Devious0ne

This is my first Saturday since I quit drinking, and it's the first time in forever that I've been up this early on a Saturday. I woke up about 6am, and by 7:30am was showered, dressed and everything. In the past I'd stay up till 2-4am drinking on Friday nights and wouldn't get out of bed until 12, sometimes later than that on Saturday's.

Nice to not only wake up without a hangover, but to actually know I'll get to enjoy the full day without feeling like crap!

Happy Saturday, all!

biminiblue

It's nice to suddenly have 24 hours in a day, isn't it?

August252015

And it never gets old!! Great job.

Devious0ne

Indeed, my only complaint is first Saturday sober and in the middle of an ice storm! lol

tomls

To me it doesn't matter what the weather is doing anymore. At least I'm sober.

CRRHCC

Good job! The evidence shows that most people, "Mature out," of their addictions.

The quickest route to changing starts with realizing that you aren’t really addicted and that your use is just a learned preference. Many readers won't agree but the fact is you don't get addicted to a substance unless you have learned it does something for you. The only way we will stop desiring heavy substances and change our behavior is by seeing and learning there is more happiness in the change than in the using.

When your values trump your addiction, there is no addiction! This is exactly why normal people can stop drinking and others are better off not drinking at all.

Dee74

you too DO

D

SnazzyDresser

That's a provocative thesis you have there! Interesting way to frame the situation. I could see how this idea might help someone get and stay sober, not sure it woulda worked for me but not everybody is the same.

CRRHCC

We are all biologically wired to seek happiness, to feel good. From a psychological perspective we learn reward seeking behavior (happiness). In my teens I learned that when confronted with overwhelming feelings that made me feel emotionally helpless, I could momentarily escape that helplessness trap and empower my self with a quick fix and mood changer of drugs and alcohol. I ran on auto-pilot with this premise for more than 4 decades.

The reason I went four decades is because I lost my values and purpose in life. I was a functional drug addict and alcoholic that had lost his values and purpose in life. I had achieved my short term goals of college, marriage and children, but I had no global purpose in life.

I've since learned to empower myself and regain control of my emotions by facing them directly or replacing them with some other high value behavior. (God, music, exercise, journaling, smoking a cigar, serving others, meditation, prayer) Whatever is of high value to oneself.

For me, the ultimate high value relationship, a global purpose, an eternal purpose, is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When I give God control He returns that control to me through the Holy Spirit. Some might find this is a bunch of spiritual hogwash, but I find that it also fits the science behind human behavior and who would know that more than our creator/designer. We can't control everything; life is not fair, easy, painless and we don' t always get what we want. I've learned that adversity is the price of admission to a meaningful life, if you let it.

Anyway, my point is not that my way is the only way, but that values and purpose are the main navigational tools in life. Without long term values and purpose in our lives we often seek unhealthy, short term solutions to regain control. I know I did. Until I learned otherwise.