BiggestScrewUp

Ok... If I'm gonna do this I want to do it with flying colours... 4 days... no booze so far


BUT


I want some pointers to help me out in party situations... I'm still relatively young and all of my friends can only seem to have fun if they get s**t faced.

I normally would do that to calm nerves, make myself relax etc..

But If im sober I don't really know how to enjoy myself? Do Ijust get realy high on sugar drinks like red bull or what?!

Anybody got and tips on how to enjoy myself without the booze?

suki44883

Living a sober life is much more than just not drinking. Most of us also had to make several other changes in our lives, such as who we choose to hang around with and what social functions we attend. Especially in early sobriety, it is important that you surround yourself with people who are supportive of your efforts and who either don't drink or don't drink much and not at all around you. It is a lifestyle change.

Also, you will find a lot of face-to-face support if you join a program like AA or something similar. Good luck!

milwaukeeguy85

going to drinking parties is the LAST thing you should be doing so early in sobriety. I was at 2 weeks till I went to one of my best friends wedding (I made an exception to be around booze) and I ended up getting drunk again.

You are going to have to learn how to find a life outside of the party scene, it is too easy to get caught in it again. Besides, I think I speak for most people when I say : Why would you even want to hang out with a bunch of drunkards if you are sober? That is probably the most annoying/boring activity in the world.

BiggestScrewUp

I know. But I cant just ditch my friends. Also... I'm a DJ so I play out at a lot of clubs. Think I might have to stick on the energy drinks.

My mates arent just boozers. They dont drink that much it's just that when they go out or have a house party they all go a little mental. I dont want to stop hanging around with them. It doesnt really matter anyway as I'm not going to see them until xmas at least. They're all at uni!!

suki44883

If you truly want to live a sober life, you are going to have to make some changes. You will get out of it only what you are willing to put into it. If you continue to do the same things, I can almost guarantee that you will soon be drinking again. When you are serious about living sober, you will be willing to do whatever is necessary to attain that.

least

I was an at-home-alone drinker so I had to learn to live with myself sober. I had to change my ideas and behaviors and it was hard, but I did it and am still doing it. And yes, being sober around a bunch of drinkers is boring and aggravating, at least it is to me. I shudder to think how obnoxious I must have been, even just staying home drinking by myself.

Congrats on your four days sober. You can continue it one day at a time, and I hope you will. The rewards are worth the effort and sacrifice it takes.

BiggestScrewUp

Yeah. I think I'm just going to have to deal with it and stay sober. If I gave up smoking on willpower then I can do the same with booze. I stopped for a month once. That was only to prove to myself that I could do it. I'm not gonna give up on my friends though! Will have to see... if it fails then it fails... then I'll just have to re-evaluate my position and try again!

ItsMe23

i quit for 6 months and then ruined it all on one day that through me down a dark path. But i used to go out with my friends all the time and they boozed it up and i managed to stay sober. It can be done

Squizz

Myself, I have two trains of thought on this:

1)Continue to live your life as you normally would, and just exert some degree of discipline. Hey, if you are young you should be able to have fun right? And you don't have to drink in order to do that. A wise man with 25 years of sobriety once told me something that made a lot of sense: He said staying sober shouldn't take your life away from you, it should give it back! And it's so true! But that being said, if you are in fact going to go out to a party, wedding, bar, etc. be prepared to have someone's number handy, and get out of there the SECOND you start feeling tight. Because at the end of the day people, let's face it: You're going to have to exert some degree of discipline in your sobriety. You simply can't live under a rock. I know this, because I've tried it many times, and always ended up getting drunk or high. It simply does not work. You CANNOT hide from booze and drugs the rest of your life. It just doesn't work.

and

2)Don't put yourself into precarious situations more often than necessary. Yes, go out, have fun. But at the same time, don't go to a bar five nights a week and expect not to drink. Don't hang out around drug houses five days a week, and expect not to use. In other words: Don't push your luck. Make calculated decisions. Like the slogan goes (and I know it sounds hokey) "Think,think,think!" Weigh the pros and cons of the situations! I go out to bars on occasion. Sure! I go to watch UFC pay-per-views at my local Boston Pizza, and there's people drinking there. I just drink water. And I start to feel tight, I get up and leave. It really is that simple. (Hasn't happened yet though.) It's all about your frame of mind. If you're tight beforehand you probably shouldn't push your luck.

