridiculous as I have no desire to drink it any way. People do not understand an alcoholic can got o the store at anytime and buy the drink of their choice in the morning , afternoon or late at night. Just be cause it is a holiday does not mean I am going to drink or not drink. Relatives are only trying to help, I understand, but in a way, they hinder the relationship. Let them be what they are, and if stuck ina situation where liquor is being a part of Thanksgiving and it gets in your mind, just leave and make a excuse.

SO enjoy your family as we all need them in our lives, do not cause a problem at these gatherings and leave if you decide it is time. It is only one day and you have 364 other days to work with in your sobriety. Personally , I don't think of the Holidays as much anymore, and every holiday is not a drinking day, it was everyday when I was drinking some eight years ago.

So go out and eat with your family if you have one, if not find one at a free meal place and help out. That is doing 12 step work even if everybody is sober, you are helping others who cannot help themselves. I might as well do some volunteer
work myself at Thanksgiving, it would give me an excuse to get out of traveling to please everybody in my family. Chris Hyer


Monday, November 14, 2016

Life Goes On, Stay Sober and Peace will Come

I have hit a few ruff spots lately and if I was not sober right now, I don't think I would be handling them very well. How do you handle issues that come up where you have no control? You give it up to God. That is one lesson I have learned in AA. It is a good lesson because life goes on with or without my living body. This is true for most of us, if we were to die, the traffic would not stand still, well maybe for the funeral, but nothing would be said about me that would matter. I chose my direction in life when I was in my teens and some were smart. However now that I am in my fifties, I wish I would of made changes that would be a little bit more positive in my life today.

I have changed for the better since I have sobered up and I care for people that I use to not care about. It use to be all about myself that I was concerned with. Selfishness, and I find that I fall into this on some days even being sober. Life goes on, regardless of my mistakes I make now , but hopefully these mistakes will be learned by myself and cease to happen over and over again. Living in a sober world is not easy at times, we cannot breeze through it , or can we? Faith without works is death, so I would rather live in the now then worry about things that will change as time goes on and moves forward. I am on one of those days where I am confused about my life. I wish some things were better, and then I am blessed with the things that I have going for me . Confusion is casued when i don't attend AA meetings, and that is one thing I have not done for a week, so it is possibly time to get off my ass and go to a meeting or talk to a sponsor. These tools we have are valuable. Have a great day. Chris Hyer

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Weight Loss With Sobriety, This is what I Did!!!

Hi , my name is Chris and I am a alcoholic that has recovered. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes only 3-4 weeks ago. I am a 53 yr old male , that had let hamburgers and french fries rule my life. In fact anything I could get my hands on to eat and drink was making me fatter as the days went on. I really did not care until I was diagnosed with Diabetes. I have known many friends with Diabetes and thought not much about this disorder, but I was told I needed to lose weight by my Doctor.

That very day, I found a gym and threw out my chocolate cookie dough ice cream and all the junk food in my refrigerator and changed my life again. This is what I do on a daily basis and have lost 17 lbs in 3-4 weeks : This is not a diet plan I say works for every one but it does for me, so I thought as a fellow alcoholic I would share this simple plan that has made me lighter and more fulfilled as I continue to lose weight.

The first thing I did was enroll in a gym at 24.99 a month for 24 hr access. All I wanted to do was lose weight not gain muscles. I walk on the treadmill for 10 min. now and beef this up at least two minutes everyday. I also ride a bike inside and do this for 15 min. a day and beef this up as I feel like it, so in all I spend about 20 min to 25 min. in the gym. Then I drink a lot of water. Water every day in the morning at noon and at night, I over dose on water.

Breakfast , I eat Greek low-fat Yogurt and a Banana and then at lunch I drink a Boost chocolate drink and eat Almonds to fill me up. At night I have a Pork chop and Spinach with dressing or some type of fish like shrimp and vegetables and lots of fruit. I eat fruit all day long. I also eat Jerky when I get a craving and it fulfills me and I am satisfied . These are just different habits I have made in my life and I see the results each day as I weigh myself.

Changes have to happen when you want results from a job, or relationship or losing weight. Alcoholics have to change to cut out drinking and accept the way they live which is a different way in which they lived when they drank. Losing weight or having to change is quite normal for the recovering alcoholic because our lives change on a continuous circle of years.

