101 Days Of Sobriety & Happy New Year
 

Hello and thank you everyone!

101 days since I quit again after my attempt to "moderate" my drinking.

Bad idea. Won't do that again.

Before that I almost had 2 years sober.
Life is much much better sober. I remember everything I did,
I wake up without a hangover, and I am kind to my family nearly all the time.

My health is greatly improved, both physical and mental.
When I was drinking, I had digestive issues, headaches, hot flashes, and night sweats.
I also had increasing anxiety, and serious insomnia.
All these problems are resolved now.

There is so much to look forward to sober with all that extra time once spent drinking. I've had time to:

Start playing guitar again after 25 years away from it
Take voice lessons and learn songs in other languages
Learn herbal tea blending
Take courses in cinema and gender studies
Take (almost)daily walks in the forest with my pack of 4 giant dogs
Cook "gourmet" foodie menus with my husband
Enjoy the sun rising and setting and laying in my hammock watching the stars pop out at dusk

I joined Crossfit and lost 40 pounds (been slacking off on that a bit but getting back to it next week)
I now take yoga classes and can put my hands flat on the floor when bending over.
I never thought that would ever be possible. . .

It wasn't always easy during the process of quitting, but it has gotten easier.
It has been so worth every moment and I have no regrets except not quitting years sooner.

I spent pretty much the better part of 30 years drinking, so I should know.

This place has helped me so much since my relapse.
I have educated myself about things like kindling and co-dependence, and I have learned what harm I did
when drinking to others as well as the harm that was done to me by my alcoholic parents and how that impacted my adult life.

If you're just starting out, or struggling, please hang in there and never stop trying to quit.

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year full of peace and good memories.

Congratulations Hawkeye :)

D

Great, great post, Hawkeye :)

This is outstanding Hawkeye! Great post! And congrats on 101 days.

WORD! Hugs to you Hawkeye. Happy New Year.

I am now going to try to put my palms on the floor standing up.

Wow, that's what I call an extreme life makeover! Well done!

Fabulous post! Congrats. on your 101 days and happy, happy new year!

Congratulations and thank you for sharing your experiences!

Very cool to read this!! :biggthump Hope always begins with a single step forward. I reopened all kinds of forgotten, good doors after I stayed sober for a while. Even more good doors are going to open in 2014...for myself, and especially for all my fellows. Keep the faith! :c011:

Awesome Hawkeye!

Congrats on your sober time and your new life. :)

Hawk eye, that is simply outstanding ! All the best for the new year !

Wow, that's so awesome, Hawkeye13! Happy New Year to you!

:You_Rock_ Happy New Year xxxx

Really nice post Hawkeye. Wishing you all the best in 2014!

Am very happy I'm logging on now more than I ever did because of the inspiring stories and comments I've read.

JAZZFISH - thanks for the comment about declining patience and rising anger with kids over time with continued alcohol abuse; going to keep that in mind when the cravings kick in.

SAFE2 [B]REATHE - thanks for comment about always having a full glass of (non alcoholic) drink nearby to try and prevent others from buying me a drink.

Dee74 - thanks for the link to the bit about cravings - definitely took note of those as I'm generally pretty cool until early evening when the "habit thing" kicks in and the car starts driving itself to the station where it knows it can get beers, etc

never been to any of the other blogs apart from this "newby" forum; am looking forward to what I see and read in others