4thdimension86

I feel like I am going through puberty again. I am 27 and have two years of sobriety. My life is finally beginning to resemble normalcy again. Doing stuff sober is so weird to me though. I used to be an avid fisherman. However, I did not go fishing after I got sober until last week. I had fun but doing it sober was weird. I was always stoned or buzzed when I went. It is like that with everything. I didn't go deer hunting last year. I was so used to sitting in my deer stand smoking a jay and getting load with the guys I used to hunt with. I associate everything with drugs and alcohol. I kind of hid from the world after I got sober because everything seemed so new and unusual. I am working on pushing out of my shell so I can get back to living life. Anyone have a similar experience?

sober35

Yea, i can relate. I almost have 2 years and it's really like getting back to reality. Alcoholism is a disease of perception, it takes some time

Johno1967

Funny that, I always felt awkward without a beer in my hands and unless I had a drink I felt "out of sorts". It's only since I turned it over and started working the steps have I felt more in control, more confident and more at ease with myself and the world than ever before. When I tried to go on the wagon in the past I gave in to the "pathetic" voice inside, doubting and defeatist.
I can stand on my feet now and look any one in the eye. I've nothing to hide and have a HP that gives me that strength.
My sobriety is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of my spiritual condition. It gets stronger everyday.
Would never have believed it 2,5, 10 or 20 years ago.

Gottalife

I remember the first two years as the most amazing time. That's when all the big changes happened for me. I remember feeling a little flat in the third year as my new life was becoming normal and perhaps not so exciting.

But over time another joy has crept in, that of witnessing others recover like I did. And of course I have been able to take many opportunities in life, many of which appeared lost to me in my drinking days. And it just keeps getting better.

My experience is, if you go for a A grade AA recovery, you can do and be anything free men can do and be. The only limit is my imagination.

GracieLou

I had no idea what normal was and I am not sure I ever will. There was not one thing I associated drinking with as I drank all the time. Cooking dinner, BBQ, camping, couch potato, cleaning, laundry, friends over, no friends over, birthdays, holidays, do nothing day so....everyday really.

I drank for 26 years so I have no clue. I am sober and living my life. I assume I am doing it right as I am happy, sober and free.

I can't imagine what normal is, never been normal. I think I like what I am now and the person I am now. I think others like me now. I guess that is all I can really hope for at this point.

I live one day at a time.

tomsteve

everything didn't feel right when I was first sober. even being around the people at meetings didn't feel right.everything I did for a very long time I did while drinking or drinking and on drugs and with people drinking or on drugs.
after a meeting one day early on, someone with quite a few years noticed it and asked how I was doing. he said,"well of course it doesn't feel right. you conditioned yerself to think the way you were living and the people you hung with were the way you were supposed to live. that's part of the insanity. it wasn't right. what yer gonna have to do is act your way into right thinking. when yer out fishing, remind yerself this is how sane people fish and keep fishing. when yer here before the meeting and after, remind yerself that sane people don't hang around practicing drunks and druggies. yer thinkin will change with yer actions."
it took time( and working the steps), but eventually everything started feeling right.

Mountainmanbob

yes most everything was strange not doing it drunk and stoned
you are at the two year mark -- that's great
today with 6 years I still remember doing most all things loaded
but -- now I see where being sober is so much better
just back from the desert -- all was clear out there sober -- nice change
haven't had a DUI in a long time -- another good thing to remember
the wife's happy -- happy queen makes for a happy king

MM

UncleMeat69

It was very boring, at first, not living most of my days "On the edge."
Life seemed empty and dull, especially after doing the steps and
experiencing a psychic change and having the restlessness, irritability
and discontentedness fading away.
I would look at "Regular Earth People" and observe that they would
do their "Earth People" stuff and actually get all excited about the
dumbest things. Things that weren't jaded or warped.
Then something strange started to happen, slowly, of course. I found myself
beginning to like those dumb things and found joy, meaning and even ecstasy in
some of the simplest activities. What a profound experience this thing called recovery.
The best moments for me are when I am working with newcomers.

IOAA2

I was divorced when I finally got sober and had my children each week end and during the warm months took my 15 foot boat out to the beach or fished etc. After about 2 years of this my son about 7 asked to go to the "Big beach" so I packed a lunch. When I went to get the drinks I froze and panicked for a few seconds wondering how do I go to this beach without beer? It was like my brain dead first week getting sober. Old habits last awhile if we let them.

BE WELL

4thdimension86

I just gotta work through it. I got sober to get back to the things I love in life. I am going hunting next year. I hope everyone feels safer knowing that I will not be intoxicated while I am in the forest with a gun or bow. The truth is that I never really hunted or fished before I got sober. The only thing I did was get loaded. God only knows how many deer I've missed or trophy fish I've lost because I was to messed up to focus on the task at hand.