Weasel1966

We all chop wood. We all carry water. In its most simplest form we all do.

But we don't live in a world with notions that big that can sustain us. We all must look at things more closely.

If you are not happy with the wood you chop, stop chopping and carve. Create something from that block.

If you only carry the water to cook or bath yourself then perhaps carry water for someone else who cannot carry their own. Teach them to cook with it. Make sure they bath.

I chop and carry for many reasons other than the bare necessities. Yes we all do the same things and in our sameness we find our differences. Thats what I find beautiful about SR. I am here with people around the globe and to my surprise when I first got here we are very much the same. We drink and that has destroyed much. But in that I have learned so much from our differences as well.

K

Marcher13

Finding the joy in chopping the wood and carrying the water is what worked for me and, believe me Bmac, there is a lot of joy in doing that.

You said Do you mean happiness or do you mean a high? Those are quite different things.

Daily happiness is what we find inside our (sober) selves. The saying to "stop and smell the roses" is true, just as happiness coming from within ourselves is true.

I can chop wood with a blunt axe and a distracted mind and know nothing but frustration or I can oil my axe, focus on the log below me and watch the blade slice through years of forest growth, release untold scents, prepare it to dry out for a season, then burn it for winter warmth. I can chop wood just to watch the splinters fly, I can chop wood simply because it's good honest work.

But most of all, I CAN chop wood. I can't chop wood when I'm drunk.

I can also carry water because I have a vessel to carry it in, I have the water available at the source, I can take it wherever I need it and slake my thirst. Which I could never do before.

Did I climb out the other side? You betcha.

I can chop wood and carry water, the forest didn't die and the river didn't dry up.

ArtFriend

Bmac - You are the same person you were before you drank. So now that you are sober, you're facing those same existential questions as before. Drinking did not solve them... just covered them up.

Joy in one's life. What we all seek and it is highly personal. Finding meaning did it for me. When I was drinking, I couldn't care less about anything. Someone asked me my philosophy at that time and I just said I am just taking up space and waiting to die.

How to find meaning? Again... highly personal. Religion? Philosophy? Family? Work? I dunno what works for you. I hope you find it tho. Feeling you just exist is miserable.

Kevin78

BMac, I totally understand, that is where I am at just now after 2 months. Boredom takes over and then I go back to square one. I need to think about what I want to get out of this now as well as sobriety.

Yankee73

That's me in a nutshell, too!

Recently, I reached out to a few new people, hoping to make new friendships... they came into my life like a tornado and threatened my peace, so they got the boot... that brief amount of chaos showed me that new, exciting & different can also be synonymous with drama, instability & imbalance...

This week, now that the dust has settled and I re-inforced my castle, I am quite content to "chop wood, carry water"...

Nowsthetime

Make the changes. Make it happen. Live in the now, always. Enjoy the little things. Think of others who have it worse.

For me everyday alive is a good day.

MythOfSisyphus

Well said. Drinking doesn't allow you to address those existential issues, it just allows you to kick the can down the road. Eventually we all run out of road.