About long term sobriety
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 291
About long term sobriety
i'm wondering if anyone here can answer this for me, objectively as possible and without exagerration.....
Aside from the obvious benefits - that is, no blackouts, no hangovers, no liver damage, no embarrasing drunken behavior, etc---
have you experienced and or do you believe that long term sobriety produces a quality of life that is 'on a higher plane' for lack of a more insightful term.
Just contemplating and curious -- appreciate any and all feedback
thanks.
Aside from the obvious benefits - that is, no blackouts, no hangovers, no liver damage, no embarrasing drunken behavior, etc---
have you experienced and or do you believe that long term sobriety produces a quality of life that is 'on a higher plane' for lack of a more insightful term.
Just contemplating and curious -- appreciate any and all feedback
thanks.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Gatineau, QC, CA
Posts: 5,100
Nothing out of the ordinary happened since I got sober, other than a slow down in time lapse. To me that equals to longevity, because life doesn't go by without a chance to see it pass. 20 years went like a flash when I was drinking.
Hard to explain...
Hard to explain...
That bell or bike person
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: london
Posts: 4,978
As time goes on i think i make better decisions sober than i did in a drunken frantic life . Flapping and tangled like a netted fish .
With being moderate and regular in my habits life seems to pay dividends .
In my drunken days i'd read tons of self help books and nearly every religeous book to try and find answers to questions that had been given to me by my society .
A lot more made sence and has fallen into place after a decent amount of sobriety .
A higher plane seems to me to be a bit of a term loaded with spiritual connotations , i'm not sure that i have that but certainly life is a richer, less washed out experience and i feel more in tune with the world around me .
I'm about 3 1/2 years into my new life
m
With being moderate and regular in my habits life seems to pay dividends .
In my drunken days i'd read tons of self help books and nearly every religeous book to try and find answers to questions that had been given to me by my society .
A lot more made sence and has fallen into place after a decent amount of sobriety .
A higher plane seems to me to be a bit of a term loaded with spiritual connotations , i'm not sure that i have that but certainly life is a richer, less washed out experience and i feel more in tune with the world around me .
I'm about 3 1/2 years into my new life
m
Do your best
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 67,047
Life is definatly on a 'higher plane' i have no shame today i have my self respect bk ive regained trust from the ppl i care about
The way i see it, it is a second chance at life and at 32 im not risking that ever again, there are hard days but thier nothing compared to my dark days drinking
I completed 2 college courses something that would never have happened if i was drinking
I got bk into reading sounds small but its the small things that make a big diffrence
There was a time i didnt think id make 30 the way i was living
Decorating the entire house making it real nice taking time but so worth it
I dont know if 19 months can be considered long term but yes at 19 months i have a much better quality of life
Had to work at it and i still do today
The way i see it, it is a second chance at life and at 32 im not risking that ever again, there are hard days but thier nothing compared to my dark days drinking
I completed 2 college courses something that would never have happened if i was drinking
I got bk into reading sounds small but its the small things that make a big diffrence
There was a time i didnt think id make 30 the way i was living
Decorating the entire house making it real nice taking time but so worth it
I dont know if 19 months can be considered long term but yes at 19 months i have a much better quality of life
Had to work at it and i still do today
Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Athens, Georgia
Posts: 962
Hello trish,
Based on my experience and observations, the prospect of living long term with drunken blackouts, liver damage leading to liver failure, drunken behavior that is out of control enough to cause embarrassing behavior, is as 'opposite' as I would like to consider 'living life on a Higher Plane'.
Also in my experience, just staying sober is better than the scenario above, however I have had the MIRACLE of my life being radically changed by working the 12 Steps of AA. Now, by actively continuing to live and practice the Daily Steps of the Proram (Steps 10,11,12) I am experiencing a Spiritual state of being that I didn't previously have. (Even though I read and believe in the Bible, which I still do).
The Steps have led me to see the absolute Selfish state I lived in and believed was complete reality for me. I see that 'Old Flesh Self' within me, and even still clearly recognize it when meditating. I pray for God to help remove the old behaviors and mindset of Self-Will-Run-Riot. I am now in touch with that in me which is separate from the 'Flesh Self' (which is inherent in Human Nature), and I now can experience the Spiritual Nature within me that is ALSO inherent in Human Nature.
So, ABSOLUTELY, being Sober...when coupled with a Daily Focus to recognize and be FREE from that Self-Will-Run-Riot... is Living Life on a Higher Plane.
Thanks,
RDBplus3...Happy, Sober, and FREE.
Based on my experience and observations, the prospect of living long term with drunken blackouts, liver damage leading to liver failure, drunken behavior that is out of control enough to cause embarrassing behavior, is as 'opposite' as I would like to consider 'living life on a Higher Plane'.
Also in my experience, just staying sober is better than the scenario above, however I have had the MIRACLE of my life being radically changed by working the 12 Steps of AA. Now, by actively continuing to live and practice the Daily Steps of the Proram (Steps 10,11,12) I am experiencing a Spiritual state of being that I didn't previously have. (Even though I read and believe in the Bible, which I still do).
The Steps have led me to see the absolute Selfish state I lived in and believed was complete reality for me. I see that 'Old Flesh Self' within me, and even still clearly recognize it when meditating. I pray for God to help remove the old behaviors and mindset of Self-Will-Run-Riot. I am now in touch with that in me which is separate from the 'Flesh Self' (which is inherent in Human Nature), and I now can experience the Spiritual Nature within me that is ALSO inherent in Human Nature.
