Job contract on the way – psychological changes.

Well, 2 days ago I heard that I could expect a job contract for a year for a part-time function of 20 hours. It is so strange that I could not even write about it. It needed to settle first :-). It’s not all done yet, still need to receive, sign and return the contract but still… I’ve got THE mail on the ok.

There are a few things about the job that could prove to be difficult but I don’t feel like going into that now. It’s useless to spend energy on worrying unless I can actually do something about the situation and then I should. NEW!

The ‘ok’ brings some immediate changes with it. So funny how the weight of things suddenly changes with this. Blogworld: not important (sorry!), recovery – huh?  Nothing wrong with me. NEW! I need to keep an eye on that one because I don’t want to run into a situation where I forget how important it actually is but I like the ‘nothing wrong with me’, that is comfortable.

About 12 years back I quit drinking when I was unemployed because I felt uncomfortable with drinking suddenly. I was not that heavily into drinking then but did feel I was overdoing it and actually started seeing that I could be addicted. Looking back I was in denial. I was sober for about 3 months or so, I did not make it a big issue and did not pay attention to anything apart from noticing that my yoga suddenly went WAY better. I got a job and started drinking again. I could never land in the job which had to do with my state of mind at the time but looking back it had to do with drinking too. Later I heard that they had 6 people on that position in 2 years and that I had been there 6 months so I was actually one of the longer lasting but still… Shit I hated that place for its bad atmosphere and the effect that had on me. I felt like a total failure and I drank to forget it. Walking into some darkness of denial here. I got fired after I had been on a very boozy Sunday evening which I thought, with my drunken brain, would work out all right but it all fell wrong (MAJOR DENIAL) and well, I don’t know. Jeeez this is uncomfortable. I am actually leaving stuff out here because I feel too ashamed to write about it.

I drank a bottle of wine and about a six-pack. I had never in my life done that before. SPECIFICALLY not on an evening before a workday. That monday I had to take some decisions that I could not focus on and did not understand because I could not get the group of people who would supply me with the info to focus – obviously because I was off. At the end of the day I had a talk with my boss on the results of the meeting and I explained that I had not worked it out yet. Feeling like an absolute loser. She came down on me hard and I teared up saying that I had difficulty with the job, that I should be able to do it blindfolded, standing on one leg but that I somehow could not get into the matter. Which was the case.

I did not tell her that I drank my brains away every weekend and would normally have redesigned the whole process in my spare time to get to know it intimately but I well, ‘preferred’ to drink it all away. Not sure if she guessed or smelled an issue, it was end of the day but it’s the stuff that got me fired. Officially because they replanned the whole department. I felt it a little different. Did I quit? No, I started drinking more and deciding, again, that I would never drink before a working day. Then I became a freelance consultant and worked out my own working days. See the trap?

Why is this coming up now? I guess that’s how it works. Memories get processed when something similar happens.

I’m going to need all my wits upon me for this new job. Not sure how and when to celebrate. I have this absolute belief that things should not be celebrated upfront.

Another change: for 2 nights now I have almost slept through the entire night. NEW! The cat is going crazy, trying to demolish the furniture and running around my head but I don’t wake up easily anymore so I’m half asleep, turn over and just can’t be bothered. NEW!! I find these little changes so amazing. She has been with me for 4 or 5 years now. I have NEVER slept through the night, specifically not if she was throwing a tantrum. Now I am finally doing what I think I should be and that obviously gives me the right to sleep and let the cat have her tantrum without me being bothered. When I was not doing what I should be doing I felt bad about myself and would feel I needed to answer her and be nice – because I was stupid. It is funny how all of these funny connections are now showing up. If you would have asked me upfront I would never have thought that lack of self-esteem was urging me to listen to my cat at night.

Other change: a while back I bought a Tarot cards deck to help develop my intuition. It is my believe that oracles like I-Tjing and Tarot connect with me easily and often gives results that help me out. I ‘use’ these as tools to get insight in a situation where I have difficulty dealing and where I feel I have a blind spot that I don’t want to see and is hindering me. My set has 78 cards, I have pulled about 30 cards up to now. I have gotten 1 card 7 TIMES in a row. Do I shuffle my deck? Yes, of course I do :-/. The card is called ‘Fear’ and it is the seven of cups. Funny that I now read online that the 7 of cups means something totally different in other decks. There it refers to ‘overindulgence’ and temptation – I have that too momentarily where I do 10 things at the same time never finish one. Need to look into that. Also this would be THE card for addicts to learn that they are addicted. Hmmm. Not sure how to interpreted it now. I’ll go with the fear explanation for now.