If it is a positive change you will reap the rewards, I am figuring this out. Negative thinking has to go out the door with alcoholics and replaced with positive thinking when we want to accomplish our personal goals. Is this selfish, yes it can be , to make yourself a better person. That is why staying sober is so important to our everyday living and saying prayers to God to help us have the courage to change our ways for the better. I hope this might help someone, but like I say all the time this is my journal and I am just keeping track of my changes. Have a Great Day! Chris Hyer

Friday, October 21, 2016

Changes In Life with Sobriety

My life keeps foinf every day. Sometimes the changes are good and other times the changes are not that god. The 2 Steps of AA help me deal with change. I give this up to God. I have no other choice. I do my work in the program and he does his. If we really believe in God then changes work out pretty good. However they may not work out like we want them . I recently have been offered a couple of jobs then they were taken back. I never have experienced that type of change. I drive for Uber at times to make extra money and I like meeting other people who may not be as fortunate as I am in my life. It matters no how much money one has , but their character, is what is interesting. Uber is a humbling experience in Midland as most wealthy Oil and Gas business men use the service cause it is cheap for them and reliable. I have written a couple of children's books and put them on Amazon , and they are going nowhere, but the effort I put into these were not sufficient. Therefor you get what you put out.

I recently found out I had Diabetes and I have changed my lifestyle again. I read up on what foods I need to eat and went and bought these, and they are not so bad. I want to live, and I want to be healthy, so I do what I can to progress in my life. It took me a while to get my insurance to acept my medication for Diabetes which is ridiculous. I needed prior authorization before the Insurance would give me a break on this medication. It took me 2 weeks of fighting the Dr office, Pharmacy and Blue Cross before I got the price of a medication from 1300.00 to 10.00 but I did get it taken care of. God gives us tools to work with and when I mean fight, I don't mean that I was angry, I just had to follow a outline of what the Insurance was wanting, but it became a full time job. Ridiculous as it was , it saved me and my life is back to normal. Have a good day and please comment if you like and I will post thee. Have a Good Day! Chris Hyer

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

God Sometimes will Throw a Curve Ball

Good morning world, and it is  a beautiful day on Tuesday 10/4/2016. God throws me a curve ball at times and I don't know why? I do not question God as to why he does what he does for me. However , I get dissapoited at times. This job I have been hired for by a temporary agency, told me yesterday that it was no longer available. After waiting for the Territory manager for two weeks to start the job suddenly was not there for me. I had passed the background checks and the drug test and was offered the job but a start date was all I was suppose to be waiting for, and wham , no job. I was furious , but not surprised. I was calm and collective and just said , well God has something in store for me.
 In the meantime I was offered a interview as a sales rep for a company that I am not too sure sbout , if I am the right fit. However I leave this up to God to decide, so I am dressed for success the morning and ready to interview for this job today.

God has all this power and I have to follow what he throws at me. It could be for me to hone into my interview skills or to get a new job, I am not sure where this will lead me to, but I don't give in or up . I have learned this from AA and that is why I cannot stress the importance of going to these AA meetings if you are a recovering alcoholic, they can be very positive on your direction in life in general. You can use these 12 steps of AA to get somewhere in life and let go and let God work his miracles. His miracles for me are enormous, and unsuspecting at most times, and very glorious.

I have made it a little over eight years and God has held my hand and taken me places I woul not of known , that I was cabable of doing and so the chapter in my life keeps running with the clock and God's words to me are good. Have a blessed Day. Chris Hyer

PS. On a positive note a church I really love in Corpus Christy , Texas has ask me to help with thier online program, My friend Harry would be so happy that I volunteered for this position. I hope that I get this as well. Please go to http://chrchunltd.churchonline.org/ and check out Pastor Bill. Very good man with a plan for living and a plan for everyone.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Sobriety and What I have done in The last 4 weeks

