Day 11 — Grumpy Gorilla Sober Days

More Sober Tips for When You’re Struggling at Work

Sober Journey Day 11

A Rough Start

9:47am. I’m at work and stressed. I can feel my shoulders knotting. I’m a tightly wound ball ready to “throw hands” as my super cool tween says.

The day is starting off with a bang. I have to deliver negative decisions to I didn’t make or necessarily agree with to clients.

The habitual phrase “I need a drink” runs through my head automatically.

It’s a good thing I don’t have a flask in my desk drawer. Never have. Ever. Just wanted to make sure that was clear.

But we’ve all seen the businessmen in movies secretly slipping flasks from their desk drawers. I’m sure it’s a thing and if I had one, I’d already be sipping on it.

But let’s not talk about imaginary circumstances. Let’s talk about what’s real.

I’m struggling right now. I looked down and realized my hands were balled into fists. Then the thought, “I need a drink.”

But I don’t need a drink necessarily. I need relief, distraction. And I usually turn to booze for that relief.

Me and tension are not buddies.

So what do I do instead?

I immediately turn on worship. I have Spotify on my work computer and an extensive worship playlist. Normally I turn it on as soon as I clock in, but I was distracted this morning.

Worship is always step one for me. I need the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to flood whatever space I’m in. Even if I still feel crazy or stressed or tired, Jesus holds me steady. It doesn’t “fix” everything, not always, but…

…steady is a good start to not drinking and making better choices.

But today, that thought kept running through my head.

So I went and got a drink. Thankfully there’s a Starbucks I can see from my office window. That helped a lot…having something to sip on.

It’s 11:40am now, and I’m feeling much better. For now. But what about later?

What To Do When “I Need a Drink” Won’t Stop Running Through Your Head At Work

I mentioned some sober tools in a recent article. Here are some more sober tools specifically for when you’re struggling at work:

• Turn on music.

• Get some coffee or tea or fizzy water or grapefruit juice. Make sure you have something like this available at all times to sip on slowly.

• Eat some dark chocolate…slowly.

• Go for a walk.

• Walk the stairs in your building.

• Paint your nails.

• Take a bathroom break and stay in the stall a little longer than necessary.

• Look up jokes online and read them and laugh…even if they’re cringy.

• Listen to a comedian for a few minutes.

• Stretch. A good stretch. Watch kitten videos on YouTube.

• Chew gum or suck on mints.

Just a Prickly Pear, Grumpy Gorilla Kinda Day

The coffee drink earlier helped, but I’m having such a prickly pear grumpy gorilla day. It’s just one of those days.

And since I’m not going to drink my way through it, I will probably eat and worship my way through it!

Today is Wednesday, and on Monday of this week I also cut out obvious sugar…like candy, ice cream, etc. I still put honey in my coffee and get syrup in my coffee at Starbucks. (Notice a trend?) But I’m off the “hard stuff”. Which is probably another reason why I feel like stabbing someone.

It’s probably too soon to try to quit something else big until I feel stronger. Not a good sober strategy.

The Devil Hates Wednesdays

And I’ll tell you another reason that isn’t as obvious that I’m feeling tenser than an athlete’s calves after a hard workout…it’s WEDNESDAY.

You see, we go to church on Wednesday nights. It’s the old school traditional setup where kids go to youth group and the adults have their own service. And for the last few months, Wednesday night has been on fire! Old school revival fire.

My point is things have been happening on Wednesday, and don’t you know that when God is moving, so is satan? He hates what’s happening in our church right now, and it is obvious.

Every single Wednesday I struggle way more than any other day of the week. Coincidence? Doubt it.

I am usually overly tired, the kids are crabby, I can’t stand to be around people, etc. And 9 times out of 10 I have to talk myself into going to church. But I always do because I know once I get there, everything will be OK.

More than OK. The Holy Spirit speaks to my heart and soul and is like a warm, cozy balm over all my prickly parts.

But I have to be aware. I have to see the pattern and recognize that this is the devil trying to hold me back and keep me in bondage. Am I going to let him control me like that? Mmm mmm. Nope!

So I turn my tension and frustration towards him. I feel the need to be angry. Why not be angry at him? He’s the one that tries to ruin everything, not my kids or my husband or my boss or God.

I should have the song “Not Today Satan” set as my alarm on Wednesday mornings!

These Grumpy Gorilla days are hard. The worst ones. But I can get through them and so can you with strategy (sober tools and worship) and perspective.