When I freed myself from the prison of alcohol I had a goal and the goal is becoming clear. That includes not drinking, rigorous honesty, cleaning up my house, sorting out feelings, being clear to other people, not hiding myself in too many words (hmmm, that is not working yet). I thought that would be a good goal. Ooh, it includes not being addicted to alcohol or other stuff, still doing some other stuff like procrastinating though.

Well…. I thought, since I guessed my intuition and awareness of my feelings or what have you, is pretty strong, I thought I could feel myself back into a healthy, clear life. I thought my feelings for what is good and what is not should be my guide. I have this build in sense of justice and righteousness and the arrogance to believe what I say is right. 😀

In the beginning I followed everything that felt good; cold feet? Put socks on. Uncomfortable? Take a bath. Tired: sleep. I did everything to the detail. And I guess that was good. About 2 months ago I started to notice that I had other feelings too that kept on screaming at me. Not sure now at this moment if my awareness of my feelings is really strong because my denial is pretty strong too. Possibly I need the denial not to be overwhelmed by the feelings. Or possibly the feelings would not have to scream if I would not deny them. Obviously there is something going on in that department. If somebody else would write this I would say: she’s scared shitless. Which is what I am I guess. It’s in all my cells.

Well, I noticed the ‘bad’ feelings, the disliking me because I had not cleaned or paid bills. I started to realise that these feelings too were ‘information’ just as the ‘good’ feelings. Today… after pulling out the Fear card for the 7th time I realised that I accept that all my feelings are information – apart from fear. Fear needs to go. The book said that fear shows where the obstacles are that need looking into = information. So….. that’s what I’m going to plan, look at my fear. NEW!!!! And I’ll be procrastinating from there onwards I guess. 😀

I am happy that I quit. None of this would be happening if I had not. I am sort of proud about the job and part of me wonders if I should not have put up a harder fight on some stuff in the contract. Pfffff, don’t want to go there. NEW! I want this job for the content, because it part-time and because I magically got it and it feels funny to ask for something from the universe, actually get it and then turn around and spit the universe in the face by denying the opportunity. And also, I need the money and I just don’t want to look for another job because it makes me feel bad and I don’t want to deal with it. Feeling wise that sounds like bad motivation to me, it feels like denial too, but I’ll go with it. Also, I mean, in this time in my line of work, having not worked for a boss being accepted for the first letter I send out – that is strange to say the least. My intuition says: Big growth developments when you manage to keep afloat. We shall see. 🙂 I’ll do my utmost best to make it a meaningful experience and deliver excellent work. And if I can not do the job or can not deal with the tough cooky boss to the point where it is dangerous for me – I will leave.

I need: to get a little more organised and clean the house and buy some clothes. I have somehow lost one of the 2 t-shirts that still fit me How? Don’t know! I think I left it at a friends. Things like that happening put me back in the guilt – shame feelings I had when drinking and losing stuff.  But I can’t wear the same dress to work every day now can I? So new clothes it is. Not liking it because I had planned in my head that I would have lost weight before I started buying new clothes. I have, but not enough in my opinion.

I want: somebody to give me their wardrobe because they have outgrown it. That would be cool. I dislike shopping for clothes because I am very precise in fit and colour and model and material and….. dislike that I do not look good anymore. It is difficult but I still have not found my path to the skinny land. I’m going with making sure I get as much healthy stuff in me that actually feed my body so I don’t get cravings.

I take: chocolate. Which, when I put it out here…. does not really align with eating healthy. It is eco though, and 72%…. (chocolate denial, chocolate denial…)

I wish you a nice weekend. Thank you for reading through another way too long post.

xx, Feeling

Physical and psychological changes

Hi! I’m 6 and a half month sober now and here is another list of things that I notice with getting sober that I actually attribute to not drinking for a longer time. So the natural recovery of the body and mind.

– What worries me is that my addiction to sugar is actually growing, I thought I would just let it go so there would automatically be a turning point somewhere but that did not come and there are so many interesting books to read that I did not yet start in the no sugar book. I need to start thinking about this because I feel after my ‘clean eating’ diet for a little more than a week I am now starting to put on weight due to chocolate. Still eco chocolate and currently 71% but….

