hope3

I noticed that we usually post our days, weeks, months and years

of clean and/or sober time.... But I would like to start this thread

to say; something about what we have to replace the drug/drinking time..

Something positive or enjoyable that we have taken up since we stopped..

So, I'll start...

Hi I am hope3 and since I stopped drinking I've renewed an old hobby, photography.

This hobby has been so spiritual and calming for me it is sometimes more effective than therapy...

While I'm looking for something (nature) to photograph; I am filled with so much life from seeing a Bald Eagle soar high above, or a fish jump out of the water..

In the blink of an eye a duck lands in the water in front of me and scoops up a lunch (fish)....

A mother and father Osprey soars high above, taking turns going back to the nest to feed the little ones...(now thats the way a relationship is suppose to work lol).

A little boy cast his first fishing line into the water with a proud father and mother standing by and quietly praying he catches a fish..

Then a couple walks by hand in hand ( they are around 80 years old) cute huh....

This is just a glimmer of what life is all about and worth living for, sober...it's the simple things, and it just doesn't get any better than this, because sitting there, waiting for that perfect shot, life is beautiful, all is as it should be.....

Your turn..

hope and love, hope3

IO Storm

Hey Hopie...

I was forced to simplify my life to the bare bones when I got sober last June.

(Yoo hoo almost a year)

So I'll share just a few things..not hobbies but the total change of lifestyle.

I can now read a whole book without passing out every few chapters...

I can watch a movie all the way through to the credits without falling asleep in

an alcoholic haze..

I can help with my Mother's care...

I can shop, really shop for a couple of hours without making a beer run.

I can pass up the liquor section now without a thought.

I can pray for own needs without guilt.

I can pray for others with true compassion and faith.

I can share honestly with others what God has done for me and that He has the

power to do the same for them.

I am actually glad to be alive when I awaken and with no remorse.

Love,

IO

miss communicat

thats beautiful, hope

Aysha

Well as you guys know. I dont have much time in.
But I would like to share anyway.
I like this idea.
In the past and especially now with my whole new approach to recovery.
Because next time. The next extreme I take is the ultimate one.

I have learned that the little things mean more than anything.
Things that you wouldnt even think about normaly.
Like watching the kids play outside.
Just sitting around on the deck with family on a cool summer night.
BBQ's and just realxing.
The simple thing like being able to tell my grams I do love her.
My little cousins open my eyes to what I really have been missing.
These babies are my heart.
To them it's just being a kid.
They have no idea what just being with them and watching grow and learn and play does for me.
They will never understand what that little hug or kiss means to me.
When I got out of the hospital. the youngest one saw my bandages and want ed to kiss them and make them better.
At first I said no because the wound is pretty nasty. But she got a little upset. So I asked her mom if she minded and and let her kiss over my shirt.
She got the biggest smile and looked so proud that she kissed my pain away.
It's things like that that make me relize I have been miising so much that has been right in front of me the whole time.
I have learned to appreciate these little things.
They give me the hope and strength I need to keep fighting everyday.
Now I am all teary eyed.
It is amazing.

Aysha

To me this is what it is all about.
My grams and my little cousins. Minus our new addition born May 4th. I saw her come into the world. Breath taking.


And this is my family minus a few that live a little further away and cant get here for the every week family dinner we have at my aunts.
Yes this is a once a week event. All these caring people.


Sometimes I dont relize how lucky I am.

chicago

wow where do i start? im a gutter drunk meaning before i entered the program my days consisted of stealing food, begging for cigarettes, and hustling money for alcohol and drugs. now that im sober i fill up my time with new found hobbies, old hobbies, and everything in between. some of these things include photography, going out to hear music, downloading music, writing, reading, doing things outside (zoo, downtown, walking around), buying stuff (clothes, dvds, music, technology), talking/spending time with family, friends, etc. i go to meetings, work, go to school, the list is endless! oh what a beautiful thing it is to have a full life!

IO Storm

Chiy...

How lucky you are to have such a fine family...

I have one too but no pics yet.

Hope and Chicago...I know that soon that creativity in me will come forth...

Going back to college and my singing...

Looking forward to those things..

Thank you for this thread...

Love,

IO

IO Storm

Oh, yeah...

I can do pictures..this one reminds me of two verses from a favorite hymn..


Strength for today

And bright hope for tomorrow

Blessings all mine

With ten thousand beside..

hope3

IO, yes you can do pictures....What type of a peace or serenity

does those things you do bring you now...?

Love ya..

Chiynita, your heart is filled with love, and you share your heart freely, thank you..

Thanks cm....


Chicago, you are truly an inspiration...

hope and love, hope3

hope3

So all, these things that you do now, even if you did them

while using. What joy do they give you? how do you feel when you do them.

spend time with family, go bowling, watch a sunset? etc..

