Hexipuff

I went out for dinner last night with a group of friends. We has lovely food and for the most lovely conversation

One friend was drinking quite heavily. This person went from being chatty and joining in to dominating the conversations, to being weepy, to slurring and finally to having a very loud one sided row with their closest friend over absolutely nothing.

People were looking at us and muttering, we finished our drinks, paid and left rather more quickly than we intended.....

This morning I got the traditional after a session messages - Didn't we have fun, Wasn't the food lovely etc...... the type of messages that I used to send to check how much trouble I was in.... without actually saying - sorry I got drunk again and ruined the evening didn't I?

I thought about the evening on my long drive home last night and realised that actually it had done me good to witness my drunken behaviour through a third person. It made me realise why I shouldn't/can't drink again

I hope this doesn't sound like a smug post, I just wanted to share what had happened and the reinforcement this provided me on my decision to be sober.

trikuza

Yeah, when you're the only sober one with a group of drunk people it really is eye opening. I feel embarrassed knowing that people viewed me in all instances where I was being a drunk ass.

artsoul

It doesn't sound smug at all - it sounds like you're grateful to be sober.

I remember a similar experience when I was first sober and a friend of mine got drunk. He was trying to dance with different women and kept throwing them around and losing his balance. At one point he fell into some of the instrumentalists in the jazz band - he just laughed it off and kept on going. It was the first time I really saw that just having "fun" looks a lot different from the other side. It definitely reinforced my sobriety and I think I just felt proud that I wasn't doing that anymore.

pipparina

I'm soooooo glad I don't do that anymore

Hexipuff

So glad I don't do these things anymore.

It does us good to see it from the other side as has been said.

And yes - I am so grateful for my sobriety. It means the world to me

Anna

It doesn't sound smug at all.

It sounds like you've moved beyond that part of life to a much happier place.

MIRecovery

It is not until we have something to compare it to do we realize how sick we were.

I like to say, "The longer I am sober the drunker I was."

No not smug at all. You saw the monster first hand and recognized it

FreeFall

It is really scary to view out of control drinking when you're sober. It brings up such bad memories "Was I that bad?!?!" it's enough to make you cringe. I shudder to think what people thought of me while drinking, and I wasn't even the type that got really out of control. The smell of the booze is so overpowering too-and you never feel like you smelled like that though of course you did. Ugh!!!

Threshold

I hope that your friend got the opportunity to witness that someone they care about is sober, and still having a good time. Maybe a good thing for them as well.

instant

The only thing missing for me was hogging the bottle of wine(s) !!!!

Hexipuff

I hope so too. My friend denies she has an alcohol problem as she doesn't drink in the mornings. Fair enough it took me a number of years to accept the truth.
I think she is pleasantly surprised at the way my life has turned out since I stopped drinking. I do not discuss her problem directly with her but answer the questions she has about my recovery and sobriety and pray she will find the same path.