Well we get some here occasionally that are not that happy with their new sobriety. Guess it takes time to grow on some. Didn't expect a lot of no votes.

This thread may be of encouragement for the one's teetering ?

Mountainman

To be completely honest.....

I honestly wish I was able to have a few drinks socially every once in a while without getting completely drunk. But.... since I can't I avoid alcohol altogether. Its for the best but I can't exactly say its a dream come true.

This thread was meant for you.
Hang in there our friend.
Most learn to love it in time.
MM

Yes and more, but I didn't pray for it, I worked my arse off for it and I had a lot of human help. :)

This is exactly my reaction -- Carlotta, you got me again! -- I wasn't even going to respond to the poll because the title seemed ... irrelevant to my entire life. But when I clicked on it and saw the actual question I was supposed to vote on, it was easy. Yes, sobriety is unquestionably best for me, always would have been and always will be. Did I want it? No.

Yes it is the life for me!

Its a lot more peaceful than I expected.
I feel like I have grown up more now I don't drink.
I feel more grounded, my moods are a lot more stable.
I think I am more grateful.
I realise I have so much to be grateful for.

Best of all - there is nothing drinking makes better!

Getting sober feels like getting my life back. More importantly I fell like myself again. I took a 10+ year detour on the crazy train and was barely recognizable once I finally had enough and jumped off. When I quit I just wanted away from all of it. I never actually thought about what it would be like to be sober and I had long forgotten what it was like to be comfortable in my own skin.

I'm not sure I can say that my life today is the life I was wanting, but considering the cards I've been dealt it is immensely better sober than drunk. I wish I wasn't on permanent disability due to multiple physical and mental health issues (it's a long list :headbange), but drinking on top of that was killing me. So no, my life isn't the one I had imagined or hoped it would be 30 years ago, but it is 1000x better than it was 2 years ago.

LOL -- I answered yes to the poll. :D

I voted no by accident! So scratch off one.

I'll keep this simple: living hangover-free is really living.

"If you are sober today, is this the life that you were wanting."

I voted No.
I'm not even close yet.
This has only started.
Sobriety is fuel in an engine that is in overdrive.
This is no dream, no easy fix. It's life.
Bigger and better everyday.
8 years is nothing. I want 80.

My first 2 years of sobriety were an adjustment to a much better way of life.
I then went through a dark time that kept getting darker until at year 8 I found meetings where everyone's doing the work in the BB. I was suicidal and willing to do whatever it took to truly get well. This is totally common.

The BB process gave me God and now I'm awake and can did comfort whenever I need it, I have a purpose and a way to see my part in things with myself, God and a piece of paper.

If you had asked me this question before year 8 I would've felt I should say "Yes!", out of guilt for "not being grateful enough" or fear of what you might think of my recovery.

And I would've walked away thinking I was alone.

You see, in all my pain and suffering before the BB process, I felt I was the only one who felt the way I did. It was a lonely place to be. And I felt ashamed that I felt that way when everybody else seemed fine.

Really, I just needed to scour the ends of the earth for a way to get well.
And God has brought it to me.

I love being sober. Active addiction was miserable for me.

But I do have to work at finding things I enjoy, and I have to actually make time to do enjoyable things. I also have been healing from childhood trauma, which is sometimes painful, but also gives me lots of hope and joy. If I had stopped drinking, but not worked on making my life better, I'm not sure what my life would be like right now. I have worked a lot on finding meaning and joy in my life.

Sobriety is everything that I want.

Sobriety is what I need to maintain
in order to lead a normal life today

The life in which I drank everyday and night
was not a normal one

Bob

Interesting question. I quit drinking because I realized that I was never going to accomplish anything useful, or be able to deal with significant problems in my life while I was drinking. At the time I quit, I had a path in mind for how I was going to deal with those problems. But now that I'm sober, I've discovered there were other options that I hadn't previously considered. Have things turned out as I expected? No. Better than I expected? Definitely. :)

I voted yes but not because I got all the things I wanted in recovery but because I did the things I always talked about doing while drinking.

Actually, not much panned out but that`s irrelevant.

What`s important is I tried.

That`s what sobriety has given me. A chance to toss my hat into the ring and get on with life.

Today, I`m 57 and find myself very busy. No mid-life crisis for this recovering alcoholic.

I definitely share these sentiments. I don't think I realized that I would never reach my full potential if I continued drinking. It never occurred to me that drinking would hold me back until I stopped.

much better this way for me. now if i get in a bind, i dont wonder if it was a result of me drinking too much. i had become quite used to having that icky, guilty feeling much of the time. quite a load off. physically speaking, i feel much better also.

so all in all, sobriety beat my expectations.

A clear mind is a great start for realizing the truly important elements of your life. Sobering up was the beginning of a satisfying new journey for me.

When I was young I would get this thought that in later life I would sober up. Well I carried this thought for many years without much success. Yes, there would be brief periods of sobriety always followed by years of drinking and other sinful things. I actually thought that the devil may be deceiving me into thinking that someday I would be sober but, truthfully I would die drunk. So glad that I have been sober for a while now. As my Sponsor says often, "I would not wish to meet my maker in a drunken condition."

MM