Chasing The Natural Buzz
Clear Eyes Full Heart
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,272
Chasing The Natural Buzz
Spin off from WalkingWithGod's thread which is an interesting one...
What do you do now that you've quit to "catch a buzz"? What makes you feel euphoric without chemicals? What brings you the most happiness and laughs sober?
What do you do now that you've quit to "catch a buzz"? What makes you feel euphoric without chemicals? What brings you the most happiness and laughs sober?
Crazy Cat Lady
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 2,661
For me, i get a feeling of pleasure from going to meetings and seeing familiar faces. I get lost in books and enjoy a few TV shows. I try not to chase a buzz because i will get preoccupied with it. I let things come to me. Of course, right now i'm in the middle of a 2 week long music festival that i bike 4 miles to so i'm kinda overloaded with good times! But when it's all done, i try to maintain a balance of peace and pleasure in my life. I don't HAVE to chase a buzz because i'm not running to or from anything anymore.
Nothing is impossible!
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Originally Posted by FreeFall 
Spin off from WalkingWithGod's thread which is an interesting one...
What do you do now that you've quit to "catch a buzz"? What makes you feel euphoric without chemicals? What brings you the most happiness and laughs sober?
What do you do now that you've quit to "catch a buzz"? What makes you feel euphoric without chemicals? What brings you the most happiness and laughs sober?
I also work out like a mad man, as well as clean my car. Something about a freshly waxed car in the sunshine hits my dopamine receptors like a mack truck.
Nothing is impossible!
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: EAGAN
Posts: 792
Originally Posted by DisplacedGRITS
For me, i get a feeling of pleasure from going to meetings and seeing familiar faces. I get lost in books and enjoy a few TV shows. I try not to chase a buzz because i will get preoccupied with it. I let things come to me. Of course, right now i'm in the middle of a 2 week long music festival that i bike 4 miles to so i'm kinda overloaded with good times! But when it's all done, i try to maintain a balance of peace and pleasure in my life. I don't HAVE to chase a buzz because i'm not running to or from anything anymore.
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: "I'm not lost for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost ..."
Posts: 5,273
Music, running, the beach, learning anything new, conquering something hard, thrift shopping, making stuff/creating, new shoes, doing things that scare me...I really am one of those dorky "high on life" people.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 480
Ah, let's see, natural pleasures...
Exercise is a big one - my doctor once told me that our bodies are made to move and I'm one of those people that gets a backlog of tension and anxiety without it.
Connection to friends and family - this one got lost for a long time in the wake of drinking and pills. Humans are hard-wired to want and need connection and, much as I hated that when I was such a loner, I'm able to embrace connection more and more, now.
Mindfulness, living in the present - I've heard that "yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a fantasy; all we really have is now". When I can be present to my experience, I find a place of rest somehow.
Humor - always a great way to get those eudonic rewards going, especially when it's in combination with connection with friends/family.
Spirituality - connection to something eternal and feeling 'part of it all'
And then some specifics...hiking with the dog, watching the sunrise over the mountains as the sunlight begins to slant over the prairie, full moons (just had a supermoon!), fall colors and that first bite of cooler weather, snow crunching underfoot in a silent forest, playing cards and cheating to help my MIL win a game, helping someone who's going through a rough time, showing compassion when it'd be easier not to, learning new concepts and getting that "ah ha!" feeling as it falls into place...
Thanks for the thread - just listing all these things has given me a boost.
Exercise is a big one - my doctor once told me that our bodies are made to move and I'm one of those people that gets a backlog of tension and anxiety without it.
Connection to friends and family - this one got lost for a long time in the wake of drinking and pills. Humans are hard-wired to want and need connection and, much as I hated that when I was such a loner, I'm able to embrace connection more and more, now.
Mindfulness, living in the present - I've heard that "yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a fantasy; all we really have is now". When I can be present to my experience, I find a place of rest somehow.
Humor - always a great way to get those eudonic rewards going, especially when it's in combination with connection with friends/family.
Spirituality - connection to something eternal and feeling 'part of it all'
And then some specifics...hiking with the dog, watching the sunrise over the mountains as the sunlight begins to slant over the prairie, full moons (just had a supermoon!), fall colors and that first bite of cooler weather, snow crunching underfoot in a silent forest, playing cards and cheating to help my MIL win a game, helping someone who's going through a rough time, showing compassion when it'd be easier not to, learning new concepts and getting that "ah ha!" feeling as it falls into place...
Thanks for the thread - just listing all these things has given me a boost.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: South East England
Posts: 8,009
Music played very loudly.
Cuddling my daughter while we curl up and watch a horror DVD together.
Playing a game of badminton, me and my H against our kids who delight in beating us into the ground!
Walking along the beach when it's a wild and windy day and I can hardly catch my breath.
Having a BBQ with friends.
Laughing. Proper chuckling that makes my stomach hurt.
These are my highs now, and they're all a hell of a lot better than anything I felt when I was drinking. X
Cuddling my daughter while we curl up and watch a horror DVD together.
Playing a game of badminton, me and my H against our kids who delight in beating us into the ground!
Walking along the beach when it's a wild and windy day and I can hardly catch my breath.
Having a BBQ with friends.
Laughing. Proper chuckling that makes my stomach hurt.
These are my highs now, and they're all a hell of a lot better than anything I felt when I was drinking. X
Guest
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: The Deep South
Posts: 14,636
The feeling after a run, music, being with my husband, accomplishing things throughout the day (tasks, chores, writing etc), doing something I'm afraid of and getting through it... That's a big one! Also, laughter.
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Guest
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,580
My sobriety is just in its infancy..and you know, I keep getting "little highs" when I realize I am enjoying an occasion or a moment WITHOUT the buzz. I don't know if I'm still on some kind of "quit high" as I'm just shy of 4 full weeks, but it's wonderful to realize that I actually do enjoy things sober. I think I thought I wasn't capable..because I was knocking back a little wine before and with everything in my leisure time. I'm noticing little things, simple things and important things..with appreciation. It's really quite wonderful
That bell or bike person
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: london
Posts: 4,978
When i saw this i first thought of Thitch Nhat Han and thought to myself, i try not to chase any buzzes because of their transitory nature.
I think that would be disingenuous of me though, i prefer to stay in the shallow end of desire as i'm sure i could get lost in the storm otherwise .
H D Thoreau said;
"I would fain keep sober always... I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor... Of all ebriosity, who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes?"
So what i mean to say is that i'm wary of chasing anything, those things that i do persue i try not to be attached to . i'd rather a life of lots of small achieveable pleasures than one big hit of bliss .
Bestwishes, m
I think that would be disingenuous of me though, i prefer to stay in the shallow end of desire as i'm sure i could get lost in the storm otherwise .
H D Thoreau said;
"I would fain keep sober always... I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor... Of all ebriosity, who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes?"
So what i mean to say is that i'm wary of chasing anything, those things that i do persue i try not to be attached to . i'd rather a life of lots of small achieveable pleasures than one big hit of bliss .
Bestwishes, m
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: uk
Posts: 163
Looking forwrad to the natural buzz
Hi really interesting thread. I am very new so I cant really comment on what gives me the buzz. This is what I'm most afraid off, not getting the buzz anymore as I really like the buzz of the first couple of drinks, but as we know it doesn't stop there, not with me anyway , I am feeling fresh after 2 nights of no drink, this is a nice feeling, I wish I could put that in a bottle and drink it . I need to find something else to occupy my thoughts and get active
Last edited by aw58; 06-30-2013 at 12:15 AM. Reason: spelling
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