– My blood pressure seems to be normal. I have not been to the GP lately. I do not notice changes when I drink tea with licorice in it so I guess I am ok. I did notice changes last when I unknowingly drank a few sips of green tea. Also yesterday I ate these baked sandwiches with loads of cheese and they set my heart pumping like crazy. That was weird.

– I wrote about changes in my attitude towards sex some posts ago. That was an all time low I guess if I check out the ‘likes’ I got so I guess I won’t go there again :-D.

– In between I have used several different Schuessler tissue calts – a sort of mineral pills which are a little different from the standard ones because they actually have very little content and the idea is that you take up the minerals through the skin in your mouth so they go straight in the bloodstream and bypass the food canal. This is helpful when you have food canal problems. :-). Currently I am taking a break from them because I noticed that some ‘complaints’ are leaving but others are getting popping up. So now I wonder whether the uptake of one salt causes, due to chemical reactions and balance and what have you, to lower. I will be looking into that. Currently I have an eyelid that is ‘ticking’

– Tapping: I have listened to the tapping conference and have used it for minor things and of course ‘winning the lottery’.  I have only done any of the subjects once so I am not really noticing change in my behavior I guess but I do notice that my body is relaxing on deeper levels and I sleep better. However, I do not dare to depend on it too much, it still seems like voodoo to me – also because I can’t really feel the tapping points. Or in other words, the points that I feel actually respond to the tapping are not exactly there were the Ortner family said they are. So…. another point to look into. Currently I like the technique as a way to get to know my fears better. They do float to the surface once I get into the process of ‘no matter…… I love and accept myself’ and immediately something inside me says: ‘Pffff, NOOOOO WAY!!! You first have to clean the dishes!!!!’ Blablablabla… so I get to know that negative voice intimately. Sometimes I fall for it and sometimes I look at it and feel like it is not part of me anymore. But it is, it is. Ha, can’t let go of negativity too quickly, it feels like home.

– Falun dafa: I’ve been practising Falun dafa now for several days for about 15 to 20 minutes a day. I do think it helps me. Somehow my lower back pain that was in the background before lowering my blood pressure but immediately popped up after that, has risen to the foreground fully and is now again leaving. I think it is psychosomatic but I don’t know what it is telling me. Well, I actually think… that I think that I need to start living if I don’t have it. So….. I also think / fear I would be free floating into vagueness and anything-alternative-ufo-style-magic-unicorn-solution-to-living if I did not have it. So…. 🙂 I guess there is a good reason to have it.  I don’t have it when I do something interesting. That is interesting in it self. 🙂 Mind-body connections are so interesting.

– I sleep better. FINALLY! That started about 6 months into sobriety and I guess it has to do with 3 things: 1 being invited for the job interview and 2, making to do lists that I could actually finish, 3 going to bed on a reasonable time and waking up with an alarm 8 to 8 1/2 hours later. I’m still keeping that up, no problem. Sometimes I wake up at 8:00, but I’m trying to get to 5:00 or 6:00. Just because I like it and I remember from earlier in my life that I have been most productive in the time that I did that. It does take some planning with food etc.

I fall asleep within 1 to 3 minutes and wake up once or twice a night but mostly that is caused by the cat. We have this routine, she wakes me up, I go to the toilet and pet her. Not sure if she wakes me up to go to the toilet or to pet her. Sometimes I actually thinks she is taking care of me by waking me up. If I forget to feed her before I go to bed she might wake me up a second time. Anyhow, when I wake up now I do not really wake up like I used to, I am in this half slumber mode. NEW!

I have started dreaming again. Amazing dreams. Loads of mythology and beautiful incomprehensible stories which I forget as soon as I wake up. Bummer. I don’t care. Sleep is important and I am happy that it is still improving. When I got sober I thought that getting into dreaming would be my major hobby when sober but the most work goes into actually sleeping :-). Sleeping well is important specifically for people in recovery (I hate that word) because I read once that those who can’t sleep seem to relapse. But that had to do with catching sleep. I can fall asleep easily, it is when I wake up I get in trouble.

Maybe I party a little too early about the job. Today the owner was pissed off with me because I wanted something that we had discussed in writing and added to the contract. Now she changed her mind and is denying me what she allowed earlier. She’s a tough cooky and I’m not playing her well because I am not a player :-(. We shall see where time leads us.

