i always say alcohism stole my life. but did i give it away
 

For ages ive been saying that alcohol has robbed me of my life.

now im in recovery ive been thinking about it. I now think alcohol didnt steal my life. I gave it away and now i need to get it back.

what do you lot think. Did u stop enjoying life because of alcohol. Did you start enjoying life onse you were sober?

Yes and yes. Although it took me months of sobriety to see it. I hadn't realized that I had been viewing almost everything in relation to drinking opportunities. I passed up many things because it would have interfered with my drinking.

Then things shifted the other direction. In early sobriety I passed on some events/activities because there would be drinking there. I think that was helpful at the time, but also unfortunate. I was still missing out on some things, but it was for the best at the time.

Now I am in a place (mentally) where alcohol doesn't invade my planning. I don't have to select activities based on the availability or nonavailability of alcohol. I am enjoying that freedom very much.

Keep the press on. You can do this, too! :a122:

when the booze had me in its grips there was no choice for me as i was to dependent on it, i couldn't get off the stuff and drank everything away

all because i loved the effect it gave me and once i had taken a drink i wanted more and more of the stuff
so for me it was the booze that took it all away
once i finaly did get my act together and go the help i needed then my life changed and i started to get back things i had lost and my life got better
but it wasnt just getting off the drink albeit that was the top order of the day but after a while i had to learn to change me as a person how i think and feel and react to things
but that all came for me much later on
so for me i see the booze robbed me of it all

I did start to enjoy life once I got sober but it was not the same life. I did not stop drinking and life got a all wonderful with rainbows and butterflies.

I see things very differently now. The little things don't bother me as they used to. I am able to let go of negative feelings much more quickly and easily. I am living life on life's terms instead of trying to control it or dictate it. If life does not go the way I want, which happens all the time, I don't get frustrated anymore. I just figure that is the way it was supposed to be.

I still feel all the things I felt before but the difference is that I don't react the same. In the past if I had one bad moment during the day then the whole day was ruined. Today, I just look at it a bad moment, it does not mean I have to carry it all day long.

I also tend to relish in the joy and the happy times. I hold on to them longer then I used to. I feel gratitude which is something I never felt when I was drinking. I don't think I ever used the word.

It does take time but it is worth it. I did not get my old life back. I can't go back and change anything. What is done is done. I can however make the best of the new life I have. I am not perfect but I make progress and that is really the goal. To learn and to grow. To become a better person, one day at a time.

yes, after clearing away some of the wreckage of my past (I had plenty)
and
time to heal body, soul and mind
enjoyment of life slowly crept back into my new sober world
MM

it all starts with keeping the plug in the jug

I don't think we really have a good understanding of what we are giving away. It slowly sneaks it away from you until you think it's the only good thing in your life. So don't get to hung up on that one.
Yes I did stop enjoying life because of the alcohol and yes I enjoy life so much more now. There is a period between quitting and enjoying life when you feel like you have nothing left. No alcohol to ease the pain and you still haven't regained what was destroyed. When it comes firing back on it kind of sucks too. All worth it 100X over.

true in most cases silentrun
but
we need not forget the ones who die very young
two of the partying ones that I knew young in life
died from drinking and drugs before they were 21 years old

that is only two at this time that come right to mind
I'm sure that with more thought there would be more

yes, once again we see -- (cunning,) baffling and powerful

MM

Yeap, alcohol eventually stopped becoming fun, it became like shackles on my life, Sobriety now gives a certain freedom to enjoy and do the things I want to do, before I thought drinking was what I wanted to do, but how can something that causes soo much damage in your own life be truly enjoyable.