Early Anxieties Dispelled by Long Term Recovery
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Early Anxieties Dispelled by Long Term Recovery
I've seen a lot of threads posted by folks who are just starting to get into recovery indicating considerable anxiety about what life is going to be like for them if they give up drinking for good. I’m sure most of you are familiar with what they often say. I felt that way myself in early recovery: “I’m afraid I’m going to be bored” “I’m going to lose all my old friends, ostracized because I’ve become a ‘teetotaler’.” “I needed alcohol to deal with stress, from the office and at home; how am I going to deal with stress without it?” “I’m afraid that giving up alcohol will hurt my creativity; isolate me from others who are creative.” “I’m afraid that life without alcohol is going to be gray, boring and monotonous, like every day is a cloudy day in early March.”
I can’t speak for others but I’ve found that with long term sobriety none of this has come true for me. Honestly I never feel tempted to have a drink. Even in moments of stress. I hardly ever think about it, about liquor which is still in a closet somewhere in case we have guests. We have folks over and serve them wine mostly and they never seem uncomfortable if we don’t have alcohol ourselves. As for creativity, I found this really took off after I quit drinking. The past 25 years have been arguably the best in my life.
How many of you feel as I do, namely that the fears you had in early recovery were for the most part unfounded and possibly were due to the more primitive part of your brain that was desperately trying to restore the alcohol? That, if you persisted and stuck with it, things would get better and better, that the world would brighten up for you?
W.
I can’t speak for others but I’ve found that with long term sobriety none of this has come true for me. Honestly I never feel tempted to have a drink. Even in moments of stress. I hardly ever think about it, about liquor which is still in a closet somewhere in case we have guests. We have folks over and serve them wine mostly and they never seem uncomfortable if we don’t have alcohol ourselves. As for creativity, I found this really took off after I quit drinking. The past 25 years have been arguably the best in my life.
How many of you feel as I do, namely that the fears you had in early recovery were for the most part unfounded and possibly were due to the more primitive part of your brain that was desperately trying to restore the alcohol? That, if you persisted and stuck with it, things would get better and better, that the world would brighten up for you?
W.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,439
I think everyones scared of stepping away from the familiar - even when its bad - and stepping into the unknown - that's a basic human reaction.
The more we get used to something we see often times that what we feared it would be like isn't what it's like at all
I certainly found that - I love my life....getting sober was one of the best decisions I ever made
D
The more we get used to something we see often times that what we feared it would be like isn't what it's like at all
I certainly found that - I love my life....getting sober was one of the best decisions I ever made
D
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,564
Hi W. That was a helpful & thought provoking post.
I agree - most of the things I dreaded never materialized. I had used alcohol to cope for so long I couldn't imagine my life without it. Briefly, in the very beginning there was a feeling of loss - and I was a bit sorry for myself. Yet I had to admit my drinking was not giving me an exciting life. I had become boring - isolating and living like a recluse. It was ridiculous to think I was missing out on anything. Mostly the joy of being set free took over and surpassed everything else.
Yes, my world is brighter - I'm glad yours is too W. Thanks for the positivity.
That was a helpful & thought provoking post.I agree - most of the things I dreaded never materialized. I had used alcohol to cope for so long I couldn't imagine my life without it. Briefly, in the very beginning there was a feeling of loss - and I was a bit sorry for myself. Yet I had to admit my drinking was not giving me an exciting life. I had become boring - isolating and living like a recluse. It was ridiculous to think I was missing out on anything. Mostly the joy of being set free took over and surpassed everything else.
Yes, my world is brighter - I'm glad yours is too W. Thanks for the positivity.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: De
Posts: 1,333
Originally Posted by wpainterw 
I've seen a lot of threads posted by folks who are just starting to get into recovery indicating considerable anxiety about what life is going to be like for them if they give up drinking for good. I’m sure most of you are familiar with what they often say. I felt that way myself in early recovery: “I’m afraid I’m going to be bored” “I’m going to lose all my old friends, ostracized because I’ve become a ‘teetotaler’.” “I needed alcohol to deal with stress, from the office and at home; how am I going to deal with stress without it?” “I’m afraid that giving up alcohol will hurt my creativity; isolate me from others who are creative.” “I’m afraid that life without alcohol is going to be gray, boring and monotonous, like every day is a cloudy day in early March.”