– I do have a big fear that I do not speak about: my breast have sagged loads of centimeters by now, as have other tissues over my body, which is ok. But I can feel so many lumps in my breast that I am sometimes scared to even touch them. But I guess I would be tired and skinny if I had anything serious. And I know that I would not be able to sustain my sobriety yet if I went for research so I’m not going. You please don’t worry, I am guessing it has to do with tissue from my breasts starting to well, become older and loose firmness because I don’t get all that phyto-estrogens from the beer and wine anymore. So I finally feel what other, normal, women have felt all their life.

– Liver pain, still experiencing some liver pain so now and then. Do you have that? Still?

Hmmm, this post is usually about the good stuff? Now I’m all complaining? Hmmm. Good stuff:

I have given up believing that I can do things by forcing myself to. NEW! Which gives me a lot of room to either let go (NEW!!) or actually do them (NEW!!!). I also know that I need to indeed delete half of my to-do list for a day and be happy if the things are all done at the end. NEW!

I have grown in professional confidence (NEW!!!) and there is a sense of longing to work and getting started again returning. NEW!!!!! Disclaimer: not sure how much of this newly found confidence will still be there when the job does work.

I am still having trouble trying to focus on stuff but it is not coming to the point where I get really irritated  NEW!!! with my behavior so I actually turn stuff like Facebook and mail off to do other stuff.

NEW also is my now firm, believe that unwelcome feelings have a message too. I have come to believe that feelings can guide us to stay on a track that is natural. That is, when the feelings have developed naturally which is not the case when we have trauma’s or so. Or in other words: feelings that I experience as painful are now guides to changing stuff. That does not happen overnight because it means that I need to look into the darkness and actually CHANGE stuff but the thought is there. I think it is a sustainable thought.

NEW is also my ‘ability’ to let go of irritation and not get wound up in traffic e.g.

NEW is also the growing concept of ‘this too shall pass’. I do not anymore believe that every bad feeling will stay forever. I was not even aware of the fact that I have that. It is funny because that is a concept that humans are supposed to learn after their first year of life. Babies have no concept of time and literally think everything lasts forever. 😦 So, at age 45 I’m starting to learn that it might be possible that things shall pass. 🙂 NEW!!

NEW is also the concept of not having to be engulfed in emotions. I can put emotions aside. I have practised to do so because I had a meeting with the store man and did not want to take my problems into the store because he is so absolutely sensitive. Just flooding my anger through the shop would feel impolite. So I curbed it. And that actually worked. So now I ‘just’ need to learn to do this for myself as well.

NEW is the idea that negativity attracts negativity so I try not to speak or think bad of other people (yeah, not working). Specifically not since I saw the Donna Eden video on YouTube where a women on stage lost her energy because people were staring her down. Ooooh, nasty. On the negativity, which has been a subject all my life: I now get the Tarot cards ‘Fear’ and ‘Negativity’ alternating. Sigh…. And then, when I got fed up with it and asked for a solution it said: ‘Love’. And then I hear myself speaking to the cards; ‘Well, easy for you to say, you don’t have to live this life….’. 🙂 Haven’t learned it yet. 😉

NEW is the idea that I am now leaving an important part of my addicted life behind and preparing myself for society again. I guess that has to do with having to present myself for the job applications.

NEW is getting irritated with my weight. Not sad and with shame but in a way that could stimulate action. NO PROMISES. 🙂 I still have problems with making promises, thinking I might not be able to live up to them. That is something that needs looking into in due time.

NEW is the cat staring above my head and around me as she has never done. So I guess my aura (?) is changing. She has always been pretty to herself and I really like to keep it clear that she is a cat and not a replacement for a baby. She likes licking her butt and I don’t. Different. Clear. But lately she is more interested in being with me. I think it is because the way I feel to her. I am a little more relaxed.

NEW is that I sometimes can align with my memory of my spirit / divine spark. It feels like meditating and letting go of all the things that I felt before give me identity, thoughts, ego things and pain. They are not there in those moments – or I have not recognised them. I am different there. Enjoying it because that is how I assume I need to be but sometimes I get called back by suddenly experiencing vulnerability. I guess I am experiencing here what it is to be human, starting to separate the divine within and without from the human within, without. Not sure how to put that. I should get some schooling somehow, learn to call it like (I want it to be) it is.

NEW is that I am starting to look into some character traits of mine that I guess are related to addiction. The one that pops up mostly is ‘megalomania’. There is no business idea that I have without wanting it to ‘go global’ and ‘immediately’. I am starting to notice this when it happens.

