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What interests of your's have been restored?

Old 01-25-2013, 10:49 AM
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YEM
05/07/2011
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What interests of your's have been restored?

When I was actively using, I no longer cared about anything. Using robbed me off all my passions, interests and hobbies. Getting clean and having those things come back is one of the best rewards of recovery in my opinion.

I would be interested in hearing about the things that are important to you that have been restored, even if you are fairly early on. Once the fog clears a bit, light starts filling you up.

Some of the big ones for me are, being reconnected to nature and outdoor activities. Listening to and going to see live music (this is a major joy for me). Personal health and fitness- I have quit smoking and dipping and have really started eating healthy, regular meals which has rekindled my love for cooking and I exercise regularly which has really transformed my recovery and I would urge anyone to start exercising!

Enough about me, what about you?
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Old 01-25-2013, 11:00 AM
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Reading. Have read more the past couple weeks than during the past ten years. Had been burned out since college. After sober awhile longer may give writing another shot also. May take up mountain biking again too.
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Old 01-25-2013, 11:58 AM
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I want to go back to things I did when I was younger like aviation and playing guitar. I did start writing poetry again and painting oils and watercolors... I make things like shirts and hats, I run a lot more (was up to 8 miles a day before I got pregnant!) and I am listening to music again which is awesome I totally quit listening to it when I was out last time. I was too depressed and only wanted to hear songs about drugs. Boring.
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Old 01-25-2013, 12:05 PM
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I got back into setting up and experimenting with computers and am getting more word of mouth biz than I can handle for repairs and troubleshooting. I am suddenly re-interested in photography and writing again. My left hand has some dexterity issues but I may pick up my guitar again. My song and poetry writing are still subject to my muse visiting. I am digitizing and archiving all my home videos music and pictures. Sobriety sure wrecked my lazy early retirement.
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Old 01-25-2013, 12:11 PM
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I've started excersise today as i've got a bit plump after giving up .

Reading has returned for me , at first i did'nt have much focus so i just read stuff from the gutenberg online library , a vagabond journey around the world by harry franck and the great gold rush by w.h.p jarvis two particular favorites .

I also play the synths & guitars more now and use logic 9 production software , learning something new all the time ,

bestwishes, M
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Old 01-25-2013, 12:58 PM
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My dogs!
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Old 01-25-2013, 01:02 PM
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living life!

seriously, there are so many wonderful things to experience when you are not chained to the bottle...and you have the energy to do them. Winter is a bit restraining, but i love to garden, i relandscaped the side of my entire house, it's been an ongoing project ( i have help with the heavy work) but it looks great and gives me such pleasure to just look at it....(except when the deer eat my flowers).
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Old 01-25-2013, 01:48 PM
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Scrapbooking, gardening, I was thinking the other day I want to pick up sewing, knitting and such again. On the other end of the spectrum, travel is my favorite thing to do and I am planning a few sober trips this year....sober=good
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Old 01-25-2013, 01:51 PM
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Daily outdoor walking, cooking and enjoying evenings.
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Old 01-25-2013, 02:07 PM
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Reading, fitness, spending time with my wife and watching quality tv series.
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Old 01-25-2013, 02:16 PM
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I would agree with all the above. For me:

Running/eating right. Before I started cutting back then quitting alcohol I would use exercise as a mere excuse to drink more. To counter act the calories. Now it's more because I enjoy it and enjoy being healthier.

Music. I play piano and keyboards. I've always written singer/songwriter music and played in blues/jam bands. I used to think alcohol opened up my mind... Now I see it simply drowned my true potential and my mind is so much clearer when I play. Of all the musicians I could start liking while sober... Jimmy Buffet. I never cared for him and even though a lot of the music is alcohol related I can't help but enjoy listening to Margaritaville on my Sirius. It makes me happy... and, strangely, jam band stuff is kinda annoying to me right now...

Reading. I was always too drunk or hungover to read. Now I can't wait to read before bed.

Most of all... waking up. I really, really, really have enjoyed waking up to the sunrise now. And I have established a routine of making some coffee, eating some fruit, staring at the mountains, checking the news... and relaxing. All before 7:30!!!
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Old 01-25-2013, 02:54 PM
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Reading. I could never focus on the words when I was drinking and it has taken a long time in recovery to be able to sit still long enough, but I've got there. Now I just want to sit here and read constantly, I've missed it.
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Old 01-25-2013, 03:42 PM
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Painting and Piano. Both of which I love and couldnt do when I was drinking because my hands were too shaky. Reading, Exercise, Exercise, Exercise. Anything outdoors. Spending quality time with friends and family, instead of being fixated and worried about when I could get my next drink. I've started taking Ice Skating lessons and I've fallen in love with it. So much fun. The mental and physical concentration of it I would have never been able to do while I was drinking. Everything. I am open to anything and everything now that I feel like I have a second chance to get this right.
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Old 01-25-2013, 04:42 PM
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More and more things everyday...
healthy eating, make up and nice clothes, cleaning the house, candlemaking, decorating, quality time with my son, chats on the phone to my sis, walking the dog, job hunting, planning a holiday.....
The world is my lobster...
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Old 01-25-2013, 05:01 PM
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I am reading again which I didn't do much of when I drank, couldn't remember what I read. I even bought a kobo. I'm also getting into video games again and walking. Big thing for me is spending time with people, especially my family, I really isolated myself.

HAHA I still don't enjoy cleaning or cooking, but I make more of an effort.
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Old 01-25-2013, 05:11 PM
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My wife and I are on this journey together.

..........interests have been restored and improved..............

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Old 01-25-2013, 05:24 PM
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Writing, running, trekking, drumming and many more, being so alive
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Old 01-25-2013, 07:03 PM
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