Hello Heather. Great to meet you. Thank you for sharing.
My name is Dallas. I'm alcoholic. My sobriety date is 11/14/1986.
It seems that the basic nature of my personality has been "the desire for more." In my past -- it didn't matter to me if the "more" was healthy for me or not -- I simply figured that "if I enjoyed it" it must be good for me.
I think that I must be, of some particular personality type in life -- that has a psychological need for more. I don't function very well at all with "less." It seems to me, as though, all the way back in my childhood -- as far back as I can remember -- I've had this suspicion that "there is more in life than I'm experiencing -- and I'm going to find out what it is. What's out there -- that I'm missing?"
I enjoy mental stimulation. I've had to learn to act (take actions) as much as I enjoy thinking, to try to produce some kind of balance in my approach to living.
Now, I'm a person that wants more action and more thinking. The more actions I take -- the more I get to think.
Since I had to give up seeking more "regardless if it was healthy for me or not" I've turned my seeking into things that are specifically healthy for me.
As I was reading your sharing about your neck surgery -- it brought back some memories of some of the surgeries that I've had in sobriety -- and especially, where I've informed the surgeons and treating doctors that "Look. I'm obsessive. I'm a recovering alcoholic and I have to be careful about taking stuff that makes me feel good -- because I have a tendency to fall in love with anything that makes me feel good!"
They have appreciated my courage to be honest with them and they have sometimes even modified their procedures when dealing with me -- to keep me on a healthy track of living.
Heather, it's too bad we're so far away from each other, or -- I could stop at Subway, pick up some sandwiches -- gather up a few people, and stop by and have eating-meetings with you!
But, on the flip side of that -- I'm only a few mouse clicks away from you -- and I'd really enjoy engaging in conversation and communication with you!
I'm on and off-line throughout the day and the night. On my day job, most of my work gets done online -- so I'm pretty much able to bop in and bop out again.
And, some of us are also on Facebook, where we'll bop in and bop out together there, too.
I love listening to speaker tapes, mp3's, cd's and watching videos. Often, I'll have that going on either in the background, or on one part of my screen, my work going on in another window on my screen, and bopping here and there on the other parts of my screen. So, I'm usually around and fairly easy to reach.
I hope to hear from you again, soon!
Dallas
Glad to have you here and sorry to hear about the surgery!! I am on most during the day 8-5 (at work and in between calls) Lets chat!!