5 things to look forward to when sober..
 

Hello new friends.. I thought I would start a new thread and post a few things that I am looking forward to after I heal myself.

Things I look forward to.

1. Not having to worry about driving anywhere
2. Not having to wipe down my wine splashes all over my office at home
3. Waking up feeling refreshed every morning
4. Changing my belly from an alcohol holding tank to a gas tank for a love machine!
5. Building some trust back up with my wife

Anyone else want to share?

These are just a few of things that I look forward to every day in my past 2 1/2 years of sobriety-

1. Driving my children around sober.
2. Having true friends, not drinking buddies.
3. Being a person that people can trust.
4. Being of service to others.
5. Waking up knowing that I'm exactly where God wants me to be in life.

Cool thread, GWP, thanks for sharing!

I like this one.. Thanks for sharing.

Knowing that when I awaken from a bad dream that it's just that, and not a blackout. 2. Enjoying returning to a profession I love, knowing I can in fact be trusted 3. Being honest with my daughter, and seeing how intelligent and loving she is, and knowing that I DID do something right 4. Being able to get tickled in boring meetings and unable to control a laugh which is in NO WAY alcohol induced 5. Waking up on Monday, and knowing its monday without having to check the calendar.

Thanks for the thread Guy....

What stood out for me is something Joi said..

Knowing that when I awaken from a bad dream that it's just that, and not a blackout.


I was a blackout drinker..even when I socially drank once or twice a year.....

I was a Christian wife and mother..active in the church...but one Halloween party

with friends I tried to take off my top and dirty dance with a friend's hubby..

Had to make some humble phone calls...black out drunk every time..

When I really was deep into my drinking career ....woke up way too many

times in strange places with weird people. Driving for hundreds of miles and

only knew this because of the speedometer reading...

I'm thankful angels drove my car and I did not get raped or beaten or killed.

Thankful for 14 months of contihous sobriety ..today if I act like an

a--, that is all it is.



Love,

:Flower111:

IO

What a great quote. i guess I need to think about that too.. I don't have any excuses for my behavior now.. :)

Those are pretty darn close to my five.

I'll add:
6. Not having to listen to somebody telling you that you've had too much to drink.
7. Being able to go to sleep at night and stay asleep.
8. Gaining respect.
9. Becoming friends with your liver.
10. Learning how to eat certain foods without a glass of wine or sake to wash it down.

1) having a place of my own to sleep in at night

2) not having to steal food

3) not having to steal from my parents to support my alcoholism/addiction

4) not having to worry about being arrested in the ghetto on felony drug charges

5) having a shower, clean towels, and clean clothes to put on

Not trying to read my boyfriend's face in the morning to see if I had done something bad the night before.

Not waking up at 4:00 am knowing that I had done something stupid or just so hung over and realizing I'd feel like crap all day.

Actually walking the dog instead of promising her I will "tomorrow"

Feeling good about myself, looking people in the eye, smiling and meaning it.

Wow, well, besides the promises, there's too many to mention. Here's a few:

1. Being comfortable when I go to sleep. And falling asleep as opposed to passing out.
2. Not waking up at 4:30 AM with that vague fear of impending doom.
3. Enjoying food. Having an appetite.
4. Not spending the first 20 minutes of my day retching.
5. Now wondering where all my money goes. Getting by on less.

well, i want to jump on here. 5 things i can look forward to today if i stick to my recovery from codependency:

a good night's sleep.
minding my own business and staying in MY day.
peace of mind.
no fear and worry about stuff i can't do anything about anyway.
less nail biting :)

Today, I am doing my housework in increments (I am the neatfreak from H***). I "straightened" the bed, went to do something else, came back and made it "correctly". I've got the heebie-jeebies from boredom-my house is clean, I'm tired of being sedentary but it's TOO HOT and about to thunderstorm, to go for a walk. Why did I ever get rid of my treadmill? Dum, dum, dum. I can't get thrilled about scrubbing baseboards today. I hope I don't post too much drivel here today, it's so embarassing later. No kids, nothing to worry about-I need a real problem to fix, LOL.

