beatle

Today, I am a year and a half sober. For some reason, it's been a little tough today. I find that at this stage of sobriety, I get urges but they are rarely overwhelming though. From time to time I will write down memories that remind me of what I was going through during my drinking days. Today I listed the more memorable pros and cons:

I do miss:
- Relaxing with wine and the resulting state of euphoria that seems to be unobtainable naturally.
- Alcohol is a great escape for boredom.
- Letting loose with friends, so what if we’re all drunk if we’re having fun.

I do not miss:
• The horrible Anxiety!
• Emotional fluctuations.
• Passing out instead of falling asleep.
• Dementia.
• Dry heaves, especially when brushing my teeth.
• Mornings, always the worst time of the day (my favorite now).
• Bloating.
• Self criticism
• I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.
• Panic of planned evening events and how I will make it sober.
• Evenings and weekends revolving around alcohol.
• Wake up nights looking for leftover alcohol.
• All day binges, missing work and feeling horrible the next morning.
• Being sedentary
• Looking outside the window drunk, realizing I'm missing out on life
• Afraid to go to church.
• Admiring those who were active and didn't drink
• Holding my breath for fear that someone was going to smell the booze.
• Trying to act sober at home and in front of others.
• Hiding my empty bottles so others didn't know how much I drank.
• Sleeplessness.
• Shopping at different stores so people didn't think I had a problem.
• Thinking I could never “get out of this”.
• Worrying about morning drinking.
• Fear of days off, didn’t know if I could control my drinking.
• Running out during the movie to chug alcohol in the car only to return and fall asleep during the movie.
• Not being able to read a book.
• Not being able to handle important issues the next day.

I could add more and I suspect the cons list will grow more rapidly than the pros. But for today, I'm reminded that I'm blessed to be sober.

FeenixxRising

For those of us who can't control our drinking, the cons always outweigh the pros.

SoberSteve

Congrats on a year and a half! Awesome!

Your list looks like the list in my head. Cons greatly outweighing any pros.

BJ. 6 months and counting

sugarbear1

"- Relaxing with wine and the resulting state of euphoria that seems to be unobtainable naturally."

I have this state of being and it's all natural today. There is hope for you, too!

"- Alcohol is a great escape for boredom."

I don't have enough hours in the day right now, life is full of Things To Accomplish And Do. Again, there is hope!

"- Letting loose with friends, so what if we’re all drunk if we’re having fun."

I have more fun today with friends than I had when I was drinking. Heck, I even have more fun with Other People (on the bus, in the stores...wherever I go!). Much more hope than you may have realized!!

Stay strong and stay stopped!!

oak

Congrats on 1.5 years sober!

Olive1

I do not recall any pros.

Levitz

Great list . The moment I start thinking about the pros ......I STOP that line of thought immediately . It is a Zero Tolerance Policy . That kind of romanticizing the good times will just start to upset me and maybe I will start justifying " why not " Relapse always starts with our thinking.......and then more thinking.

otter

Wow. It's almost like I made that post.