6 weeks sober
Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada. About as far south as you can get
Posts: 4,768
Originally Posted by soberbrah 
hardest part isnt not drinking for me, its finding stuff to do other than just not drinking
feels good though, anxiety and depression are way down
feels good though, anxiety and depression are way down
Good luck in your recovery !
Bob R.
Re-Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 7,583
Congrats! It is exciting to be with you here as you learn.
If you had the money, what would you wish to do? Maybe not today, maybe before you started drinking. You have the money you used to spend on booze. Why not take a few hundred and drive to a major town for an art exhibit, or a museum you've never seen before? Try sky diving, or scuba diving whichever you are nearest. Too cold, take a ski lesson or twenty.
I don't know about others but what held me back so long was the conditioned response to going out from being a heavy drinker/alcoholic/drunk/problem drinker for so long. It took me a long time. almost a year to fully realize how free I was now. Before I quit, for years the thought of driving or going out involved the risk of DUI, social embarrassment for my drinking, paranoia of Law enforcement for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the open container law.
Did you ever watch the movie "The Shawshank Redemption?" Remember the guy that could not adapt to being free and hung himself because of conditioning? I had a little of that, but not the suicidal part, just the feeling that I can't do some things because I could not for years. Quitting the slow suicide of drinking proved that I wanted to live, and even more, live a life and not a lie.
So there I was at six months and more and I was sitting there doing the same things I did when I was drinking. Isolating and staying home a lot. Not out of fear of drinking, it was just the self-conditioning of a good high functioning alcoholic. (Yes folks I also believe the words High Functioning and Alcoholic combined are an oxymoron but that is another topic.)
I had to force myself to go out, shop, go to shows, and do things. Most of all get off my dead axe and get back into shape, physically and emotionally, which both take working out.
Once I realized how free I was, it became a bit overwhelming because there are now so many possibilities for me I was terrified to choose! NO excuses anymore. And I wasn't the brilliant conversationalist or creative genius that alcohol made me feel like. Then I realized neither was anybody else! I was good enough, and began the long learning curve in any relationship to get to know and love another. Except now I was meeting me for the first time in ages and I had changed. Like an old friend, I was glad to have back, warts and all, I found myself . . . period.
Go out and find yourself. Or hang in there for a year until you decide to. Or you could cut the learning curve short and start having fun today. Unless you aren't through grieving for alcohol. I never grieved. I spat on its grave. And smiled.
You see, the best revenge is living well.
If you had the money, what would you wish to do? Maybe not today, maybe before you started drinking. You have the money you used to spend on booze. Why not take a few hundred and drive to a major town for an art exhibit, or a museum you've never seen before? Try sky diving, or scuba diving whichever you are nearest. Too cold, take a ski lesson or twenty.
I don't know about others but what held me back so long was the conditioned response to going out from being a heavy drinker/alcoholic/drunk/problem drinker for so long. It took me a long time. almost a year to fully realize how free I was now. Before I quit, for years the thought of driving or going out involved the risk of DUI, social embarrassment for my drinking, paranoia of Law enforcement for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the open container law.
Did you ever watch the movie "The Shawshank Redemption?" Remember the guy that could not adapt to being free and hung himself because of conditioning? I had a little of that, but not the suicidal part, just the feeling that I can't do some things because I could not for years. Quitting the slow suicide of drinking proved that I wanted to live, and even more, live a life and not a lie.
So there I was at six months and more and I was sitting there doing the same things I did when I was drinking. Isolating and staying home a lot. Not out of fear of drinking, it was just the self-conditioning of a good high functioning alcoholic. (Yes folks I also believe the words High Functioning and Alcoholic combined are an oxymoron but that is another topic.)
I had to force myself to go out, shop, go to shows, and do things. Most of all get off my dead axe and get back into shape, physically and emotionally, which both take working out.
Once I realized how free I was, it became a bit overwhelming because there are now so many possibilities for me I was terrified to choose! NO excuses anymore. And I wasn't the brilliant conversationalist or creative genius that alcohol made me feel like. Then I realized neither was anybody else! I was good enough, and began the long learning curve in any relationship to get to know and love another. Except now I was meeting me for the first time in ages and I had changed. Like an old friend, I was glad to have back, warts and all, I found myself . . . period.
Go out and find yourself. Or hang in there for a year until you decide to. Or you could cut the learning curve short and start having fun today. Unless you aren't through grieving for alcohol. I never grieved. I spat on its grave. And smiled.
You see, the best revenge is living well.
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