Please help remind me ...
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Canada
Posts: 691
Originally Posted by Solarion 
Something I just figured out is that the the benefits of sobriety are subtle, and a lot of them are negative benefits in the sense of certain things and conditions NOT happening, as opposed to the immediate and noticeable effects of the other.
Change your thinking, change your life.
Look for Positives in everything.
"The Benefits of Sobriety are immediate and noticeable!" - you have no headaches, no hangovers, no guilt, more sleep, eating better...etc...
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 9,029
I'm with flynby. I felt physically better when I quit but I'm still learning and growing and it's been since December 2013 since I drank.
There are immediate benefits but I had to look for them. Running to the store at 9 p.m. would have been out of the question before. Now I have no worries.
Hang in there. Do you have a gratitude list in addition to what you journal? It's a positive reminder of what you have.
There are immediate benefits but I had to look for them. Running to the store at 9 p.m. would have been out of the question before. Now I have no worries.
Hang in there. Do you have a gratitude list in addition to what you journal? It's a positive reminder of what you have.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 959
Originally Posted by Nonsensical
Write down the 5 worst things that will happen to you as a direct result of not drinking. I find it to be a useful mental exercise. 
Stuck on item #1, of course.
Do your best
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 67,047
Sobriety is a million times better than being drunk dont let your AV confuse things
Breakfast with no hangover no guilt shame etc thats a few off the top
Keep reaching out Sol sobriety gets better drinking gets worse
There is no comparison
Breakfast with no hangover no guilt shame etc thats a few off the top
Keep reaching out Sol sobriety gets better drinking gets worse
There is no comparison
Guest
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: The Deep South
Posts: 14,636
Excellent thread
The changes are subtle at first, yes, and then a year or two into it there's this amazing epiphany that you've changed your life around. Stick with it even when it's tough and you feel it's just a miserable grind at times. It's going to eventually pay off.
This thread was a most excellent read, thanks to all who contributed. Great reminders, and especially about kindling and having to start over. I wouldn't ever want to go back to the starting point.
The changes are subtle at first, yes, and then a year or two into it there's this amazing epiphany that you've changed your life around. Stick with it even when it's tough and you feel it's just a miserable grind at times. It's going to eventually pay off.
This thread was a most excellent read, thanks to all who contributed. Great reminders, and especially about kindling and having to start over. I wouldn't ever want to go back to the starting point.
Hears The Voice
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Unshackled
Posts: 7,901
Originally Posted by Solarion
Stuck on item #1, of course.
I think it's a great exercise to get the head on right. I never think I should drink, but I sometimes feel like drinking. That feeling has been powerful and overwhelming at times. It has made me anxious and feeling like if I don't get a drink something horrible could happen. It sometimes feels like I'm about to panic. OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod...
So one day I decided I should make a list - the 5 worst things that could happen if I don't drink. For me this simple exercise exposes that anxiety and sense of impending doom for what it is - irrational and absurd. It always calms me down. Allows my thinking to override my feeling.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 207
I like this thread. I'm in the same boat where I'm having a hard time remembering why I'm staying sober (day 80 as of today) when I could really use a "break" from life and use alcohol as an escape. I've been wondering why bother - don't I "deserve" a treat? So reading all of this reminded me of the things I forgot; why I fought so hard to stop drinking.
Somehow I forgot about how my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest just from walking the next morning. Or how my blood pressure was sky high. How my heart would randomly beat out of control. How I couldn't concentrate, how puffy my face was. I just looked sick all the time. And I FELT sick all the time. How is it that I'm romanticizing the drink and forgetting the reality?
Thank you for posting this. It helped a lot.
Somehow I forgot about how my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest just from walking the next morning. Or how my blood pressure was sky high. How my heart would randomly beat out of control. How I couldn't concentrate, how puffy my face was. I just looked sick all the time. And I FELT sick all the time. How is it that I'm romanticizing the drink and forgetting the reality?
Thank you for posting this. It helped a lot.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,087
Ohhh, I think I can help here. I recently tried the whole sober thing again, got a few days in, then picked up the bottle again and have been drinking ever since. I'm at a little more than 1L of whiskey per-day.
Trust me, you don't want to be in my shoes. I'm so absolutely livid right now, that I don't think the English vocabulary has the necessary words to describe how I feel. It sucks in every possible way imaginable.
Trust me, it's wise to keep the bottle away from you. Drinking has to be one of the most moronic things you could ever do. There's simply no rational reason for it whatsoever. It makes you look & feel like complete s*it, it destroys your soul, and not only steals everything in life you care about, but leaves with virtually no chance of a good future (if you continue drinking).
I'll give the whole sober thing another college try starting tomorrow, which is when I get to buy myself a new bicycle. I was going to buy one today, but then I realized after paying bills and buying groceries, I don't have any money. 
I'll transfer some into my account tonight, but I have to wait for the people in Canada to wake up to do that.
Trust me, you don't want to be in my shoes. I'm so absolutely livid right now, that I don't think the English vocabulary has the necessary words to describe how I feel. It sucks in every possible way imaginable.
Trust me, it's wise to keep the bottle away from you. Drinking has to be one of the most moronic things you could ever do. There's simply no rational reason for it whatsoever. It makes you look & feel like complete s*it, it destroys your soul, and not only steals everything in life you care about, but leaves with virtually no chance of a good future (if you continue drinking).
I'll give the whole sober thing another college try starting tomorrow, which is when I get to buy myself a new bicycle.
I was going to buy one today, but then I realized after paying bills and buying groceries, I don't have any money. I'll transfer some into my account tonight, but I have to wait for the people in Canada to wake up to do that.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Midwest USA
Posts: 630
I love this thread too!
Thanks for starting Solarion!
We all need reminders of WHY we are doing this.....
The combined wisdom of the people here is outstanding.
I quit one other time a few years back without the forum.
Didn't know about kindling, THOUGHT I could moderate......etc. Well you can guess how that ended.....
So much better informed this time! Thanks everyone!
Thanks for starting Solarion!
We all need reminders of WHY we are doing this.....
The combined wisdom of the people here is outstanding.
I quit one other time a few years back without the forum.
Didn't know about kindling, THOUGHT I could moderate......etc. Well you can guess how that ended.....
So much better informed this time! Thanks everyone!
Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 1,501
Originally Posted by Serenidad
Here's my list...I hope it helps!
Vomiting, bed spins, hangovers, headaches, tears, suicidal thoughts, panic, anxiety, depression, weight gain, nausea, night sweats, expensive bar bills, cops, being kicked out of bars, black outs, shame, guilt, feeling like a horrible mom, horrible wife, horrible friend, lonely, no future, wasted days & nights, self-hatred, poor health...the list goes on and on and on. :-( Alcohol is evil poison!
Vomiting, bed spins, hangovers, headaches, tears, suicidal thoughts, panic, anxiety, depression, weight gain, nausea, night sweats, expensive bar bills, cops, being kicked out of bars, black outs, shame, guilt, feeling like a horrible mom, horrible wife, horrible friend, lonely, no future, wasted days & nights, self-hatred, poor health...the list goes on and on and on. :-( Alcohol is evil poison!
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