Starting to Anticipate and Get Excited About Non-Drinking Activities
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 183
Starting to Anticipate and Get Excited About Non-Drinking Activities
It's Friday. With my old "normal" - I'd be nearly manic in my excitement and anticipation to drink. I'd be counting down the hours to my first beer of the weekend (former weekend warrior here).
But today, I'm anticipating going out for a nice dinner with the hubby. I'm actually excited about that. I'm excited that maybe afterward we'll watch a cool movie at home, without having to worry about going to bed early to get up for work. I'm taking a lot of pleasure in the notion that come the end of my Friday work day, my time will be mine. Simply mine. To do anything or nothing. But drinking has no part in the thought process anymore.
I cannot express how unthinkable my second paragraph would've been for me to feel, much less write, a mere 6.5 months ago. I used to see people jogging on a Saturday morning, and wonder, "How do they DO that? And what, they never drink on Fridays?? What a boring life!" How twisted is that????!! (Hint: Pretty twisted.)
Every non-drinking day I had during the week, was just passing time waiting for Friday so I could drink again (and internally, it was like this was happening in my head: "Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry Up! Are we there yet? How about now? Is it Friday now???!"). Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the only days that counted. I wasn't living, I was just either waiting to drink (while recovering from a 3 day hangover), or drinking. Those were my two modes of operation. Oh - I tried moderation too - which was like hell on earth, in my opinion. That just amped up the "waiting" aspect - making it more acute and painful, say between beers, or until a certain time of day. What torture. It's so much easier to be completely abstinent.
But today, I'm anticipating going out for a nice dinner with the hubby. I'm actually excited about that. I'm excited that maybe afterward we'll watch a cool movie at home, without having to worry about going to bed early to get up for work. I'm taking a lot of pleasure in the notion that come the end of my Friday work day, my time will be mine. Simply mine. To do anything or nothing. But drinking has no part in the thought process anymore.
I cannot express how unthinkable my second paragraph would've been for me to feel, much less write, a mere 6.5 months ago. I used to see people jogging on a Saturday morning, and wonder, "How do they DO that? And what, they never drink on Fridays?? What a boring life!" How twisted is that????!! (Hint: Pretty twisted.)
Every non-drinking day I had during the week, was just passing time waiting for Friday so I could drink again (and internally, it was like this was happening in my head: "Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry Up! Are we there yet? How about now? Is it Friday now???!"). Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the only days that counted. I wasn't living, I was just either waiting to drink (while recovering from a 3 day hangover), or drinking. Those were my two modes of operation. Oh - I tried moderation too - which was like hell on earth, in my opinion. That just amped up the "waiting" aspect - making it more acute and painful, say between beers, or until a certain time of day. What torture. It's so much easier to be completely abstinent.
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Ireland
Posts: 25,826
Great Job on 6 and a half months!! 
I always used to envy those people running on a Sat/Sun evening, those going to grab a newspaper, sitting in coffee shop watching the world go by, people going to church on a Sunday, hitting the gym, watching the sunrise, even having a lie in and waking up fresh before midday, living life to the full . . . whilst I'd be wasting life with yet another hangover . . . and people say Sobriety is boring?!!
I always used to envy those people running on a Sat/Sun evening, those going to grab a newspaper, sitting in coffee shop watching the world go by, people going to church on a Sunday, hitting the gym, watching the sunrise, even having a lie in and waking up fresh before midday, living life to the full . . . whilst I'd be wasting life with yet another hangover . . . and people say Sobriety is boring?!!
Just a Sober ******* Now
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: S.IN
Posts: 150
I can remember arguing with our HR department a few years back that they couldn't control whether or not a person had alcohol in their vehicle on company property. I mean, what did they expect me to do on Friday nights... Drive the liquor store on the corner for my first beer?
Definitely don't miss packing a cooler on lunch just so I could have a cold one soon as I pulled out of the parking lot. I rationalized it as, "an alcoholic would drink the beer hot, whereas I had iced beer." After sobering up and asking around, it was very rare that normal people did this... LOL
Friday's are now focused on getting home to let the dogs out to play, going to a speaker meeting, and hitting up volleyball (AA friends) after that. Even on date nights, we usually stop by volleyball on our way home just to say hi.
Definitely don't miss packing a cooler on lunch just so I could have a cold one soon as I pulled out of the parking lot. I rationalized it as, "an alcoholic would drink the beer hot, whereas I had iced beer." After sobering up and asking around, it was very rare that normal people did this... LOL
Friday's are now focused on getting home to let the dogs out to play, going to a speaker meeting, and hitting up volleyball (AA friends) after that. Even on date nights, we usually stop by volleyball on our way home just to say hi.
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