SoberFreckles

Sometimes, getting sober feels like getting to know a whole new me, who turns out to be incredibly capable and not a total loser after all!

Although I am still a work in progress, like most of us humans, I am proud to discover that if I trust myself, I can find a way through life's challenges without any help at all from bourbon or rum. I can survive, and I can grow. Alcohol keeps you in a tiny cage, stunted and unable to grow as a person, and I never realised that before.

I also turn out to be pretty fearless. I am soon to give a talk to 90 strangers, that I actually volunteered for. I am nervous, but also excited to see what I can do. In fact, doing things I am a bit afraid of gives me a huge buzz, even if I turn out to suck at them. In pre-sober days, I would have spent weeks crying, thinking of quitting my job to get out of it. Drinking. A LOT. Ha! I also could not contemplate allowing myself to fail at anything back then. I hated myself enough already - I didn't need to discover something else I couldn't do. So I took no risks. Kept myself locked up in that miserable, tiny but familiar cage.

I kinda love SoberFreckles, and I was just wondering if anyone else had been pleasantly surprised to discover once they got sober that they are not the person they thought they were at all?

Littlebear

Hya sober freckles (love your name). I'm in a coffee shop with only a few minutes before I need to rush back to work...but just wanted to say your post made me smile - warmly. Its so vital to learn to like and even love yourself. Specially on route to letting your potential gradually reveal itself to you. Sounds like this is what is happening to you. How lovely. I am not sober long enough to offer much of my own experience - had about 87/88 days sober my first try then of late a glass of wine here and there and now back to sobriety. Others on the forum likely will offer more...

Just wanted you to know you brightened up my little coffee break. Keep uncovering the you that will have remained hidden while drinking. LB

Nonsensical

BOOM!

I never knew I was a slave until I was free.

I don't know if I'm not the person I thought I was, but I definitely became the person I wanted to be. In other words, for me it was more like I could see who I wanted to be, and I knew I could be, but I just never seemed to be. I could see that guy, and it frustrated me that I wasn't him. Then I started living a sober life. Now I am him.

What a great post to start my Thursday!

Mountainmanbob

Surprise that not once in 7 years have I had the desire to drink. Seems that the thought to deceive myself yet again has been removed. Credit given to my Higher Power.
Mountainmanbob

HeadLump

The sober HeadLump is far, far more spiritual than the alcoholic one. She is more compassionate to herself and to others and she loves nature even more than before.

She is far less judgemental too - even about herself

Mr HeadLump says she sparkles!

Great thread, SoberFreckles

kk1k5x

Very good post! My story from a few years back. Struggling with booze, when I quit cold turkey, I felt I wanted to write something. Searched online, found one local website that had the opportunity, wrote my piece and didn't think anything of it. Then - two weeks later, I got an email from those running the site, saying I won a giftcard to a bookshop because my article was voted best of the week This spurred a period of writing 260 articles in 8 months or so, with many more gifts and since they couldn't pay money, they'd give you credits, I exchanged them for newspaper subscriptions and 40 articles = flatscreen TV! Hehe, I wrote myself five TVs. Kept only one of course. Even though it was more than 2 years ago already and I've struggled a lot with alcohol during this time. Whenever I look at my TV, I think back and I see the person that got a grip, did what he liked and got rewarded for it. Never knew whether I stayed sober because I wrote or I wrote because I was sober. Both stopped at about the same time. But this experience helped me immensely when I got my job.
Once again, thanks for the opening post, I really liked it!

N3p3nth3

Sober me discovered that I'm a much happier and less anxious person than I thought I was. I started drinking regularly about 15 years ago to take the edge off and blunt certain feelings. But now that I'm sober, it seems that those underlying issues had resolved over the past decade more than I realized. Whatever anxiety was still in my life was much more due to alcohol itself than I would ever have realized. Ironic that the thing I started to reduce anxiety became the primary driver of it!

tokidoki

Great post SoberFreckles! (Your name makes me giggle- love it) So glad you now like yourself. I'm beginning to like Toki too.

least

The biggest and best change is that I no longer hate myself.

Spacegoat

It's a good question. Even though I had been trying to 'quit' for a long time by cutting down, tapering off every now and again and so forth (my alcoholic act was literally exhausting)

One of the first things I was surprised by was the question of "hey, I'm actually not that person at all, or am I!" I was quite confused by that for a while actually, as to which was which.


There was a thread alluding to similar around the same time, so rather than posting I read that. 'Unpredictable, invinceable, untameable, individual, uncontrollable' - Yeah, not quite


Personally and privately I think my ex girlfriend has a lot to answer for that. She used to call me a 'psycho' (and a loser) consistently when I was basically quite depressed and a bit sad.

I got sick of this after a while and decided I would show her just how much of a 'psycho' I could be. I had no reference for this of course, so I downloaded an album called 'Psycho Realm'

resolute50

I think I'm a genius.
Never thunk that before.

Sense of humor intact.

Marcher13

The biggest surprise I've had is that I am actually a lot calmer and much more serene than I've ever imagined. Like my friend HeadLump I'm also way less judgemental about others and myself. Both of those things have been a surprise.

Calitano

The biggest surpass is that sober me *from here on to be known simply as me* is kinder and more compassionate. With myself and others.

Debbie329

What do I like about my sober self? Well I look better......I feel more peaceful and I take my medications.....and I eat healthier ....I'm definetly more serene .....I think I'm happier I've been grooming myself more. My toe nails and my finger nails are done as is my hair and I went shopping more.

Soberpotamus

Stellar post, SoberFreckles

Hmm... I am much more comfortable with being uncomfortable

I am brave, determined, smart, and I can now trust me I even like me.

Great thread!

exwell66

what I love about being sober is not having to tell people I have the flu or a cold or allergies.....because I look like sh..t...people catch on

GroundhogDay

I can now do what I need to do without expecting a reward.

gettingsmarter

I've been surprised at how I actually want to clean up after myself now. I used to cover the dirty dishes with a garbage bag for weeks because they were too difficult.

zjw

i went vegan huh?.... I go running all the time huh... this from the once morbidly obese drunk chimney smoker.

^the above person I never new was inside this body.

I do still have strong anxiety but htinking back its been like this since i was a kid so i guess its just how i am. not drinking helps with this.

not much else of who i am sober is recognizable. I could run into someone in public who hasnt seen me since i sobered up and they will just keep walking wont even recognize me lot of times htis is a good thing.

TroyW

Wouldn't call myself "sober" yet as I'm only on day 4, but "sobering up me" tends to make plans in his mind every morning, which I think is pretty cool at least. Drunk me never did that. Drunk me was only concerned about where I was in my rotation of shops, so I knew which one I haven't been to in the longest, to go buy a bottle that day.

Oh, and as stated above, the cleaning up after yourself part too. No more of this waiting until the next day (or 2 or 3 days) to do this dishes. They're done minutes after eating, and things like that.