NEW: I spoke with my bowels as part of a tapping on diarrhea. They actually answered that they race my food out of my body because they expect it to hurt because it has been hurting for so many years now. And then I told them that I had seriously stopped drinking and that they do not have to expect alcohol to come in again. They did not believe me at first, they were pretty spooked but then they turned happy. I have been on the border of constipation ever since. 🙂 Oooh, I sooooo would not want to be my doctor. 😀 And I am sooooo happy that I do not have anything serious that actually involves speaking with a doctor who I would be trying to explain all of this. 😀 Gheghegheghe…. impossible. 🙂

On that topic of vagueness: my right foot is hurting in different places. No idea why and the pain wanders.

NEW: the idea that I have with money is not the getting of it, it is the keeping of it. I need to look into that. Brrrrrr..

I am happy that I quit and every day for new reasons that add up to the old reasons. To some this ‘happy that I quit’ might sound stupid or just something I say but I will tell you: whenever I write that down I am THANKFUL BIG TIME to myself – yes I put myself here first, to GP1 who showed me the way and all other people, including you! who have made this possible.

I want: to sleep.

I need: to sleep

I take: Bach rescue remedy once or twice a day against flairs of fear overwhelming me because of things ‘I might have done wrong in the contract negotiations… blablabla…’

Have a good evening, night, day. 🙂 Thanks for reading my post.

xx, Feeling

On intimacy and sex

Ha, I was curious as to why I was so enthusiastic about Esther Nicholson from the tapping conference yesterday. And… then I checked out the OTHER interview. Dealing with me going in denial here – but I DID listen to Alina Frank and Craig Weiner on Learning to Love: Healing the Legacy of Trauma to Create Physical and Emotional Intimacy.

It was difficult to hear. I go into freezing at the moment people speak about freezing. Thoughts of things that happened have been I don’t know, driven to the background more and more. They were very present before I quit drinking and the anger stayed on for a few months and then, I don’t know, my direction of thought and feeling changed and it was not important anymore for me at these times.

During my last 6 months I have made some discoveries about childhood and youth, will, issues. I discovered that I had this sense of foreboding in, as far as I can remember, every situation that I ever got harassed. As far as I can remember ‘harassment’ never came ‘out of the blue’ – not at age 18, not at age 4. But that doesn’t make it easier  to deal with because now I go from thinking I am stupid and bad because this happened to me to actually feeling responsible. And I KNOW that is not the whole truth but I did not take action on my intuition and that is something that has gotten me in trouble at all sorts of levels in all sorts of situations.

I also discovered that I have this energetic door that I slam into the face of any man I meet. And that this triggers aggression. I don’t want to go into that too deep now. Need my wits upon me. Wondering if I’m self-sabotaging my (hopefully) new job with falling back into well, unsolved issues. I learned in the last month that I am pretty ok with being overweight and having grey hair because it ‘keeps me safe’ from admirers. Yes, time for some feel good film on Netflix and sleep. No dwelling on the past. Sign some contracts first, focus on a new job.

I will put in one extra paragraph on sex. If you know me in real life you might want to skip this one…. I have experienced almost a total lack of sex-drive since I quit drinking and fantasies that would normally stimulate me now look awful and inappropriate. (Yes this paragraph is about single-sex in case you wondered 😉 ) Also having sexual fantasies about actual people is something that I suddenly feel is very inappropriate ‘through-the-air-energy’ wise. Yeah, sounds funny, I know, but it is one of those psychological/physical changes that I find, well, strange – before I quit I would not have guessed that this would be part of it. It’s good, I guess, but a little funny to feel like I redefine sexuality at age 45. Having said so, I am guessing that nasty sexual experiences are a very big part of my drinking history so maybe it is actually the first thing I should have expected to change. Hmmm…. Shall I put ‘sex’ in the tags? I’ll dress it up a little. 🙂 The thought of sober sex is something that scares me and on the other side feels interesting. But I don’t have to worry about it because I lack a guy. And… seeing what is changing in me currently I am more and more convinced that it is indeed not wise to even think of starting a relation in the first year of recovery.

For those who know me in RL you can continue reading here:

I am happy that I quit although I could do with some serious tea.

I need: to keep my wits about me and not self-sabotage.

I want: the whole world to explode (sorry) where I am the only one who survives (sorry, again). I guess I need to take care of me. It’s amazing how quickly memories of events that I have experienced as destructive turn into big destructive feelings towards well, everything and everybody (triple sorry). Everything was fine yesterday. I need to Netflix, bathe, sleep.

