Originally Posted by
Quincy 
I really like this thread also. Having hobbies again is one of the biggest rewards of sobriety to me. There were so many things I enjoyed especially outdoors related that I either barely did or gave up on when I was drinking. When drinking I would think about all the things I was going to do over the weekend during the sober work week, but come Friday I would drink afterwork and start early Saturday morning which frequently meant all plans were off. One of my old hobbies that I've started up again is fishing. I don't take it too seriously because just being out near a lake, stream, or river with my dog is more of the experience and purpose than actually catching a fish.
I've loved to fish since I was 8 years old. It's always been a constant in my life. During my drinking days, my weekends and free time were spent either recovering from drinking or drinking and fishing was only an occasional thing. Now, after closing in on 2 years sober, I fish on a regular basis- every Sunday and several times during the week. It's become a central part of my life and I've come to depend on it- being in nature, enjoying the simple elemental things in life- sun, clouds, wildlife, mountains, trees- all of this helps me in life and recover from the years of drinking. And I've become better at the different types of fishing I've loved but never had enough time to try. It's meditation, it's poetic. Very grateful to have fishing back.