Great post.....

---no black outs
---being honest & not lying
---re-gaining my self respect
---truly remembering events & enjoy the simple things
---being the husband I know I am

1. Being free from the confines of an alcoholic life
2. Eating healthily and respecting my body
3. Waking up knowing that I didn't drink the night before...such a good feeling!
4. Taking more little steps towards healing
5. Being in control


6. not wasting stupid amounts of money on poison!

Things I look forward to.

1. Growing as a person in my SMART Recovery meetings because I'm going in clean
2. Not having blackouts from my drugs and having to 'fill in the blanks' the next morning
3. Dreaming again
4. Finishing my college education
5. Building some trust back up with my family

Guy with Pie, this is a great thread and thanks for starting it!

Great posts everyone.. thanks so much for contributing. I feel like an old timer on this board. Alera.. is dreaming something that happens to sober people? hell I can't remember the last time I had a dream. i just thought that was something completely not related to alcohol?..

thanks Mick.. Congrats on your 4 months. I can't wait to say that! I like your strat there.. :)

1. remembering what I have done the night before
2. being there for my wife
3. not feeling like hammered do do the day after
4. actually going to work everyday ( and not having to sit in a bathroom stall waiting for the shakes to subside, when I did go to work)
5. feeling I have finally found the way out of a dark deep tunnel...

Oh, my God, we're all exactly alike! What a wonderful yet terrible fellowship! Here are mine:
1) Not having to locate all the "empties" I've hidden & throw them out before my husband gets home.
2) Not having my hand shake so badly at lunch, while trying to get food up to my mouth, that my friends all stare!
3) Never again having to worry about a police officer's flashing lights pulling up behind me - believe me it strikes terror in your heart when you know you already have one DUI (especially while driving with a suspended license - even more special!)
4) Not having people look at you suspiciously, wondering if you're loaded once again-not having to keep track of all the lies you've told!
5) Not having that terrible feeling of panic, paranoia and remorse overwhelm you as you try to resurface after a binge.

Wow! amazing how similar the answers are here. I get them all too. If I could just retain the same thoughts in the evening that I have in the morning then I think I could actually stop drinking. Somehow I start feeling real good around noontime and start thinking about drinking again. Spent the last forty years thinking I can (and should be able to ) be a social drinker. Quit once for ten years but I'm sliding down the shoot again. Damn, got to stop this.
john

WOW - I've been thinking/doing the exact same thing for so long it makes my head hurt to think about it. You never know though, maybe tomorrow will be your day. I've been sober a whole 5 days now, so I know if I can, you can. That noon attitude change is what worries me, but who knows, maybe Ill hang in there this time.

Since I'm only 5 days in, I only have one thing to add to the list:
1. not having to drive to the liquor store when it opens and buy just enough beer to replace what I'm going to drink today before my husband gets home.

good stuff
 

5 days cool...it gets better keep on truckin'!! Forget the clock noon 300 900....its all relative....

How about not having to drive to the liquor store when it opens and buy just enough vodka to stop the shakes ?

I have also noticed that since quitting booze, I dream every night. They are bizarre dreams, and I remember them every morning and sometimes for the whole day.

I rarely dreamed while alcohol was part of my daily routine.

Weird.

*Remembering-phonecalls, conversations, dreams, what I did the night before

*Not waking up hungover and running to the bathroom to throw up

*Not feeling guilty for no apparent reason

*Not fearing the phone ringing, letters in the mail

*Being able to be honest and kind with all the people that matter in my life.

Quoting Hevyn..

Not having that terrible feeling of panic, paranoia and remorse overwhelm you as you try to resurface after a binge.

Really...

No physical cravings

No mental obsession..that is a biggie

Regaining respect (from everyone)

The ability to be grateful

The ability to begin making amends (to just about everyone)

The ability to pray

The ability to listen

Gratitude the flame of spirituality is growing into a fire...