Bottom line: Nobody expects a young person in sobriety to not go out. Go out. You can't avoid booze (and to a certain extent drugs) in real life. If you wanna' live under a rock by all means, do so. But I'm telling your right now, that you will not be a happy camper. And I speak from experience. Why shouldn't I be able to go to hockey game, a concert, a wedding or whatever? Just because you no longer drink or do drugs, doesn't mean you are somehow inhumane. Do all the things you would normally do, just don't push your luck. It really is that simple.

Squizz

It can be done, and I say it SHOULD be done. Speaking from my own experience, I drank a lot of times purely out of boredom. You cannot expect other people to change their lifestyle on account of you. WE are the ones who have to change.

smacked

It never worked for me to quit drinking and then find other ways to get 'high'.. ended up with a whole heap of addictions to deal with.

I don't party or hang out with heavy drinkers anymore, this is life or death for me.. and I love my new life too much to throw it away for a few parties. There's always other friends, other jobs, other ways to live your life to enhance your sober lifestyle instead of detract from it. In time, you might want to pursue that, but for now I guess good luck on white knuckling it, I was never able to stay healthy that way myself.

Good luck!

BiggestScrewUp

You've made my life mate!

and that little bit about having someone elses number on hand is friggin genious! never thought of it that way!

firestorm090

"OK...if I'm gonna do this..."

IF, is a huge word, in fact it's one of the biggest words in our recovery. Once I give myself one opening in my recovery, then it's only a matter of time before I'm opening a 12 pack, a bottle of tequila, or a bottle of JD.

To continue drinking means more misery, it's just that way.

To stop means changing my whole life, whether I want to or not. I must change to the point that drinking is no longer an option. I must make the decision to stay stopped each and every day, with no room for if.

The "high" I get today from not drinking is already paid for by the tears of anquish shed to get me to this point and I'm not charging anymore. I cannot buy the high I get today in any container, be it booze, or energy drinks.

Why not consider just getting "high" by being the best sober dj you can, and if that doesn't work, then I'd play my tunes to a different crowd.

Mcribb

There is a book called "there is more to quitting drinking than quitting drinking"

Mcribb

There is nothing worse than when I wasn't drinking but wanted to be drinking ugh i was sober over the summer 2 months i didn't want to drink 1 month i did but didn't drink through it that 1 month was horrible. I had to get into a program of AA to keep me from being bored and I had to change my life. Of course I hit bottom and was willing to dump my friends for awhile until I changed myself.

Bobby

There is a book Called ... Living Sober .. that is sold at the meetings it has a lot methods that a lot of AA members have used for not drinking that you may find helpful, I myself found it to be very helpful in the beginning of my sobreity

keithj

I found it extremely useful in early sobriety to be very honest and distinguish between how I perceived things and how things really were.

If I rephrase this to reflect reality instead of fantasy, it goes like this,

"But i used to go out with my friends all the time and they boozed it up and i managed to ruin it all on one day that through me down a dark path."

That's the reality of what happened.

julez

I agree with the above poster that we have to change OURSELVES. Its OUR problem, not the people who can drink normally. But for me, it was never being around others and not drinking, it was harder being at home, relaxing, and not having drinks with my husband.
When I quit drinking, I went to 7~11 every night and got a big gulp of diet Dr. Pepper. It was my "treat" for myself, since I never have any kind of soda in my house. It helped me to try and reward myself with small things. Good luck, and try to find all the inner strength you have. It takes a lot.

Squizz

Excellent post. I've heard sugar is very helpful for alcoholics trying to stay sober. It would seem to hold true in my case. I've heard a scientific study that suggest most alcoholics are hypoglycemic. It would seem to hold true. I'll try and dig up the link.

Squizz

UGH. What's next? No coffee? Quit breathing air, because if you breathe enough pure oxygen you can catch a buzz! Dude, let's be honest: For this kid, not doing drugs and drinking is good enough for now. Of course if he's drinking like twelve Red Bulls a day, yeah, I'd say that's a problem. But I really don't think that's the case here.