Kza

I have lost my job but luckily have been offered a new one to start on 1 November. My problem is what to do between now and then. I am staying with my parents but that is only for a week or so. I want to keep busy but not stress myself too much. I thought of going on a long holiday, travelling or renting an apartment and getting a lot of exercise. But that would certainly involve me drinking because of boredom or drinking with the excuse once you start your new job you can stop. I dont have much in the way of hobbies or interests and as i have been drinking for so long i am not sure what they were before. Holidays i have had i have either not enjoyed or stayed in and drank or drank in bars.

Any suggestions?

Lightning Bug

Find a place to volunteer. You will help an organization while you are adding to your resume.

whiskeyman

try Tia Chi
yoga
a puzzle
go to a hospice and volunteer
or how about donating time to the hospital
or food bank in the area
knock on a neighbours door with a dog and take it for a walk.
go to an open house in a fancy area of town
go to the library and look at CDs grab three and take them home, three that you normally wouldnt pick, but give them a listen
go fishing
mini golf with a friend

Kza

Dunno if the neighbour has a dog-never spoken to her-i avoid people

Natom

Hey KZA, when I moved back home after I left rehab I was unemployed for 3 months. I knew I was going to have to find something to do as the boredom I was experiencing was making my head go silly. I went out and found hobbies. I found out what I liked. I realised I liked cycling. And then I realised I like history and spent a lot of that time going to free attractions, or ones with very little cost. Use this time productively as if all goes well with the job it's going to be the longest bit of time off you are going to have for a while.

Natom.

hypochondriac

Personally Kza, I would use this valuable time to hit every recover meeting I could find, read recovery books, and get the help I needed to recover. This isn't a temporary blip. You will lose your next job too if you don't make some effort to tackle your drinking problem. I don't want to come across as harsh but you need to do something. Stopping drinking is nothing to do with finding a hobby, though you may find you have a new lease of life once you are on the recovery path x

ClearLight

Or you could reject every suggestion is inane and used that as an excuse to drink.

Kza

Ha fair point

benice

Hopefully you won't snap at everyone like you did to Whiskey. I find being nice gets you much farther in life...and happier too. Just saying. I think it's clear that you do what it takes to keep yourself away from that first drink. That's different for everyone. Are you in a position to adopt a puppy? That would be a great responsibility and would keep you VERY busy.

whiskeyman

good answer, ClearLight. Love it

whiskeyman

how about anger management classes.
or meditation classes.

mecanix

Life can be difficult , painfull and boring ... accepting that and learning to deal with it and stay sober was usefull for me .

I quite like walking in forests and sitting on hills looking at views so if i had some time off i'd probably go hiking , maybe walk the pilgrims way , an ancient (500 BC ) trackway going from winchester to cantebury .

Bestwishes , m

Kza

Or I could knock on the doors of elderly people in the area and ask them if they need any help with their shopping. Knit socks for soldiers, oops oh no that was during WW2

whiskeyman

no really, those sound llike good ideas.
would you have done those before, probably not, then do them.

give us one suggestion you have come up with so we have an idea of what you are looking for.

and I know someone that does knit socks and hats for babies in ER.

doggonecarl

You are real hard case Kza. Why come and ask for advice if you, in turn, show distain for the suggestions that are given. It would be so easy to ignore the posts that you don't feel are helpful, but no, you have to throw cyber rocks at SR members who are taking time in their life to read and respond to your post...your post for HELP!

You won't drink because you are bored. You'll drink because you are discontented with sobriety and are doing nothing to address the root problems.

DecBaby

The best answer I heard was from hypochondriac.

Start recovery.

whiskeyman

how about volunteer at a kill shelter for animals.
make a meal for the neighbour youve never spoke to.
go over and say hello.

go to an AA meeting. Get a sponsor work the steps, those'll keep you busy.

soberhawk

Two months is an opportunity also, I was wondering what I would do with two months – where I could decide how to use them.

I have some ideas, but my dreams are not yours of course.

Kza

i dont have any dreams and if i did have any they were so long ago that they were teenagers dreams

hypochondriac

Nowt wrong with teenagers dreams! Half of the stuff I do now is exactly what I would have done when I was 12. I completely reverted to type.

I know you have felt pretty crappy for a while, but I think it's time to give sobriety a chance. I am not saying you will be skipping down the street picking daisies but you might get little glimpses of happiness after a good run at sobriety. But that in itself takes effort. Recovery can be your dream for now. It is something solid to work for and it certainly can take up some time and energy x