Linz

Every morning when I wake up I feel excellent instead of hungover. It has been five days today since I decided that was it, that enough is enough!
My drive to work takes about 40 minutes from my house. It has been raining the past couple days so I haven't worked, (landscaper.) Instead I drive to town and go to book stores or just go to a tea house, coffee shoppe, whatever to keep me distracted. At the book stores I automatically go to the "Recovery" section and read for hours.
Seems like being sober is the ONLY thing that I can concentrate on now. That's the reason I mentioned the 40 minute drive. Being sober actually takes over my mind for a whole 40 minutes. It's like a meditation class in my car for 40 straight minutes. Before this all I could think about was getting completely wasted on beer and liquor. It's the complete opposite now!
I really enjoy being sober, I absolutely love the new feelings that I have, and how my mind is getting clearer and clearer each day... but to tell you the truth, thinking about how I've become sober, how I will stay sober, and the new life that I am free to lead because I am sober is getting sort of... well... annoying and redundant!
Tell me some things about it if ya' got any!

Anna

Being sober is different from recovery.

If you're spending time reading recovery books, you know that it's a life long process, full of twists and turns and lots of surprises.

bellakeller

How often did you think about drinking when you were not sober?

Linz

hah, excellent point. a whole helluva lot!

Rickie

I feel you with the fixation. I just figured it was some slightly OCD character trait some of us possess.

Anyhow, perhaps find a productive, fun addiction that you can obsess over. Sex, exercise etc.

pattenat

peaceful, annoying, and redundant vs. chaotic, annoying and redundant

I'll stick with sobriety any day

Rickie

Peaceful, annoying and redundant vs an early grave.

reggiewayne

It may seem annoying, but it's part of it man... If nothing else I would view this as proof you made the right decision. If a non alcoholic wakes up from a night (or 5) of not drinking he/she isn't consumed with "I did it! I'm sober! etc..." I can relate though because I am an alcoholic. Sometimes I still can't believe that I made it a day, a week, a month, three months, without drinking. It doesn't seem possible, but it's true.

There is a saying, "Whatever we put in front of recovery, we'll lose". For alcoholics, sobriety must come first. For me, that means making sure I hit enough meetings to stay in recovery, for you it might mean reading books and meditating. Whatever it is, doesn't really matter as long as it's part of a recovery plan.

I wish you the best. You're doing great!

pattenat

Well said Reggie! I love your attitude about recovery

LexieCat

Hey, I even downloaded a bunch of recovery stuff and listen to it in my car on my commute!

WTF, I'm still sober.

reggiewayne

What a great point LexiCat. This is something I do daily. I burn a podcast either on my ipod or on a CD for the car. Here is a great link. You could listen to one per day on this site and not be done for 5 years... A TON of good recovery stuff. All free and spam free. Check it out! I find it very helpful!.

XA-Speakers - The lights are on!

Best of luck to you!!!