Dee74

stories from everyday Aussies who've given up drinking:

https://www.abc.net.au/life/what-lif...ntake/10769912

Surrendered19

Great articles. Even if I was not an alcoholic, the stuff is still pure poison. A doc I know who consults with the food and drug administration told me that if alcohol for drinking were invented today, it would NEVER be approved for anyone to buy or consume. It is a high octane liver and pancreatic poison. Sad if you think about it that the science is so well-known. Thanks for linking those articles. Great stuff.

least

When I stopped drinking and started practicing gratitude, my whole life changed for the better. I don't regret getting sober one whit, and I have never woken up feeling good and thought - gee, I wish I had drank last night.

Sushiroll

Great reading.
Dee, did you catch the Australian Story about the lady out in the country starting a group for farmers who want to quit drinking? Worth a watch if you can find it with my vague description.

Dee74

Is this it?

Sushiroll

Yes that's the one.
It's worth a watch for anyone with a spare half hour.
Thanks Dee.

Delilah1

Great articles, thanks for sharing Dee! I am with the guy who said he’s never regretted waking up clear headed, and like you, gratitude is a big part of my recovery.

Callas

I am healthier, fitter and looking a lot better. Do I feel better emotionally? Not yet and it’s been 9 months. Perhaps that will still come.

brighterday1234

MLD51

My life doesn't look terribly different from the outside since I got sober (except that I'm not out at bars a lot of the time anymore), but on the inside things are radically different. I really have serenity now, and I actually feel like an adult sometimes! I have confidence in my ability to get through just about anything life might throw at me without falling apart, and that's a new thing. I am healthier physically and emotionally. It's amazing, really.

Callas - It took me quite some time to really feel better emotionally. I had a lot of shame and guilt associated with my drinking time, and a lot of things to work through. So I'd give it more time. But if you really feel like it's not improving, could you see a therapist? Maybe you already are, I don't know.

DriGuy

Everything is pretty much the same on the outside, except without the alcohol, but don't sell that short. "Without the alcohol" is not some inconsequential thing.

On the inside, I've been taking note of some of things in my past that I didn't handle well, and having a good time approaching things differently. Some things can't be changed, but there are still opportunities to approach certain situations differently.

This is surprisingly profound. Even as an adult, a middle aged one at that, there were many times I simply didn't feel like an adult. I didn't feel any pressing need to feel like an adult. But this is mostly because I had no idea what that was supposed to feel like in the first place. In the last couple of years, I've been noticing changes in my behavior that give me brief hints of what being an adult probably feels like.

I feel calm when I get that feeling, and it does seem to be connected to serenity. I think when you are not all wrapped up in struggle and chaos, this adult thing may just evolve naturally. I feel quiet inside.

MLD51

Yes, quiet inside. That's how it feels. I was talking to my best friend about this last weekend. He's still a drinker, and as time goes on, I realize he's not really very mature. He's 51, I'm 56. I didn't tell him I don't think he's mature, but I told him I'm feeling like an adult sometimes now, since I got sober. He was surprised that I don't ALWAYS feel like an adult, and said he almost never feels like one. So I guess his perception of me is different than mine. It was interesting. He acknowledges that drinking is probably holding him back from living his best life.

Yesterday he told me he might have a hard time picking me up at the airport when I get back from my trip to Belize, as we had planned, because he might have to go on a business trip. The airport is 35 miles from my house, and there is no shuttle or bus or anything that goes all the way to my town. My flight gets in late on a Sunday night. He kept assuming I was upset or mad or panicking (we were texting) and he was apologizing up and down. I kept saying it wasn't a big thing, that I'd figure something out. He kept pushing the idea that I must be mad at him. In the meantime I was calmly coming up with solutions and alternative plans, in case he can't pick me up. That's what being an adult is. What would be the point of being mad or upset? It is what it is. There's always a solution. Yeah, it might not be convenient, and it might cost me extra money, if I end up having to park at the airport for a week. But mad? No. Yes, in the past I might have been mad, like a little kid not getting her way. Not anymore. Just an example of what growing up is like.