mandosca

I guess all this snow is making me think of summer and the many nights we spend outside by the fire pit, usually grilling food and enjoying cocktails. I guess I'm feeling sorry for myself today and am upset that I will never be able to do that again.

I'm trying to remind myself that those nights usually ended up with horrible hangovers and being useless the next day but I know that the warm weather will be a huge trigger for me regardless.

So I'm curious, does anyone have any ideas/plans for this summer that don't involve drinking? I want to day dream about summer and think of all the alcohol free things we can do . :-)

doggonecarl

One of my favorite summer evening activities used to be my Sunday night cook out in the back yard. The grill, baseball game on the radio, my dogs, and beer.

When I quit drinking I didn't grill out until the next summer. And you know what? It wasn't that fun. It was hot, the bugs bothered me. "Why did I do this every Sunday," I wondered.

For the alcohol! I didn't love grilling out. I loved drinking. It was like that for a lot of the activities I thought I loved.

So don't spend too much time fantasizing about what you are going to do this summer because all you are really doing, at this early stage of recovery, is romancing alcohol.

Anna

Hiking, my favourite pastime. It helps me physically, mentally and spiritually.

thomas11

One of my favorite activities was to drink and grill all day Saturday. We have a nice view of the lake and a deck etc...pure heaven. Ultimately it was just justification to continue irresponsible drinking that started on Thursday or Friday. Last summer I wanted to be sober so much that I didn't do much grilling. And if I did, it was to cook food. This year I think will be different, but I think sacrifices need to be made early on.

mandosca

Hiking is definitely on my list of things to do this summer!!

PurpleKnight

When I quite drinking, I slowly realised that alcohol wasn't the centre of the social universe.

I started to find new activities to do, watching sport and remembering it, walking up the morning early hangover free and going for long walks in the sunrise, going to coffee shops and meeting new people, reading a nice book in the summer afternoons with some green tea.

There's a whole wide world out there full of things to do, and alcohol doesn't have to waste anymore of our time in getting around to do it!!

nyala

Just coming to the end of my second sober summer.

I have found it so much more pleasurable to have done whatever I wanted to, without having to plan my life around getting alcohol, drinking it, dealing with the after effects and repeating this cycle.

Summer seems to have lasted twice as long. And I remember every moment of it.

Love from South Africa

Fradley

Dee74

My summer is lasting a couple of years lol...

but I'm with Fradley - I did a lot of things this summer, had a lot of fun, was not ashamed of any of it and I remember it all.

You can do this too mandosca

D

soberclover

Camping the first few times was really challenging but like everything else, it did get better. I can sit by the firepit now too. I incorporated smores!

This snow is getting to me too. My work is canceled for tomorrow yet again. Grateful for the "me" time, but it makes me a little nuts when I'm by myself too much

MythOfSisyphus

It can take a while to break the mental link between activities we used to do while drinking and the activity itself. I love sitting outside by the fire, too; I used to love camping, sitting the fire and getting plastered watching the flames dancing in the darkness. Everything I did I did drunk. So at first it was hard to get any joy out of those things. But with time I got back to the essence of what I liked about them to begin with. Then I had a good time without the booze.

You will get there! Just give it time.