What kept you sober?
 

Hi all,

Just wondering what motivation you had to keep you sober. How did you deal with the sleepless nights? (I find it difficult to get to sleep). What relaxing activities helped you out? I find the urge to drink very strong when I get home from a busy day.

My motivation started of as not wanting to die. That fear based stuff never lasts for long tho.

I guess my motivation now is not to lose the great life I've built up. I really do love it :)

you'll find some good answers to a very similar question here too timeforchange :)

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...g-forward.html

D

I was in a lot of fear about the consequences, the pay off was no longer worth it. I felt crazy at first. I had so much free time it was crazy making. I did therapy and Tai chi, and a lot of Hiking and working and took a music class. It was difficult growing out of friendshis and old routines but over time they become habits. I now take really good care of myself and it feels like second nature, when I drink or smoke it's easier to get back on track

I thought i was a harmless drunk ,

One day i realised i was being short with people i loved because they were using up time in which i wanted to be getting drunk .

I didn't want to be that man , i wanted to be sober , loveable , happy .. Alcohol made me irascible , smelly , selfish .

It also gave me blood pressure of 190/120 and although that should have stopped any sane person instantly, i carried on until i realised i no longer wanted to drink because of the above .

Take care , keep on :You_Rock_

m

Hi timeforchange,

How long have you bedn sober?

Im 5 months 1 week in.

This is what helped me:

Im motivated to stay sober as I want to be a healthy, happy dad and Partner. Plus I dont want to feel and look sick from alcohol. Its a poison and being sober is natural.

I had sleep problems which are pretty much gone now went within fiest 3 months.

Sleep routine (can be called sleep hygiene) my doctor advised me to aum to get head down and rise at as close to the same time every night. If you cant get to sleep try straight away make sure you get up at the same time. And dont nap during say that way you are tired at night. Turn off all tvs phones etc at least an hoyr before bed read a good book. The herb valerian helps as does chamomile tea.

Also have alook at the stress in your life that is a trigger for relapse if your strung out. I drank for stress at the end of the say.

Yep, me too. My health as improved dramatically, and now i am enjoying my life without the constant battle to stay drunk.

The sleep patterns do get better with time TFC. Hang in there!

That's a complex question and I suspect you'll get a wide variety of answers.

In my case I was tired of losing things that I wanted. My self-respect was gone and my wife let me know that my family was next if I didn't clean up my act. That got me started.

Once I got my first taste of freedom from alcohol,though, it was a different story. Freedom, as in that obsession (that hits you at the end of a work day) to drink was gone. I'm never going back. I never knew I was a slave until I was free.

In the end I hated how unhappy alcohol made me. I love how much easier the daily challenges are to deal with now. That in itself is enough to keep me sober. They are hundreds of other positive reasons that I don't want to drink.

Hi.
For me it was a bunch of things/incidents. Like the blackouts which were almost daily, the obsession with drinking, being tired of being sick and tired, some physical signs of not good thing happening, shame, and remembering all the promises I made to MYSELF.
I started to believe the speakers at AA meetings about their experiences, strength and hope and wanted to enjoy a day without alcohol in my system directing me to have more.
It’s been a lot of years now and I haven’t missed one moment of the misery I had for too long drinking period.

BE WELL

Quite a few things kept me fighting the mental obsession.
Knowing alcohol was the common denominator in all my problems and never helped anything.
Knowing it ( or myself) was going to kill me.
Seeing others had gotten sober and were quite happy,joyous, and free and wanting to be there.
But in all honesty I think the major motivation was the want- I wanted out for the existence I was living. I wanted a new life. I wanted to stop feeling the way I felt about myself. I wanted freedom from the bondage of alcohol.
Many,many sleepless nights for a while for me. Some nights I read. Some nights I too a walk. Some nights I watched tv. In short, I accepted there would be sleepless nights.
I had many things I did to keep me busy while I was also working on finding causes and conditions for my drinking and fixing them. Pretty uh whatever was iun front of me to do is what I did.

My primary problem with drinking was not feeling well the next day. I want to wake up feeling good every day, but if I drink the night before, that won't happen.

My motivation to keep sober is I have come to really cherish lucid contact with love ones and (new) friends. Also, I see daily reminders of those who drink and behaviors I just don't want to be part of my spirit any longer - just the bewilderment and puffiness of drinking..........

I have new sleep patterns at this point. I fall asleep as opposed to pass out and wake up as opposed to regain consciousness. Early on, my brain raced as I tried to sleep. I find it needs focus - reading helped give me something to concentrate on while I became drowsy. Read my old posts, that will put you to sleep as well............

A 10 minute run on the thread mill - or some other energy burning activity helped me as well.

Thanks for the post!
Keep suiting up and showing up ;)

My motivation to get sober was medical. While I know my health will fail should I drink, I find joy in the simple everyday pleasures I have in my life because I am sober. I don't have the panic, anxiety, sadness,and sickness that I had to deal with e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y!

The reason i stopped drinking was my sanity and the fact my body couldnt take anymore i ripped the lining of my stomach due to drink
My husband keeps reminding me not to drink my husband dont drink at all in fact he is against drinking he said everyone would be better of if it was banned he has a point no drunks fighting after been out drinking and other things that go on because of drink.
police would have more times to solve crime without having to deal with drunks

The last time I drank, I had to battle through the cravings all over again for ~2 weeks. Getting sober is tough. I knew if I drank I'd just be repeating the entire process, which takes a lot of time, tiredness, and battling AV. I don't want to have to go through that process ever again. It's just not worth risking a drink.

Also, everyone tells you that sobriety gets better the more sober time you accumulate, which is true. Witnessing this has been something I have wanted to see for myself.

My wife has said she will leave for good and take my kid the next time a drink passes my lips.....that's all I need right there, wont let my kid be brought up in a broken home when I just need to do one really simple thing to stop it happening. Makes my decision crystal clear.

Lifting weights.....Pure and simple....If I miss a gym session now I feel terrible until I get back in the gym.

Keeping a perspective that alcohol was not going to end well, it was only creating me misery.

But keeping that perspective, took support, other people and resources like SR to achieve it!! :)

Realization that I damaged relationships with people who love me. A scary revelation that I was so deep in my addiction, loss of job, very close to being homeless, driving drunk (the scariest of all), where I was very close to the certainty of killing an innocent family by abusing the privilege of driving where I had no business of doing in that state.
Also, a daily walk/prayer with God (my Higher Power)