So, ABSOLUTELY, being Sober...when coupled with a Daily Focus to recognize and be FREE from that Self-Will-Run-Riot... is Living Life on a Higher Plane.
Thanks,
RDBplus3...Happy, Sober, and FREE.
voices ca**y
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: St. Paul Minnesota
Posts: 4,359
Absolutely yes! I don't even consider those the consequences of drinking anymore. It changed who I was as a person and not in a good way. It did something to me that I was always anxious and afraid. I had this constant dread like something was chasing me. I told one of my SR buddies that I felt like the plates of the earth were shifting my worldview back to center. That started to happen right about 4 months and continued for another year.
For me it was like being stuck in a very scary alternate reality. One where everyone was out to get me especially me. It happened so gradually I didn't even know I was being changed.
For me it was like being stuck in a very scary alternate reality. One where everyone was out to get me especially me. It happened so gradually I didn't even know I was being changed.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,441
Hi Trish
If on a higher plane you mean spiritually, I definitely think about more than just this plane of existence now.
I'm also striving to reach my potential as a human being.
I could never do either in my former life
D
If on a higher plane you mean spiritually, I definitely think about more than just this plane of existence now.
I'm also striving to reach my potential as a human being.
I could never do either in my former life
D
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Georgia
Posts: 3,062
I don't hesitate in my decision-making like I used to when I was drinking. I feel more confident in my professional life; my clinical and my teaching abilities and skills are better and sharper....and certainly more effective. My ability to be present has DRASTICALLY improved. I notice more. I care more. My mental health has improved; I take far less medication and I suspect I shall live longer for that reason as well as I want to live now....I didn't when I was actively drinking.
Sober Alcoholic
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,539
Originally Posted by 439trish 
Aside from the obvious benefits - that is, no blackouts, no hangovers, no liver damage, no embarrasing drunken behavior, etc--- have you experienced and or do you believe that long term sobriety produces a quality of life that is 'on a higher plane' for lack of a more insightful term.
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,504
Originally Posted by soberwolf
I got bk into reading sounds small but its the small things that make a big diffrence
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 12,000
I didn't read the responses because I just wanted to shoot an answer off the cuff without being influenced by other opinions.
The answer is NO. And without getting all philosophical about it I'll just give an analogy that I believe fits my thoughts on this.
If a leaking tank of water continues to leak until it is almost empty and the leak is stopped, the tank will be almost empty for as long as nothing is done to replenish the volume. By just stopping the leak, the water will remain at the same level.
Just stopping drinking only removes alcohol from the equation. It will be easier to achieve and maintain a higher level of living without it. And also by default, things will improve with not so much effort - stop taking the poison and your body recovers. However, it doesn't turn into an olympic athlete by itself. It takes lots of training. Same thing applies to the mind. Sobriety allows this to happen, it is not necessarily a byproduct of it. Make sense?
The answer is NO. And without getting all philosophical about it I'll just give an analogy that I believe fits my thoughts on this.
If a leaking tank of water continues to leak until it is almost empty and the leak is stopped, the tank will be almost empty for as long as nothing is done to replenish the volume. By just stopping the leak, the water will remain at the same level.
Just stopping drinking only removes alcohol from the equation. It will be easier to achieve and maintain a higher level of living without it. And also by default, things will improve with not so much effort - stop taking the poison and your body recovers. However, it doesn't turn into an olympic athlete by itself. It takes lots of training. Same thing applies to the mind. Sobriety allows this to happen, it is not necessarily a byproduct of it. Make sense?
p***enger
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NYC
Posts: 19,042
I don't have very longterm sobriety -- a little more than a year -- but my current quality of life is incredibly better than when I was drinking. It's not freedom from hangover -- lately I have as much physical pain now and when I was drinking -- or behavior or blackouts -- it's the sense that a life I thought I threw away is possible again, not easy, not unlimited, but not out of the question. Drinking distorted my decision-making and interactions with others in very bad ways, and living without those distortions is very very different and better.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 291
think i will accept the collective response as a yes....
And awuh--very succinctly made the point that with sobriety that 'higher place of living' is achievable
where as with drinking, there is only the temporary false sense of well being , (fleeting as it is)
i am day 28 -- feel like i have been around the world 9 times in these four weeks, but something is happening to me, something subtle, but really really good....
Hope it continues and hope i can find ways to nurture it...
Thank you all for being here...trish
And awuh--very succinctly made the point that with sobriety that 'higher place of living' is achievable
where as with drinking, there is only the temporary false sense of well being , (fleeting as it is)
i am day 28 -- feel like i have been around the world 9 times in these four weeks, but something is happening to me, something subtle, but really really good....
Hope it continues and hope i can find ways to nurture it...
Thank you all for being here...trish
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: canada
Posts: 748
I don't think I qualify as long-term sobriety but already I've re-engaged with life. I've got back into reading, studying languages and am doing refresher maths courses with an eye on returning to university as an adult learner to complete my degree. I am no longer plagued with anxiety, and I my self confidence is building. I am starting to believe I have a lot of potential to grow as a person and advance in my career. For me the higher plane is the outlook, perceptions and self beliefs that have changed with my sobriety work.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
I also only have a little over a year, but to me, it's like Maslow's Pyramid. Long-term sobriety restores / stabilizes our most basic needs, and then we can construct a more solid and taller building on that new base.
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