AdelineRose

I know that when you are first getting sober it is hard to branch out and find things to do that now that you are sober. Everyone goes through the "Life is so boring sober" phase but the more you push yourself out of your comfort zone the more and more and more things you will find to do that you never thought in a million years you would be doing.

Tomorrow I am going on a guided tour of one of the beautiful parks in the state. I never even knew places like this existed when I was using, hell I don't think I would have ever found them if I didn't get sober, lets be honest, even if I found one of these parks I would have never done it - it would have become one of those "one days I would love to do that".

Well I am going on a guided tour of the first out of dozens of guided tours through out the state. I never thought I would be doing anything like this a year ago. No matter how hard it is to push yourself to try new things, it is really worth it to force yourself to.

Getting sober and pushing myself out of my comfort zone what the best decision in my life, it was worth every ounce of effort and pushing through my fears.

Don't give up no matter!

entropy1964

That's great Adeline. I am in that phase right now but not quite ready to change things up. It feels good just to feel good!

Tell us how it went!

theVman31

Hello.
Enjoy the tour tomorrow.

SnazzyDresser

Great post AdelineRose, very true. Getting sober can open up the whole world to us, all the richness of life.

D122y

Yes..being a drunk takes a good bit of time and energy.

W all the extra of both we have now clean we can get out and do fun stuff.

I work out a bit and keep my house much more tidy.

I go food shopping more and have explored the awesome local mall 3 times in the last month or so. I had only been there a few times in the last 20 years.

Life outside of the addiction is better...right?

My energy and outlook are way up. My addiction had me drinking to make my world right, when the drinking was the culprit making my perspective worse.

Thanks.

january161992

nice adeline

have a great time!

MLD51

I have found that I don't get bored nearly as much as I did when drinking. Really, it's just a mindset. I don't go out and do a bunch of amazing stuff, but I'm so much more content just being at home, taking care of my son and animals, keeping the house and yard up better than I used to, and reading and watching tv. When I was drinking, I was constantly needing to go somewhere to socialize and drink. I'd get antsy if I was home not doing much, and I felt like a lonely loser, imaging everyone else out and having fun without me. I had major FOMO. I also didn't like myself at all so hanging out alone at home was torture. My self-esteem is so much better now that I'm sober - I really look forward to my alone at home time now. I'm becoming my own friend, so even when my son isn't home, I don't feel lonely.

At the same time, I am finding that I do things I would not have made time to do before. Life is not boring at all sober.

Upstairs

Thanks for the advice! I had thought sobriety would make staying at home too boring, but nope. I adjusted all too well, and I'm just fine being a sober introvert as well! I'll try and push myself to get out after the winter months are gone.

Yogini1603

Well said! My life has changed so much already. Just as an example, this week I would have been drinking from morning through to passing out at night and...that's it. I did nothing else.
On the flip side, this week I have managed to get a job (I've been fired from loads of jobs in active addiction) for the first time in months, I've visited my husband at work twice and brought him coffee and met his work colleagues, I've spent time with my husband actually paying attention to what he is saying, I've cooked meals, been to a meeting everyday, hung out with friends in recovery (I had no friends when I was drinking and using!) and most of all, feel like I've lived my life this week.

Life changes drastically in recovery and for the better :-)

August252015

Haven't been through boredom at all - no way is sobriety boring. What was boring was drinking myself silly, by the end at home alone.

I have the energy to do whatever, enjoy working a lot, and trying new things (or just stuff I never bothered to do because drinking was more important), and just being at home by myself. I am very entertaining.

Saying sober is boring is just as bad as when we tried saying it as kids in the summer and my mom always told us to go find something to do. And now we can because we can drive, have sober friends, not embarrass ourselves in public, do whatever sounds fun that we can afford....the list goes on!

tomsteve

good on ya!!!
I found out my perception of boring was screwed up.
im never bored. theres always something to do.
I had to learn how to enjoy everything available to do.
but I can be lazy!

RedAndy

Great post Adeline and enjoy the tour.

So much out there to see and do and certainly not boring is it but know what you mean in those early stages seeing it as impossible to have fun without being wasted like everyone else - fact is nobody was really / truly on the same wavelength as us anyway - thought they were and for a time I guess they were but it rarely lasted long before we were on completely different levels of wasted.

Tell you what was boring spending countless wasted hours and days rough as recovering in bed or wandering round like a zombie feeling like death wishing days away or needing another drink / line etc just to get going, that truly was a boring existence in reality. Glad to be free and making real and rewarding interesting and fun things to do / active & busy when required as well as truly relaxing when necessary.

Boring, nope definitely not.

joandmelandhan

Great thread Adeline. The thing about the word "boring" is that it depends on who thinks it. Diving into a wine bottle (or 2 or 3) and sleeping half the weekend surely is boring.....nothing achieved.....not even living life.......so what we choose as pastimes in sobriety can't EVER be described as boring can they?

noneever

I doubt there is anything more boring than sitting alone, binge drinking and chain smoking.

vulturine

I miss hiking and doing simple things like watching the sun rise with a warm coffee at the waterfront, or decorating my room. I don't even remember the leaves changing colour this year. :'( The only places I explored were different clubs and liquor stores.

Delilah1

Lots of time to do all of those things Vulturine.

tomsteve

before alcoholism took control, I loved the mornings and sunrises. I loved the evening sunsets,too. I used to have places to watch them both. loved roadtrips in the fall seeing the color change.
then alcoholism took control and I was,"meh. happens all the time. big deal."

sobriety made those even better.
watching the sunset and moon rise the other day( super moon) was awesome in the park behind our house- sittin in a pile of leaves, watching the sun to the west then moon to the east...I don't think I can put into word how I felt what I felt, but it was awesome!
doing fall cleanup this year, I found a maple leaf that changed from red to yellow to white from the perimeter in. I don't think I had ever seen that before and the colors were sharp.
and roadtrips are even better. even hittin the state park down the road and hittin the trails this time of year. what I really like is getting off the pathways- making my own trail. "hhhhmmm...I wonder whats back in there. wonder what the trees look like and if ill see any wildlife."


the simple things in life make me happy now and I think I appreciate nature much more than I ever have.

PurpleKnight

Great post AdelineRose!!