What is your experience with being sober?
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,439
Although I'm not in AA I find myself in agreement with both Keith and Fighting Irish - all I wanted to do was stop drinking, but instead I found a life waiting for me, and a Dee (me) I thought was lost forever.
It's not always easy - I had to challenge almost every preconception I had about myself - but it's the best thing I ever did.
I don't hate myself anymore - and thats amazing.
Life is hard sometimes, but it is for everyone.
I'm better off facing and dealing with my problems as they occur
than I was running away into a bottle.
I can't give you any negatives
D
It's not always easy - I had to challenge almost every preconception I had about myself - but it's the best thing I ever did.
I don't hate myself anymore - and thats amazing.
Life is hard sometimes, but it is for everyone.
I'm better off facing and dealing with my problems as they occur
than I was running away into a bottle.
I can't give you any negatives
D
Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: uk
Posts: 2,548
as others have stated it that perception..or how i think that has changed.
i guess life is life.....but my perception of the whole deal has changed...
i stopped a few times.....quickly become morose...depressed and found it difficult to intergrate into life ....i was riddled with self pity and anger.
life just dont treat me right....she dont treat me right.....blah blah blah.
my first thought was me......my last thought was me ...and the bit in the middle was miserable...morose......suicidal.
I got into aa and was approach by some that said "i know how you feel" ..
jeeez here we go...before you say it i aint going to church...and i aint blah blah blah.
i read the bb with him........did the steps and that change of perception so needed in my life to recover happened.
not over night...and not without a bit of kicking and screaming but it did happen.
today i dont need want or think of a drink........
my life has blossomed into something i never thought possible.......my mind has been renewed......re proggrammed if you like.
but it is life...what i wanted.... so times can get pretty diificult on rare occasions.
my life is difficult at the moment.....i have a hole in me that the wind just blows straight through...but it will heal.
but a drink NEVER entered my mind throughout this tough time.
what did enter my mind was deep sorrow for my wife.....and her grief.
you see......it rarely about me anymore.....ive had a lifetime of thinking about me....
the physical......oh man im so much better looking...lol...lol
seriously.........im not yellow and im 3 stone heavier than my underweight 8 stone soaking wet.
thats me.
i guess life is life.....but my perception of the whole deal has changed...
i stopped a few times.....quickly become morose...depressed and found it difficult to intergrate into life ....i was riddled with self pity and anger.
life just dont treat me right....she dont treat me right.....blah blah blah.
my first thought was me......my last thought was me ...and the bit in the middle was miserable...morose......suicidal.
I got into aa and was approach by some that said "i know how you feel" ..
jeeez here we go...before you say it i aint going to church...and i aint blah blah blah.
i read the bb with him........did the steps and that change of perception so needed in my life to recover happened.
not over night...and not without a bit of kicking and screaming but it did happen.
today i dont need want or think of a drink........
my life has blossomed into something i never thought possible.......my mind has been renewed......re proggrammed if you like.
but it is life...what i wanted.... so times can get pretty diificult on rare occasions.
my life is difficult at the moment.....i have a hole in me that the wind just blows straight through...but it will heal.
but a drink NEVER entered my mind throughout this tough time.
what did enter my mind was deep sorrow for my wife.....and her grief.
you see......it rarely about me anymore.....ive had a lifetime of thinking about me....
the physical......oh man im so much better looking...lol...lol
seriously.........im not yellow and im 3 stone heavier than my underweight 8 stone soaking wet.
thats me.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Overseas... on the shore of an uncharted desert isle.
Posts: 254
Since I've stopped drinking at the start of this year, I've benefited from the following:
1. No more hangovers:
a) My mind is clear in the morning which allows me to enjoy conversations with my son instead of being distracted by other thoughts like "oh ****, did I do or say too much last night?"
b) My gastro-intestinal system is clear in the morning. Alcohol the night before can produce the most noxious substances in my gut that'll put Bhopal and Chernobyl to shame.
2. Minus 13 pounds of fat - and counting:
I've lost over 13 lbs of body fat and it was not due to cutting out the 'empty calories' provided by alcohol (it couldn't have been anyways as I did not drink daily). (BTW I am pretty fit right now ... normal BMI etc... and although I looked fit when I was drinking, it was only because as a man, I could hide my love handles etc under a well-tailored suit
) Drinking alcohol even once a week was like introducing rust into my system. I would eat crappy fatty foods while drinking, eat leftovers when I finally came home, forgo exercise when I was too hungover, and repeat the same stupid cycle on a regular basis.
3. More energy, look better, feel better, act better ...
All the factors above contribute to a better sense of well-being. As I also posted previously, my elevated liver enzymes levels (eg. alcoholic fatty liver) dropped down to a record low number into the normal range one month after I stopped drinking which confirmed the reason was clearly alcohol and not any of the other factors I was quietly blaming when in denial.
4. Greater sensitivity/awareness to physical & emotional states
When I'm tired, I am more likely to notice it and take action by getting to bed earlier - rather than trying to "suck it up" like I did in the past.
A few times, I noticed periods where I'd also be considerably short-tempered and at times, low energy and even a little down. It's not like I never experienced these before - as I indicated, I am just much more aware of my moods. For the latter condition, I've realized that whenever there is a low-pressure weather system, I simply feel like ****.
1. No more hangovers:
a) My mind is clear in the morning which allows me to enjoy conversations with my son instead of being distracted by other thoughts like "oh ****, did I do or say too much last night?"
b) My gastro-intestinal system is clear in the morning. Alcohol the night before can produce the most noxious substances in my gut that'll put Bhopal and Chernobyl to shame.
2. Minus 13 pounds of fat - and counting:
I've lost over 13 lbs of body fat and it was not due to cutting out the 'empty calories' provided by alcohol (it couldn't have been anyways as I did not drink daily). (BTW I am pretty fit right now ... normal BMI etc... and although I looked fit when I was drinking, it was only because as a man, I could hide my love handles etc under a well-tailored suit
) Drinking alcohol even once a week was like introducing rust into my system. I would eat crappy fatty foods while drinking, eat leftovers when I finally came home, forgo exercise when I was too hungover, and repeat the same stupid cycle on a regular basis. 3. More energy, look better, feel better, act better ...
All the factors above contribute to a better sense of well-being. As I also posted previously, my elevated liver enzymes levels (eg. alcoholic fatty liver) dropped down to a record low number into the normal range one month after I stopped drinking which confirmed the reason was clearly alcohol and not any of the other factors I was quietly blaming when in denial.
4. Greater sensitivity/awareness to physical & emotional states
When I'm tired, I am more likely to notice it and take action by getting to bed earlier - rather than trying to "suck it up" like I did in the past.
A few times, I noticed periods where I'd also be considerably short-tempered and at times, low energy and even a little down. It's not like I never experienced these before - as I indicated, I am just much more aware of my moods. For the latter condition, I've realized that whenever there is a low-pressure weather system, I simply feel like ****.
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