Wow, is that a wise saing. Am in Amsterdam for the weekend with the family. Had to leave the house around 400 and hardly ate anything. Wife tired and hungry and grumpy too.
Just for about 10 minutes there the old thoughts came back: "Hey, you're on holiday, just one Heineken." Those thoughts seemed so alient yet so familiar, like going back home after a year away.
Prayed a whole bunch and got out of that headspace.
But wow, it's true. Hungery Angry Lonely Tired really can threaten your sobriety. I'm just glad that I've got the tools today to deal with it.
My own learning point is to make sure that I don't book flights that are going to get me into HALT.
Thanks for listening and being here to help me not to take that first drink today.
HALT is a great tool that was shared with me in my first week in AA. Someone also told me to stick an "S" on the end of it for "Stressed out" which also makes sense. It's hard for a while to get out of HALT state...especially the ALT parts. Hungry is the easiest one to fix....go eat. Angry and Lonely are hard because I have to acknowledge I'm angry and appropriately labeling emotions after being drunk so long was difficult and still is. Lonely is also a tough one because I mix it up with depressed and also I had to end some relationships to get sober. Going to a meeting, fellowshipping, or calling someone is the best cure for lonely pretty much in my experience. Tired of course...well it took months for my sleep to level out so I was going on 4 hours sleep for at least a month if I recall. Nonetheless, I think the degree to which I struggled hardcore with at least the ALT part of HALT highlights exactly how important the acronym and tool is. It is as much a tool as it is something to be aware that all 4 will hit you hard in early sobriety and even later and we gotta be vigilant like you were. Good work Steve! Keep it up!
Mark
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
Thanks for the share, Steve! HALT is a great tool. With only 107 days in, I use HALT all the time as a barometer and then I fix whatever letter is giving me the jonez and fix it, no matter where or when I am.
If I need a snack, I eat it. If I need to meditate and and forgive, I do it. If I need a contact, I call it and if I need a nap, I take it. (I work in outside sales, so I can pull over into a quarry and take a 20 min. catnap if i have to...thank God!)
I'm glad that's the first nugget my sponsor gave me.