I wanted to document for my own reasons what I have done in the last 4 weeks since I am waiting to start my new position with a new company. Like I said before this is for me , and anyone that wants to read this sobriety blog is more than welcome. This is a journal for me so I can look back and see my progress.
I changed jobs due to the craziness of my boss, and got a new job the next day, however the wait for the new job has been over three weeks for the start date, so I have had time to clean out my closet so to speak.
I have been diagnosed with Diabetes from my Doctor and decided it was time to start a weight training program and I have been going every day since I was diagnosed, I have lost 5 lbs in two weeks. I have changed what I eat in calories for the last three weeks , and have stuck with this up until the present. This has probably helped me lose the weight as I only work out 30 min. each day at the gym. I have tried to quit dipping snuff for only the last two days using vaping. I never have tried vaping but I am on the second day of this and I woke up not desiring a dip of snuff, which is unusual because for over 30 years I have dipped snuff and only quit one time , and it was really tough. Vaping seems like I am doing something wrong , but it is only nicotine I am replacing and I am not smoking , so we will see how this goes in the future. I am proud to say I did not reach out for the snuff this morning but to my vape machine in order to fulfill my need, so I see this as a plus. I have new teeth being put in and I don't want to lose them from dipping snuff.

I am a musician that never really knew the notes on the guitar or the scales , and I have studied this for 3 weeks and now able to play much smoother and sound ten times better than I was. I am doing this every day. I discovered coloring books for adults and have set time eeveryday to work on these as it calms my nerves and I enjoy seeing the colors brighten up the book. I write in this blog almost every other day and discuss what I am doing and hopefully it will help someone else get some ideas on life and sobriety. I go to AA every day to full fill my life and my sobriety. I also read about God through Rick Warren's book, and have gained some more insight about what God wants for us.

I have accomplished quite a bit in the last 3-4 weeks , but I am ready for my new job to start and I am suppose to hear pretty soon that my start date is about to happen.Staying busing and not having idle hands has helped me with the last few weeks of waiting to start this new position..I hope all who read this will comment on how their lives are progrsseing. God Bless Chris Hyer

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Changing Your Sobriety With Changing Yourself

It is Sunday 9/25/2016 and I woke up early as usual and in my mind, I knew that working out at the Gym this morning was going to start my day. I get confused do I want to take a shower and then sweat it out or get sweaty then take a shower. So many things run through my head on something this simple. Yes, I look forward to going to the gym now. I have only been there three days now and I feel really good about what I am doing for my body. I even feel a little bit of tightness in my stomach as if I am gaining  strength. I have not worked out in over 30 years, so this little feat of me going to the gym and working out is a new change in my sobriety and it is a good change. WHen you better yourself , it seems to pay off by making me feel like I have accomplished something that God wants in my life. When my new job starts , I am going to have to figure out how I am going to work in the workouts as I am committed to losing weight, mostly.

I am a big guy anyway and that is cool, but I don't want the belly of a big guy. So I mostly run and ride the cycle in the gym. I burn calories and two weeks ago I started eating right. I cheat on eating , a bit but I have cut back on chocolates and other junk that I know has caused me to gain so much weight. The good thing about change and sobriety is that I am not the only one trying to change. At first I did not want to go to the gym cause I have a phobia about all these buff men working out and her comes fatty, then I just made my mind up and went and realized I was smaller than most in the gym,. I psyche myself out at times and think I am the only one. I am wrong, as the re are several thousands of alcoholics that I am sure are working the program or at least trying to work it. That is what change is , it is trying and not talking yourself out of this change in which sobriety is all about is change for the better. Cod Bless. Chris Hyer

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Weight Loss With Sobriety

I went to a Dr. and got on the scales and realized that I weighed too much. I could tell I had gained some weight and knew I had. I have a sweet tooth and I also like chips and chocolate, so I was doomed when I went there and weighed in. The Doctor did not say I needed to lose weight but I know I did, so last week I started buying smart foods, is what I will call them. I bought only lettuce and weight watchers dinners and have cut cokes down to one a day and drink a lot of water. When I stopped drinking , I was prety fine with my weight, cause I did not eat much when I drank alcoholl.Now , that I have been sober for over eight years I have built a few bad habits and one was eating too much or while I was on the road , getting chocolate. I have lost 4 lbs since last Monday and I can feel the weight coming off. It is a good , healthy feeling to lose the weight. I plan on staying on this so called low calorie diet for as long as I can stan it. I feel one night or day of the week I will eat anything I want for dinner or lunch, so not to deprive myself. lol

One staep at a time is what we say in AA , but it applies to eating and drinking colos also. Take baby steps and once you get into the groove try to stay into eating fruits and veggies and you should notice a few pounds coming off also. The feeling is terrific to get ont he scales and notice a little loss, and loss is good. Maybe you have neglected this also and this note will help you. Stick to it for 90 days and see the results. Have a Blessed Day . CHris Hyer

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Life in Sobriety is a Merry Go Round

It would seem some day are better than others. I don't know why this is or if it's just the way our brains behave
. For me, life can be a merry go round type ride, some days I am motivated and singing and joyfully ready and others I am tired and sick of all the negative things I hear on the news. You would think there would be a positive news station , where they only talked about was positive information on our government, society, and children. However , there is no such news agency I am aware of to get up joyfully and listen to all the good that is happening in my life. God grant me the serenity , I guess is where this has all come down to living in the now, good and bad.