Have a nice evening / day / morning! I promise you I will not blow up the world :-D. Just Netflix, bath, sleep. And sorry for you from the NSA having to read this blog now because somebody anonymously typed about blowing up the world: these are not code words. Just expressions of destructive feelings. 🙂 Trust me. 😀

xx, Feeling

Something between whaahaaaa and wheeheeeee and a new time

Oooh, I just got invited for the second job interview as a follow-up from the last. ‘You are our best option.’  Not sure if that is a compliment but I’ll take it as such. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Now what? My wish to the universe was indeed a second interview. And I’m currently in the phase of trying to not pay attention to the thought that it would be real strange in this times that I would get a job with the first letter I have sent out after years and years. And now it is actually good that my friends are all in the same line of work because I can check what salary would be ok to ask for. 🙂

Hmmm, suddenly I feel funny about all the time I wasted lately. 😀 Processes, processes. Ghegheghe. I need to start to believe that I can be happy workwise and that life can be simple. And it is a part-time job so plenty of time to continue the self-help I’m doing now.

This morning I started off with the routine from Donna Eden that I posted yesterday. It feels like it works. I feel more energetic. But that could also be so because I actually did something instead of nothing. Not sure. I’m interested in her way of seeing the world and health and she’s very happy so she must know stuff that other people don’t know. ;-). It is now 4 hours later and I have been watching a lot of her video’s on YouTube. It is AMAZING what she teaches. And the hippo says ‘Yeah! Finally!!’. I guess there must be something in this for me. It combines very nicely with the haptic body work I have been doing years ago. I have done one of the tests with the arm out myself earlier and I know it works exactly as you see it. It is not a scam. I’m gonna get all my girlfriends together and test this out! Wonderful 🙂 Makes me happy. 🙂 It feels as if today I have reached some end point and a new time is approaching. Well, meteorological (is that the word or a word at all?) spring started yesterday so maybe I’m perfectly in sync.

I am happy that I quit drinking alcohol. Thankful to GP1 who so clearly showed me what clarity looked like, thankful for the people at the programme who, by listening without judgement, allowed me to -instead of fight with my self-loathing- come to the point where I could find the love and energy I needed to quit. ❤  ❤  ❤

There are a few things I want to quit doing now too, I think, not sure, letting go is difficult but it is becoming an option… hmmm, those are tapping words. Hmm….. I would like to be able to give up negative thinking but truth be said: I still don’t feel like I have the energy to stop it like I quit drinking. I just want things to be easy. Not sure why, if I zoom into that I feel overwhelmed and tired and hopeless. Hmm, lets tap on that :-D. Negativity, I have been looking into that ever since I got out of the alcohol prison and today again it pops up, of course because of a new situation. It is still my primary reaction.

Yesterday I actually did some meditation and ‘the voice’ in my head said: ‘You need to stop taking care of others.’ Funny because in daily people judgement this is counter intuitive but I feel it is true in the sense that I tend to meddle, that is the part where the care giver misunderstands ‘taking care’. Not sure how to deal with that yet. I guess it is the next big thing now next to being positive.

I want: a tremendous salary, free-floating hours and wonderful colleagues, work that makes me excited.

I need: don’t know yet, admin again. :-(, cleaning.

I take: nothing, a bit irritated with healing that comes from the outside in. Reading books of an old Dutch witch now. Unfortunately she is long dead but I have just re-discovered her. Really enjoying it, well, she says things that agree with my thoughts about stuff so that makes for easy reading ;-). Another wonderful realisation of late: I like stuff that does not contradict me. :-D. It feels very childish but I could also interpret it as ‘going with the flow’. And now I have seen Donna Eden’s video’s I’m sure that going with the flow is very important. Check this out. Donna shows how to test if your ‘strong’ in your energy and then with the one movement takes away the energy from somebody (and restores it later! 🙂 ) If you are in a hurry go to 1:20. In another video she shows that actually looking somebody down can do scramble somebodies energy and looking up to them can strengthen it. Wow! She also tells about the bad effects of shoulder bags and underwired bras on your energy level. I guess this counts for metal wires, not the plastic, but not sure. If you have time I would say: watch and learn and be happy. 🙂  🙂  🙂

When I drank

When I drank I used to feel omnipotent and drank the awkward feelings away. That was unreal.

