Taking Things In Stride, A Welcome Symptom Of Sobriety
 

So there was an opportunity in my company, it would have been a lower position in a higher department so I would have been paid the same. I was rumored to be the shoe in for the position and there was room to grow in the position as a result of the higher department. The kicker came today when I was told that a demotion from an even higher department would be getting placed in the open position rendering it no longer open.

Had I still been drinking I am sure I would have rushed home after my shift and got belligerently drunk. Instead, I grabbed my dogs and went 2,000 feet up to the Mountain crest and took a nice stroll. The air was so crisp, about ten degrees cooler up there and the silence was deafening. I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath while listening to the sound of nothingness. Up this high with the dry spell we had last week and now some cooler temperatures after some rain the leaves have begun to yellow a bit. Combined with the new moisture in the soil a heavy musky scent of foliage permeated the area.

I thought instead of negatives about all the positive things I still have, including this moment. My dogs and I enjoying the nature on a beautiful day and I in particular enjoy it sober. I thought as I walked how there are so many positive things in my current position I would miss. I supervise a smaller department and the leadership duties have certain perks I may have missed. I was ready to take a chance for the possibilities of higher promotion but I now I am able to think back on what I would have lost.

Had I still been drinking I would have been deep in a 12 pack, brooding and grunting about all the injustice in the world. Instead I was enjoying the finish of a nice walk and thinking about tomorrow's work detail and how I would achieve my daily goals in stride and appreciate all I have. No dwelling needed, just a plan of action for the coming days with no need or desire to look back.

I'm just going to enjoy another sober evening.

Hoping you all out there are finding your solace tonight.

Thank you, just what I needed to hear today. The walk sounds just amazing and you describe it beautifully. Am at a tricky time in my 'career', drink seems like it would be an easy/impossible way to deal with the mess, but reading your description helps me know its no solution at all.

Continue your journey strong, and thanks for sharing.

Since I live down here in Baton Rouge, La.
we don't have mts. here to enjoy, so I kinda
envy you in a way that you have a serene
and awesome place to go to to unwhine,
commune with nature and a Higher Power.

Just like Moses when he went up the mt.
to the burning bush where God talked to
him. :)

In that defining silence up there I have a
gut feeling Someone was watching over
you and possibly guiding you in the direction
you are going in ur recovery life.

I always heard that I needed silence in
order to hear God talk to my heart. Maybe
you heard Him.

Continue doing what ur doing, following
ur recovery program as well as turning
ur will and life over to the Man upstairs
for guidance, love and care.

I know I did and still do and it never
fails that I am taken care of in all areas
of my life.

I give you a thumbs up for a job well
done today in staying sober. :)

I can relate to your post sudz I live just south of you in the coal region and have simlier strolls myself in order ground myself and get my sanity back. Nature has a way of calming us down like that.

I'm another person who needed to hear this today. Thank you.

That is great and well written my friend. It's awesome how sometimes in sobriety what could be taken as a negative can be turned into a beautiful memorable moment like that if we are open.

You made an awesome choice. The idea that alcohol "calms" or "de-stresses" are two of the bigger fictions about the drug out there. You know well it only would have made you feel and act worse