But this is a new day ,  a sober day for most of us, hopefully and if not your probably going , damn I wish this guy would shut up. I am very positive most of the time, but during the day my mood can change as I wait for my new job and my background check to clear. I just got word that all this company needs is my drug test results, well hell I submitted these last Tuesday, so are they lost? Shit, get your act together, and go ahead and find these results so I can go to work. Those people out in our community that have served jail time must have a hell of a wait to get past these background checks but my background is spotless. I thank God for not having to go to jail, and all the other miserable things that could of happen when I was drinking. I tend to forget how good I have it made in this life.
God prevails and I think I will go to the park and read a book for a few hours then color in my book,lol. God Bless Chris Hyer.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Sobriety and Mindfulness?

I have been going to Barnes and Nobles almost every day to read and I came across the Best Sellers on the table and they were coloring books? Confused and out of date I must be , but they are also on the top list of wanted books on the New York Times. So of course, I went and bought a Adult coloring book and crayon pencils for about 40.00USD. Why? well I don't know why except I thought , you know this might be a way of keeping my anxiety down. When I was a child my parents bought me crayons and coloring books and I was not very good at doing this as I was a action type kid that liked to play Baseball and sports. However being an adult now, and coloring these books is a different meaning. My mother use to buy these books for the kids to keep them quite and calm, so I suppose that is the Mindfulness that belongs to these books for adults.
All these new words in the new world, lol, but I have to say this, coloring these books are no small feet, and they do help pass time, instead of watching TV. I also get a sigh of relief in coloring a black and white confused diagram in this book. Hey, they look pretty with color, and it is a great time to not think about anything for a short period of time.

So , I thought it was stupid at first, but in thinking about these coloring books, it is great for shaky hands and for focusing on what you are doing. So , I can't rule out the posiblility that they may be a good form of therapy for some of us. Let's put it this way , the first copy of one coloring book sold over 1 million copies when it came out for adults , so were either really stresed or bored to death. I can't really put my thumb on it. I get a little bit of everything, anxious,stressed, mad, and even calm now thanks to the my coloring book.Sobriety is many things to a alcoholic who was out of it for nearly 30 years, so this coloring book is kind of a cool idea for meditation and watching the page come alive. Give it a chot. God Bless. Chris Hyer

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Why is AA so Important to Keep Sobriety

AA is a group of recovered or recovering alcoholics that meet usually on a daily basis or during the week at specific times. What we do in AA is talk about how to better our lives with the tools that we are given in AA. One tool is the use of the 12 Step Program which if followed in order can help one beat the use of alcohol and keep one sober for many months, and years. It is not a cult and is not a religious group. It is people who are looking for answers to thier questions that are usually found in th Big Book of AA that is a read for the purpose of staying sober and breaking down the 12 Step Program into a more understandable way for us former alcoholics.

Why is it a necessity to go to these groups? You make friends with some of these people in AA that may have drank for the same reasons you did. We share our experiences in these rooms and remember how insignificant they really were compared to our new life of sobriety.We change while we attend these meetings into citizens that people want to be around and do business with. It could be called a new awakening of of lives and even though most of us don't really see it , it is our families that usually see our positive changes and they tend to like the new face we have put on since going to these meetings and working the program steps. It's a spiritual congregation of love and understanding that binds most of these groups together.