Now I don’t drink anymore I am starting to recognise my strengths and weaknesses. I am not almighty anymore but it is real.

And it is an odd place to have a job interview from. But well, this is how it is. The sun is shining and I am happy that I quit. Jeeeez, that funny job interview would have rocked my boat earlier. Still working on letting it settle in a good way but I do think it is exactly what needed to happen. 🙂

I am happy that I quit because I am starting to feel peace in being me. Because when drinking I would have never met you in the sober blogosphere, never had to look for answers to my questions about life, never have had met the store man who seriously helps me with sorting out issues now. We speak on a weekly basis for about 4-5 hours on life, development and spirituality. It’s real good fun. 🙂 Talking about personal development and laughing about our own inability to actually walk our own spiritual talk is just very funny and relaxing and I guess healing. 🙂

I want: to sit in the sun and not worry.

I need: to send out 2 applications later in the day, hmmm, if I had done that yesterday when it was raining I could have gone out now. Hmmmm. Slowly, slowly, my ‘shoulds’ are starting to turn into smarter time management. There is still a lot of apprehension in me for doing stuff in general but the energy for starting things has actually come back with the seaweed I eat for the Iodine. And when I plan a walk on a day it actually happens at 14:00 hours now instead of just half an hour before the sun sets. 🙂 I go to bed earlier and wake up with the alarm clock every few days 15 minutes earlier. I am aiming for 7:30 tomorrow. And I guess not taking the beta blockers helps because the leaflet inside said they make you go tired and numb, fat, sleepless and lacking energy in general. Good pills Stupid trap I fell in. I am actually still angry at the doctor who prescribed them. Need to work on that because it somehow keeps parts of me from moving forward. Not sure how that works. 🙂 Another 12 step thing (working on resentment) that pops up naturally in the process of getting clear after having been addicted. I really think it is funny how that works – obviously the 12 steps are a ‘natural procedure’ that comes with getting clean and clear. I think I’ll do a post on that some day. But not now. Bright but still cold February sun is calling!

Hope you have a nice Sunday and enjoy being sober and/or clean. 🙂

xx, Feeling

The actual interview

2 Days ago I was invited for a job interview that was ‘magically’ arranged for me (in the post a few days back). However I went with some hesitation because I had seen a photo from the owner and in her I (thought to) recognise that specific toughness that women in the branch I work in have. They are tough, they work hard, work late, decide within seconds, communicate in short sentences and meet their deadlines. Deadlines almost every day. It’s a seasonal business.

Our first contact was cold but with a ‘lets be polite’ touch to it. I immediately felt her boundaries and felt that she had no ‘entry’ as a human, tough women and pretty rigid. She immediately dove in for the kill by letting go of any of the polite structures that are designed for conversations like this and saying ‘you tell me about you’.

So I told her about me and I was not out there with enthusiasm in telling me about my ‘failed’ business. I felt she was planning to discard me when until I said: ‘Well, I know it is more or less the rule in a job interview that people tell you how great they are. But I can’t because I do not exactly feel that way. I had a business and then life happened and I am in a position where I am still dealing with the consequences of that.’

Q: ‘So what was the main reason your business went wrong?’

A: It is a combination of quite a few things obviously but mainly I think if I had been less a perfectionist and more hands on, that would have made a difference.’

I could see her settling down and becoming less uncomfortable with the idea that this indeed was not a normal job interview.

Q: So what is your best character trait, when it comes to work.

A: I think my ability to analyse things and come up with the real solution.

Q: And your worst?

A: That indeed would be perfection, not being content until every tiny detail is fixed. That can slow me down.

Q: So how would that work out in this job?

A: In this job I would need to pay attention to the planning and deadlines and I think that would I start here, that is something I would like to have help with until I am settled. The jobs I have done before all dealt with only one product range at the time and here they will be mingled so I would need to prioritize. Untill I am really settled in I would like help with that. Further: because I am a perfectionist and know my job I will most likely bring down the workload by making sure there are less ‘tries’ and ‘samples’ needed before we decide on production quality.’

Q: How do you deal with criticism?

A: Do you want the real answer or the job interview preferred answer?

Q: I think I want the real answer, yes.

A: I dislike criticism. I am ok with instructions, no problem. And I get it that people can get upset if things go wrong. But if instructions are meant to hurt, or improve the way somebody that gives them feels about him/herself I very much dislike it.