I always looked for beauty and happiness in life, even when I drank.

But, I didn't realize how I ruined those moments with alcohol, I always thought

that the alcohol complimented the moments ( at the time), boy was I wrong....

Half of them I couldn't remember,,,,and half I remembered wrong and all of them

I was only half aware of the true beauty in what I was doing because of the

depressant in my system....

Yes, so when I have friends over for dinner, I am really enjoying the moment, instead of wondering when they'll leave so I can drink,.....

hope and love, hope3

Rusty Zipper

wow 3/4, this thread certantly shows the newcomer the power of recovery...

thanks...

will hop on later...

SR may need a bigger server lol

Alive

went here yesterday..i think you'll agree with me when i say for years i forgot i was alive..i mean..i had forgot so many things existed, it's unbelievable!

Aysha

Yea..I use to think being high enhanced everything.
Even my DOC, which most people dont do a whole lot on except chase it.
I was a little different.
I could and would still do stuff whike smoking.
Like go wash my truck...Sit by the water..Fix stuff around the house..Hang out with my friends and just relax.
But as soon as it was gone it was back to the grind.
I was never the type to get my drugs and go hole up somewhere and bug out.
But it was only letting me do those things and feeding that beast at the same time.
If it had to be one or the other...I would be on the grind instead of doing things like that as well.
I use to get relief when I got a good amount and would gosit at the intercoastal or just sit in with my friend in the alley and just chill out and relax.
But you know the time will come when all that will be interupted by the need to feed.
Now I really see that it is better to do those same things wothout the hassle of having to keep the beast going.
Because when your on a chase it really does put a wrench in everything.
Plus it gets complicated...chaotic..and dangerous.
I would never be high around the kids. EVER!
They arent stupid you know.
So now I have plenty more time to spend with them. Really see the comedy and the miracles of children just being children.
My babies will be coming over today for the first time since me and my grams got out.
She babysits.
I look forward to that.
Even when they wear on my nerves I still love to be with them.
I would have an 11 year old this year if I did not lose my pregnancy in 96.
And now I cant have kids.
So I cherish them.

Alive

((((((CHIY))))))))

i am sorry...but i see you are mending...

take care

parentrecovers

nice shares! love hearing about the rewards. k

Astro

Awesome thread, hope, thank you for sharing the beauty of recovery!

Rowan

My name is Lynn, and since I quit drinking, I no longer hide when the doorbell rings.

I usually answer the phone when it rings.

I go to work most days.

My daughter and I routinely read in bed together, along with the cat and dog (they can't read yet, though).

I am much closer to my sisters, and becoming more so with my Mom and Dad.

My life is pretty quiet - not because I'm scared - but because I like it that way.

Aysha

Yes...Quiet is good.

GlassPrisoner

I don't hate life anymore.

hope3

Kari, when you say for years, I forgot I was alive. Well for me the denial was so strong, that I still thought I was alive and wanted to drink to feel more alive. I was so wrong,,,,but I really thought and felt that was the truth…..that’s scary… So, if a newbie is reading this, I would say, give it time,,,if looking for the good, simple joy and peace of life, be patient, It came for me, it can come to you…

Chiynita quote: “Yea..I use to think being high enhanced everything.
Even my DOC, which most people dont do a whole lot on except chase it.
I was a little different.
I could and would still do stuff whike smoking.
Like go wash my truck...Sit by the water..Fix stuff around the house..Hang out with my friends and just relax.
But as soon as it was gone it was back to the grind.
I was never the type to get my drugs and go hole up somewhere and bug out.” End quote.

I so agree with your thoughts, for me it was the same…but through recovery, instead of just counting the days, I’m realizing the true, unadulterated bliss of sobriety. I smile a little wider, laugh a little harder, and love a little truer….and it feels great…

Rowan quote: “My daughter and I routinely read in bed together, along with the cat and dog (they can't read yet, though).

I am much closer to my sisters, and becoming more so with my Mom and Dad.

My life is pretty quiet - not because I'm scared - but because I like it that way. End Rowan quote.

I to read or just talk in bed, but with my S/O, we get up an extra hour in the morning and have coffee. Sometimes we talk recovery, sometimes we kid around with our dog, he’s so cute, and sometimes we just look out the window and watch the birds peck at the bird feeder…It feels so great to not feel quilty about living a secret (or not so secret life of drinking). Sometimes I get a tear of happiness in my eye…

Glassprisoner quote: “I don't hate life anymore. End quote Glassprisoner.

I didn’t really hate life GP, but I was certainly beginning to hate me. Now I am mostly loving me, by the choices I make, and the things I choose to do for others and myself…

I love hearing how your lives have changed and the way you look at things now, with a clean and sober mind…Thank you for sharing you…

Hope and love, hope3