There are a few that go back ut and drink some more and end up dead. These are terrible results from not staying with the program. Somehow , somewhere the program did not adhere to these people and since I have been going to AA , I do know if a few that have started drinking and ended up dead within a few days to a month. This is serious to keep attending or staying in touch with a Sponsor to keeping yourself sober and happy. Yes, it is not an easy program at times we all get tempted, but we who go to these meetings realize that it is up to us to stay sober and not someone else. You cannot blame another for your drinking addiction. Hopefully this provides a little bit of insight into what AA is and what it is not. Have a nice day.God Bless Chris Hyer

Monday, August 29, 2016

God is a Driving Force in My Sobriety

What drives us to change and do better or worse. There is a power greater than myself in that drives my spirit up or down. Possibly the downward spiral of myself is from my own actions. I may not include God in everything that I do, while trying to keep in touch with God I lose touch. I have a spiritual connection with God and I have, to be honest, that I use this sometimes when things are rough and not when life is moving forward in my sobriety and just plain living. Living without a connection to God is self- imposed and it can be very easy to start playing God when you forget that you are not God. People say to me at times, have a Blessed Day! I think these people are more spiritual than I am because it comes so natural for these individuals to say this. I also find that when I am told this remark that I feel better about my day. I try to copy these people and say ,:Have a blessed Day", as I know what it feels to have a clerk at a convenience store say this to me, and when it feels good it must be good.

When it is right and feels good then it must be God working in my life. If I do something wrong and I question what I might be doing then I must be disobeying the spirit of God that resides in me. To stay sober one must believe in God to keep going through the day. I have to do this and I practice praying to my friend, " God" on an hourly basis. No one said this God thing would be easy , but at times it really can be to get yourself through the next hurdle of life. Have a great day Chris Hyer

Sunday, August 21, 2016

The Big Book and Sobriety

I don't make it a habit to read the Big Book of AA. I do read it in the mornings or evenings where I get bored. I usually see myself in some fashion or another in this book. This could be a present or past reflection on whom I have become as a sober individual. When reading the Big Book of AA , I find passages that are out of date. The meaning of some of the words can be quite confusing to me, so I look some of them up in a dictionary, and the word makes perfect sense to the context in which it is written. I find that reading the pages in the back of the book can be enlightening to myself, as when I go to AA meetings these back chapters are ignored.Most of the AA meetings are focused on the 12 steps of the book in the first 100 or so pages. This is good information and if lived with a spiritual connection do work for the alcoholic who is trying to understand what this whole book and program is about.

I also read the Bible on a daily basis and Rick Warren a Pastor out of California has a book called "The Spirit Driven Life", I believe that is the name of it. This book helps me to understand what God wants for me out of my relationship with him. I was hesitant to read a Pastor book , because of the church , but he has made the words make good sense to me in what my program is all about and that is a spiritual journey into God's life and how to please my God .

Years ago I could not care a less what these two books have to say. In sobriety, you need to believe in a spiritual life bigger than yourself  which can help you get over the first step in AA. How you do this can be confusing but in reality it just means you will give up drinking and or using for a power greater than yourself , the obsession will leave once you believe in this attitude. This sometimes will happen fast and other times it will be slow, I think it is how you believe in a power greater than you as to how fast this approach will transform your brain.The disease of alcoholics is really unfounded, it is a mental instability that causes most of us to drink until we pass out or otherwise get to the point in which we are comfortably numb. To stay sober  means that we will neglect alcohol and drugs and move on through the day and be as normal people do such as work and help others help themselves.

Helping others is key to living a spiritual life, but we first must focus on helping yourself get through the pain of so many years of self-abuse. This takes time and to each individual, this time also can be short to long term. You get what you put into your mind from reading and going to AA meetings and the people that you let yourself be around. I am amazed at the sober ones that have a boyfriend or girlfriend that still drinks and they are trying to stay in this sick relationship. Drinking is fine for those who do not abuse it. So I am not talking about the casual drinker , but the alcoholic who has to live with one whom is alcoholic , this must be a hard situation to cope with. I would have to get away from this person , or I could not of stayed sober for very long.

Well, it is Sunday 8/21/2016 amd I am still employed and paying bills, I go to the grocery store and run errands and do my paper work for work. I am a functioning recovered alcoholic. In the past I put off these things or they would not get done any of them. I seee my progression through these pages in my blog. I also see it and hear it from people in my AA program that say I have come a long way. That is pleasing but in reality I have a little more than 8 years of sobriety with about 20-30 years of drinking, and I am very glad that I do not crave anything like alcohol to make it through the day. I get bored and that just means I need to get busy. I call this idle hands syndrome. You have to be careful and not isolate yourself from the world and I know this at it's best. Have a great day and to feel God is to get knowledge about the spirit of God and I challenge you and myself to know more each day of our creator , so you can live one day at a time and live a whole new outlook on life. God Bles Christopher Hyer

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