MrPL

Sobriety didn't make me healthier, but it allowed me to choose a healthier lifestyle and be conscious of the changes that are happening.

Sobriety didn't improve my situation at work, but it allowed me to be humble, listen to negative feedback and instantly start acting on it to the point it has now turned to positive feedback.

Sobriety didn't make me happier, but it allowed me to spend the 6 daily hours I used to spend drinking doing things I actually enjoy.

Sobriety didn't improve my family relationships, but it allowed me to open up to the people I love, apologise for the things I've done and become a better son, brother, husband and friend.

Sobriety didn't put a smile on my children's face, but it allowed me to wake up at 5am on weekends with enough energy to play with them all day long.

I think this summarises what I learned about recovery so far. Sobriety didn't do anything for me, it just got me sober for the last 10 weeks, as for everything else that is improving around me, I had to take and will have to keep taking action to make it happen.

That's what SR helped me discover. That's why this time is different.

P

PurpleKnight

Fantastic post P . . . onwards!!

teaorcoffee

Love it - was a bit worried when I read the header

Delilah1

Thanks for such an inspirational post!

SoberLifeForMe

Bravo! This gives me something to look forward to!

least

Thank you for posting that lovely bit of inspiration. And congrats on 10 weeks sober!

bexxed

Awww MrP you're the best! I jumped a bit when I saw the post thinking "whaaaa? He's my sober twin, he was doing so well!"

Shoulda known. Nice post. You're doing great.

Kost

I worked out last night that I spend on average 6 hours drinking and 2 hours dealing with hangovers and obsessively washing and cleaning my teeth to try and fool everyone at work that I am normal.

MrPL

Kost - this will change. Give it time, sobriety takes a few days to become stable, your call to start day 1 is great, stay strong while your body gets used to having no alcohol and then you ll claim your 8 hours back too.

I can't stress enough that in my opinion the single most important thing is truly making he choice to stay sober. The rest will slowly start happening.

You got this.

P

Kost

It is what to do with the 8 hours. I have been drinking for so long that the hobbies I had when I was 16/17 are hardly doable now.

MrPL

That's where the real work is Kost. What has really helped me was to have a good think about who I want to be in a few years, and fill my hours with things that get me one step closer to that.

The first couple of weeks were very rough for me, but by staying sober through that my mind cleared up and that allowed me to think about the future. You will see a lot of similar stories here, there s no reason why it can't happen to you.

P

Kost

It's amazing how similar people's situations are.

Dee74

Thanks for sharing - great post Mr PL

D

Mac1

Brilliant post MrPL.

I recently relapsed. I haven't been able to pinpoint yet why this happened after more than 2 years of sobriety but I certainly did 'forget' all the advantages that not drinking brings.

Wishing you all the best with your recovery...

Berrybean

Kost, I remember thinking just that. "What am I going to do with all this time???" Thought I was going to go crazy. I started going to go to AA, and for the first however many months what it really did was kill some time. Especially if I walked there and back then going to a meeting could whittle away 2 to 3 hours if I dithered about a bit, or 4 if I went for coffee and a chat with another AAer after the meeting.

Once I'd started working more on my recovery, things evened out and i wasn't such a depressed and anxious wreck half the time, and filled with rage and resentment the other half of the time. Gradually I stopped worrying so much about what other people thought of me, and I found that some of the hobbies I had in my teens were completely doable as an adult. Dance. Drama. Cake decorating. Model making. Dressmaking. Fitness classes. Trampolining (oh - actually that one wasn't so doable - my bladder couldn't cope any more lol) Choir. Meeting a friend to walk over the fields. Going for a burger and a milkshake (preferably with another sober person ). Jumping on a train to somewhere new for the day. Bell ringing (that was AWFUL haha). Re-learning how to play the Cornet with a local brass band. Attending author events. Going to the theatre or cinema. Some of those things happen once in a blue moon. Some (choir, brass band, creative writing group, fitness class, some AA meetings) I participate in regularly every week.


Now I'm back to finding myself with not enough time and wondering where it's all gone. Lol. And I don't know anyone in AA with good sober time and a strong recovery who doesn't say the same... it just takes a bit of effort to change our routines and it's hard to get imaginative at first, esp if we've still got washing machine head (I had that for a while). That'll change though, if you work on it as part of your recovery plan.

Wishing you all the best for your recovery. BB

nova84

Great post MrPL 😊😊😊 thank you x

Hevyn

I loved it too MrPL - thank you so much for the inspiration.

dwtbd

Awesome post! SR is lucky you found us