Weasel1966

My holiday obligations, or at least the work kind, are done for this year. While sitting in a bustling bar with sports on every TV and a drink in every hand I spoke over it all answering questions about my sobriety to my coworkers. A fun bunch by any measure I was happy to be there with them. It was their curiosity that struck me.

Had they never seen someone not drink? Had they ever not drank? It began to dawn on me that all the work and effort I have put into forging a new sober way of life left behind more than I first could have imagined.

It's hard to know one's motives behind the inquiries, but in the few days after our get together and after hearing stories of what happened at the second bar they traveled to I started to realize why, perhaps, they asked so many questions.

They could not grasp the I could be contented without alcohol in my life. Conversations not appropriate at work led me to believe that more people I work with have alcohol issues that skim the surface of their lives.

That skimming process... That way in which alcohol is used... It removed the contentment from my days. It acts like a sieve to the joys I see in nearly everything I once saw much darker.

I guess my long winded point here is others are seeing in me something that wasn't there before. A calmness and confidence that comes from leaving the constant guilt behind. Just like I could not detect how far I sank I guess I wasn't seeing how far I have risen.

SR is the reason I can say that. It's a concentrated place of learning. It infused me with an understanding that otherwise could have taken much much longer to realize. So thanks!

K

trachemys

^5 weas

Thepatman

I could just sit and read your posts all day, so much wisdom into them.

strategery

Your thread really spoke to me this morning Weasel. Thank you so much for sharing!!

I thought I would add in an experience I had 2 weeks ago. We went to a NFL game. There was a guy sitting next to us drinking beers most of the game and he just looked absolutely miserable, which just made me sad for him. I wanted to shake him and say that life didn't have to be that way and that life is so much better without the alcohol.

happyandfree

Thanks Weasel....yes, life can be good. I was never content when I was drinking and I certainly wasn't happy. I also thank all the wonderful people here on SR who helped me see the light.

determined99

Not seeing how far we have risen. Love it! Great post.

Mac1

Weasel thanks for a tremendous post. Wow! So full of hope and optimism.

SoberLeigh

^^^^^

This, especially this.

Great post, Wease.

pupkin

Great post, Weasel. Thanks and congrats. I liked the way you compared alcohol to a sieve--I used to think it was a bowl but it isn't On into a new contended year!

Lusher

Hey Weasel- A big thanks for the post. Your post caused me to ponder a bit on my former <drunk> life; one that I am happy that I was able to change.


Lusher

Soberwolf

Weasel exellent post

MythOfSisyphus

Well said, Ken! There's a deeper peace and contentment in sobriety than I could have ever dreamed of as a drunk.

pumpkinny

Thank you Weasel. So good to read your post. Your confidence comes through. It's posts like this that makes my commitment strong.

Tang

Great post. I work with a bunch of drunks. I always read here people don't care or notice if you're not drinking. Not my experience! I get interrogated by people I work with. "How long? But don't you feel like you're missing something? You can't be sober in this industry. Impossible to not drink working here.". The look I sometimes get is as if I've just told people I'm dying. While I know a number of folks here have had much more positive responses from their I'm not drinking announcements, not the case for me.

Nonsensical

If you express yourself half as well in person as you do in your writing I think people will naturally be drawn to you. Authentic people, at least. Authentic people enjoy the company of the comfortably confident. Not someone who does everything right, but someone who is alright with everything.

Hawkeye13

Very wise insight Ken--I think so many people have no real idea how insidious alcohol is and has been not only in their lives but those with whom they associate--for their entire lives.

They grew up with it in the adults around it, experimented with it at a young age, embraced it as young adults, and "manage" it for the rest of their lives with varying degrees of success.

Obviously, those of us on here had less success in the management aspect, but so many people I know seem to drink instead of live conscious and alert in their own lives.

What is up with that?


So much