Hereandnow2

Looking through old pictures, almost all them I was drinking. This made me sad and nostalgic. I was having so much fun. How will I live without alcohol? How will I have fun without it? My while life has been under the influence it seems.

Jupiters

you're here, which means at some point it became NOT fun.
Hang onto those thoughts. If your whole life revolved around and included booze, how do you know how amazing it could be without?

Mags1

I know hoe you're feeling,Hereandnow2, I thought there couldn't be life after booze.

I was so wrong and the discomfort, anxieties and cravings when sober aren't half as bad as the feelings we had when drunk to oblivion, waking up with regrets and misgivings, ashamed embarrassed, hungover.

We can paint a pretty picture of our drinking days but in the cold light of day?

hokey

I have enough old pictures in my head of what my alcoholism is really like ... it isn't pretty.

Hereandnow2

That's true! I have been writing down things I have done sober this last 7 days and rating it on a 1-10 on the fun factor and comparing it to those buzzed/drunk outings. It's clear for me to see that I can have fun without it so why do I miss it soooo much?

ScottFromWI

I look at pictures and while I was "having fun", my face also looked bloated and I looked like crap. I would have never noticed it then, but I sure do now.

Also - how many pictures do you have of you hung over, puking or doing something completely idiotic? Most of us don't because we don't want to remeber all the bad things that go along with drinking.

Rest assured that it's entirely possible to have just as much fun sober.

Mags1

Strange you saying that Scott, my husband said he can tell a drinker from their face. Not sure if he was hinting at me as he said it when I was drinking.

Ghostlight1

I have a picture of myself at my sister's wedding. I have a drink in one hand and a beer in the other. It makes me cringe now to see it.
I've been living without alcohol for three and a half years now, and I was a daily drinker. At the end the fun was gone. I had to drink. Then, my health got so bad, physical and mental, that I couldn't drink. Still did for awhile and it was a nightmare.
It wasn't fun, it was pathetic. It's progressive and I hope you never reach the lows I did.

doggonecarl

Pictures are capturing only a portion of your drinking. The "fun" part. What is that? Ten percent?

What about the pictures of you throwing up? Passed out? Embarrassing yourself? Injuring yourself? Arguing with friends and family? Feeling guilty for your actions? Where are those pictures? If you had them you wouldn't be so nostalgic.

Drinkers for whom drinking is just "fun" aren't logging onto recovery forums. Sober Recovery is for those of us whose "fun" drinking is a memory in a picture because the reality of our drinking is pure hell.

Chilledice

Take a picture of yourself 3 months from now and see how much better your face will look!!

Anna

This is where the hard work comes in. You have to find new ways to fill yourself with joy and peace and love.

Ethos23

Our minds tend to remember the good times and erase the negative. We tell ourselves to "stay positive." I think that carries over to when we were drinking. We reminisce about the positive of it, while erasing the negative memories.

LBrain

Interesting topic. Last week I found a box of old photos. I picked random envelopes to look through the photos. I noticed that I as well as my "friends" seemed to be quite proud to show our drinking to the camera. I was embarrassed at what I saw. In no way was I reminiscing about the good time. I found it rather sad that so much of my life revolved around drinking.

KateL

I look a total mess in mine towards the end of my career xx

GracieLou

When I look at pictures from 20 years ago, 90% if not more are of me in a bar.

The last picture of me before I got sober was taken in November 2012 and I was in a bar. My sobriety date is 03/24/2013.

I have compared the pic taken in November 2012 with a picture taken in November of 2013, the difference is amazing. I don't even look like the same person.

I can't access them now but if I could I would post them. Like night and day!

Take a picture now, get sober and take another six months later. The camera does not lie!

caboblanco

I honestly hate if someone finds a picture where i knew I was drunk. I think god..what a sad a hole i am

Tamerua

Start taking pics now of how fun sobriety is!

huntingtontx

I lost one of my chins when I quit drinking. That was fun. Who needs two chins. It takes a while to sort out how we feel sober, but it is so worth the time. Life is so much better without being drunk.

bigsombrero

I remember finally going through old pictures from Facebook this winter. I hadn't even dared to look at many of them for a long, long time. But I needed to delete them: because they don't represent me anymore. Any photos of me holding a beer or drink were trashed. End of story. Same goes for any pictures of me with the ex-gf, and so on.

I also noticed that I looked bloated in the face, and very pale...even in the summer time. I created a nifty side-by-side photo (just for myself) that showed a picture of me "Then vs. Now", and it was amazing. It actually really helped me remember what a great decision getting sober was.

LBrain

BigS, you reminded me of something. When I went into rehab they took a photo of me for my ID. Upon discharge they were kind enough to give me a copy of it. Holy Mackerel!

The side-by-side using that one is amazing. I'm keeping it as a reminder.