I can’t speak for others but I’ve found that with long term sobriety none of this has come true for me. Honestly I never feel tempted to have a drink. Even in moments of stress. I hardly ever think about it, about liquor which is still in a closet somewhere in case we have guests. We have folks over and serve them wine mostly and they never seem uncomfortable if we don’t have alcohol ourselves. As for creativity, I found this really took off after I quit drinking. The past 25 years have been arguably the best in my life.
How many of you feel as I do, namely that the fears you had in early recovery were for the most part unfounded and possibly were due to the more primitive part of your brain that was desperately trying to restore the alcohol? That, if you persisted and stuck with it, things would get better and better, that the world would brighten up for you?
W.
I can’t speak for others but I’ve found that with long term sobriety none of this has come true for me. Honestly I never feel tempted to have a drink. Even in moments of stress. I hardly ever think about it, about liquor which is still in a closet somewhere in case we have guests. We have folks over and serve them wine mostly and they never seem uncomfortable if we don’t have alcohol ourselves. As for creativity, I found this really took off after I quit drinking. The past 25 years have been arguably the best in my life.
How many of you feel as I do, namely that the fears you had in early recovery were for the most part unfounded and possibly were due to the more primitive part of your brain that was desperately trying to restore the alcohol? That, if you persisted and stuck with it, things would get better and better, that the world would brighten up for you?
W.
Grateful
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NC
Posts: 1,763
Originally Posted by wpainterw
“I’m afraid that life without alcohol is going to be gray, boring and monotonous, like every day is a cloudy day in early March.”
moment!And just like that moment, it seems like other things in my life are improving that I don't notice until they have already gotten better. Looking back only a few months I can now see that my anxiety has improved. While I can't say that I am never bored I am now OK with being bored, it is not a physical condition but a state of mind. The longer I stay sober the better my life is becoming. It doesn't all happen at once but is being revealed to me over time.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Hi Grungehead! You wrote:" While I can't say that I am never bored I am now OK with being bored, it is not a physical condition but a state of mind. The longer I stay sober the better my life is becoming. It doesn't all happen at once but is being revealed to me over time."
That says it all! Right on!
W.
That says it all! Right on!
W.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Originally Posted by Ettie
Having a rough night and this post really helped! Just want to say 
W.
That bell or bike person
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: london
Posts: 4,978
22 months so far .
Anxiety has gone,
living form pay check to pay check has gone ,
debts are paied and gone ,
i'm more choosey about the company i keep and can appreciate how others influence my mood (emotional vampires gone)
depression gone,
If this sober life is boring it's my fault , there is a whole world of great stuff going on , and i can always come to SR and ring out the freedom bell to those still trapped .
I maintain that dull and bored is a state of mind , maybe that of someone who is always seeking stimulation from external sources , creativity is a bottomless font inside ourselves , it can take effort to draw on but it is abundant .
Thanks for the great thread wpainterw ,
Bestwishes, m
Anxiety has gone,
living form pay check to pay check has gone ,
debts are paied and gone ,
i'm more choosey about the company i keep and can appreciate how others influence my mood (emotional vampires gone)
depression gone,
If this sober life is boring it's my fault , there is a whole world of great stuff going on , and i can always come to SR and ring out the freedom bell to those still trapped .
I maintain that dull and bored is a state of mind , maybe that of someone who is always seeking stimulation from external sources , creativity is a bottomless font inside ourselves , it can take effort to draw on but it is abundant .
Thanks for the great thread wpainterw ,
Bestwishes, m
Re-Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 7,583
wpw,
Long time no talk. I have the same experience after quitting, and I was drinking 24/7 for a couple of tears before the end. Three years now, and hope my recent health issues let me have those 25 years to look back on. With a little help from my docs I just might. If not, whenever it ends, it will be proud and sober. Sobriety is not what I will be proud of, that's the norm now. Proud of what I have accomplished, and will between now and then because I can again.
Good to read you again. Glad you are still in my world.
Long time no talk. I have the same experience after quitting, and I was drinking 24/7 for a couple of tears before the end. Three years now, and hope my recent health issues let me have those 25 years to look back on. With a little help from my docs I just might. If not, whenever it ends, it will be proud and sober. Sobriety is not what I will be proud of, that's the norm now. Proud of what I have accomplished, and will between now and then because I can again.
