Sober Day #70- Those Negative Emotions again.

Seventy seems like a huge number- I feel surprised to find myself here, seventy days since a glass of wine.  It's been much easier than I expected, except when it isn't (y'all likely know what I mean).  Thankfully, the 'isn't's are less intense and less frequent, but I am still uncomfortable with negative emotions.

I am realizing now that negative emotions and events are just part of life.  As the first Noble Truth of Buddhism says, Suffering (dukkah) occurs.  It isn't punishment for something you've done wrong or failed to do, it isn't karma doubling back to slap you in the face, it is just an inevitable part of human existence.

So all normal human life includes negative thoughts, emotions and occurrences.  Once I accept this, it is no longer compelling to need to escape from these via alcohol.  But those old neural connections run deep, and can kick in when I least expect it.

The bonus of accepting and feeling the negative emotions is that when I am not busy blocking thinking about scary things, not busy avoiding them with alcohol, the other things in my environment, including positive events and emotions, become brighter and more intense.  This is one of the major benefits, for me, of backing away from alcohol!!