Q: That is fair enough. Criticism should not be meant to hurt. So what happens if I wake up in the morning at the wrong side of the bed, everything gets worse from there on, those things sometimes happen… And finally I end up at your desk and you did something stupid, might be minor, might be bigger but I, having a bad day, BLOW UP and let go of some steam. How would you react?

A: Again, I think it is important that I give you the real answer. I dislike that. I would tell you that I am open to your instructions but that I would prefer you to deal with your bad mood in another way than having it out on me.

Q: But you know, people can have a bad day.

A: Yes, that’s possible. And I am willing to help if there are problems but I do not appreciate being at the receiving end. I know me.

When I write it down it is actually a very strange and rather aggressive job interview. This was all said in peace, there was no open war, but there was a meeting, not really clashing, but meeting of energies.

Well, I could not have done it differently. If somebody in an interview comes up and actually says: ‘I will be very critical and I am moody and will abuse you when the shit hits the fan – what am I to say? Yes, please walk over me? It is not my function to criticise her there but it is not my function to be a stepping stone either. I want to contribute AND keep my right to be me and vulnerable with that too.

We shall see. When (more like ‘if’) I am invited again I think we need to really speak. The person who did the job had to leave because she was not functioning well and I believe the owner is still pretty much upset about having to fire somebody – her questions and reaction seem to come from that spot where it hurts. 😦 The person that got the job finally turned it down because she could not get the working hours aligned with the kids and daycare and stuff. My friend, who had applied for the job in the first place was pretty pissed of that she was not invited to a second interview. Maybe she still will. Funny is that she had EXACTLY the same opinion about the owner as I did: tough, no entry, rigid.

Let’s see. 🙂 I am curious. The next message will be in a week. It can go either way. We did not speak technique so she obviously thought me saying: ‘I am in a bit of a strange place but I can do the job fine.’ was ok. 🙂

I am happy that I quit. I can now feel that this is just how it went and not hide in shame because I was not perfect. I start telling people that I have not been drinking for almost half a year now (4 days to go) and nobody gives a shit. Funny. Did I tell you that I drank 3 zips of green tea this week? By accident. I am caffeine and theine free too. It was AWFULL! As bad as your first sip of coffee or licking an ashtray. Brrrrrr. I would not think I would my taste would restore to that kids-state of being. Funny too. I spit it out, so awful, I thought it had gone bad and then I realised that I had the wrong tea. Amazing what a body does and how it works. 🙂 Exciting all to find out.

I want: to stay at home and think.

I need: to go to a friend because I said I would. But she’s pregnant so, no drinking pressure there.

I take: Schuessler salt against throat ache.

Sigh….

Had the job interview this morning – I can’t lie anymore. Don’t want to anymore. But I feel insecure about my new not posturing me. Also feeling sad about what I drank away. The professional pride – all gone. Where my CV used to look like a beautiful road to success I am now presenting a puzzle with quite some pieces missing. I guess I’ll have to deal with this now, sober. Parts of me feel like Ryan – a very succesful artist who used and drank his life away and is now living in the ‘world of but’. Every opportunity is covered up with a ‘yeah, but…’ meaning nothing other than ‘no, please fuck of politely’.

On the other hand, I cried, I sorted stuff out, I cried again and I feel that no matter what I am doing  the right thing now. Not sure if this job is the right place, she actually pretty much scares me and if feels like she wants to stay in that place where she does that. So…. hmmm… When I was done crying an old customer called, major job but requiring other (lower, who would have guessed 😦 ) tariff from me because of budget reasons. It would be a wonderful learning opportunity because there I can do something I have not done professionally. But (?) again: these people move at a speed and with a lack of attention to detail and human interaction that they scare me. But (?) maybe everything spooks me now.  Don’t know. Gonna go out, get some tea before the sun is gone.

I am happy that I quit because I can learn to deal with things and feel the depth and the hight and the details of it all. Quite exciting actually. Not to start of with, but after a while.

I want: I am wanting life was a little more simple. But (?) maybe…. continuously thinking it is difficult sets me on a path were it is difficult. Maybe I should try to be happy about it and embrace it. A day without difficulty is a day wasted… or so. 😀 No. What about: follow the stream of life / don’t resist the tide / or… ?

I need: to get organised to take that energy with me so I believe myself and those scrutinizing me will trust me on that point. Very important in the branch I work in. Loads of deadlines.

I take: nothing, not in the mood.

Have a nice day/evening!