Good to read you again. Glad you are still in my world.
Nothing is impossible!
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: EAGAN
Posts: 792
Originally Posted by wpainterw
I've seen a lot of threads posted by folks who are just starting to get into recovery indicating considerable anxiety about what life is going to be like for them if they give up drinking for good. I’m sure most of you are familiar with what they often say. I felt that way myself in early recovery: “I’m afraid I’m going to be bored” “I’m going to lose all my old friends, ostracized because I’ve become a ‘teetotaler’.” “I needed alcohol to deal with stress, from the office and at home; how am I going to deal with stress without it?” “I’m afraid that giving up alcohol will hurt my creativity; isolate me from others who are creative.” “I’m afraid that life without alcohol is going to be gray, boring and monotonous, like every day is a cloudy day in early March.”
I can’t speak for others but I’ve found that with long term sobriety none of this has come true for me. Honestly I never feel tempted to have a drink. Even in moments of stress. I hardly ever think about it, about liquor which is still in a closet somewhere in case we have guests. We have folks over and serve them wine mostly and they never seem uncomfortable if we don’t have alcohol ourselves. As for creativity, I found this really took off after I quit drinking. The past 25 years have been arguably the best in my life.
How many of you feel as I do, namely that the fears you had in early recovery were for the most part unfounded and possibly were due to the more primitive part of your brain that was desperately trying to restore the alcohol? That, if you persisted and stuck with it, things would get better and better, that the world would brighten up for you?
W.
I can’t speak for others but I’ve found that with long term sobriety none of this has come true for me. Honestly I never feel tempted to have a drink. Even in moments of stress. I hardly ever think about it, about liquor which is still in a closet somewhere in case we have guests. We have folks over and serve them wine mostly and they never seem uncomfortable if we don’t have alcohol ourselves. As for creativity, I found this really took off after I quit drinking. The past 25 years have been arguably the best in my life.
How many of you feel as I do, namely that the fears you had in early recovery were for the most part unfounded and possibly were due to the more primitive part of your brain that was desperately trying to restore the alcohol? That, if you persisted and stuck with it, things would get better and better, that the world would brighten up for you?
W.
Faith and reason
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: London
Posts: 941
Thanks for this, wpw. I'm on day 15 so that's a really encouraging and inspiring post to read. I hope to be posting the same thing with 25 years under my belt! As a writer, it's awesome to read that your creativity really took off after a year sober. Really motivates me to keep going.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: far away
Posts: 392
Yeah good thread w p w.
I'm just approaching five months just now and was thinking of posting along the same lines. I took the plunge into aa n ca to change my life, I tried on my own a few times n had a month or two month at a time n then came a spree of four or five days of carnage. In between them months I was trying to enjoy life with all these anxieties and in the end it all piles up and boom I drank again.
I knew sobriety was for me and ghat I can't drink , it causes more pain than it's worth. The life sobriety gives me is abundant. I'm learning again , I am constantly talk g things in. I am starting to deal with this person that I am and trying to find peace and happiness. I'm happy most of the time now and I see a good future if I can keep everything in today and enjoy each moment and not try to fight it. I needed aa and ca to give me the people to share stuff with and very importantly listen to, seeing how they do it and how well they look is enough evidence to prove to me that life after drinking is alot more rewarding and precious than a life drinking.
Peace
I'm just approaching five months just now and was thinking of posting along the same lines. I took the plunge into aa n ca to change my life, I tried on my own a few times n had a month or two month at a time n then came a spree of four or five days of carnage. In between them months I was trying to enjoy life with all these anxieties and in the end it all piles up and boom I drank again.
I knew sobriety was for me and ghat I can't drink , it causes more pain than it's worth. The life sobriety gives me is abundant. I'm learning again , I am constantly talk g things in. I am starting to deal with this person that I am and trying to find peace and happiness. I'm happy most of the time now and I see a good future if I can keep everything in today and enjoy each moment and not try to fight it. I needed aa and ca to give me the people to share stuff with and very importantly listen to, seeing how they do it and how well they look is enough evidence to prove to me that life after drinking is alot more rewarding and precious than a life drinking.
Peace
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
