I haven’t been able to find anything ...
 

to replace that “high” I get after that first glass of wine/ shot of vodka.

That’s all I’ve been thinking about for the last several days - especially since the weather is unseasonably warm here and people are sitting outside at the end of the day enjoying happy hour.

The only thought that has prevented me from picking up is the “playing the tape forward” scenario.

I wish I can find a non-substance alternative/ equivalent to that high. It’s been seven months and I’m still searching for it.

I think that is the price we pay for letting it become our god.

That euphoric recall doesn't completely go away but it does die down with time.

I get an immense amount of pleasure from hiking in the woods that lead to a beach. It is every bit as enjoyable to me to spot a whale in the water as it was to drink tequila. The hard exercise gives a similar feeling, and there is no shame, self-loathing and regret involved.

Only stories of Pileated Woodpeckers and Great Horned Owls. :)

Yeah, me neither and I am almost 3 years in.
You crave that high less and less though as time goes on. Now it is just a fleeting, rare thought I have. The first 18 months were the hardest for me. Hang in there!

The thoughts of that high sickens me. It's so artificial. It's not a feeling that would happen naturally. It's unnatural. It's unhealthy, it messes all your brain chemistry up. Natural highs feel good, they don't leave you feeling like you have been kicked in the head.

It might take some time to find something you really love.

I replaced the high with exercise, music, books. When you take alcohol out of the mix, it's surprising how enjoyable a normal day can be.

I imagine that there is nothing exactly to replace that feeling. I think losing that feeling, knowing you can't get it anymore in life, is part of the "grieving" process that people talk about when we quiet ruining out lives with alcohol.

I know that breaking up is hard to do, been there and done that with love in my life. Feels the same way with booze. But life is so much better and fuller.

Here's to us replacing that high with everything else that life can offer.

That's just your AV trying to fool you into thinking that you are only going for that first big 'ahhh', that first surge is just IT giving you the 'reward' of indulging ITs desire.
The anticipation of that first one and the promised fulfilling 'ahh' is a mirage, IT just wants the door open to more, if what you wanted all along was 'one' , you wouldn't probably be here ? , eh?
Just ignore It , IT lies.

I have yet to wake up in the morning wishing I were hungover. The high I get is from relearning guitar - walks in the woods - laughing with others - playing with the dogs.

Like Scrooge on Christmas morning! Good I didn’t miss it.

Some do actually find euphoria through activities like strenuous exercise, deep emotional connections,etc.

It's important to remember though that the "high" we get from drugs is an artificial and temporary one that is not sustainable. I personally reached a point in my drinking where I did not get that high anymore - I needed to drink just to keep my body from going into withdrawals.

i had a popcorn and chocolate milk party with my 4 year old great nephew the other night. we watched "the incredibles" and he fell asleep in my recliner with me.
there is absolutely no high or feeling alcohol could being that could even come close to matching how i felt that night.

i wouldnt have imagined that would occur early on, but it did.

in SMART, there's something called 'Vitally Absorbing Creative Interests;' finding something to do that you really enjoy doing not only works as an effective defense against drinking, but also helps with living an engaged and fulfilling life.

When I stopped searching for it, I found it... in the quiet. It was different, but better. It was what I had searched for all those years. I had just been confused on what it was I was actually searching for.

This is it. I know it's there as well.

Might just be a simple as peace of mind. Whatever it is, I know it's not inside the burning building of my alcoholism.

Brains are weird.
If you let them sit around thinking about the same things over and over, they stop thinking about other things. They stop searching for new things.

I stopped sitting around fantasizing about alcohol and my life got better. I highly recommend it.

my body still searches for it... but i took up running. The feeling after a bit of a jog is pretty fun.
I have a massive amount of other hobbies that help me pass time, but running is something that gets that feeling kind of back... it's different, but so much better

Recovery was the thing that made me realise that I'd been searching for the wrong things in the wrong places. Just sobriety left me restless, irritable and discontent as well.

BB

try googling "flow thinking". it's not going to give you the rush, but it's a positive way to be fully immersed in & focused on an activity.

Personally, I am an endorphin junkie. I run to release stress and to also feel a sense of calm, a high, an overall sense of well being. It gives me purpose and challenge every day.

I am not at all concerned with replacing one addiction for another. One addiction creates paranoia, anxiety, fear, blackouts etc. The other addiction creates a sense of identity for me, a sense of well being and a time for me to breathe in and out deeply without too much thought. Meditation if you will.

The "high" is not the same as alcohol but I will take it over alcohol any day. I drink and blackout so..... there is not much fun in that.

Keep looking. Try on new things. See what sticks.

Think back to when you were a kid or any time before you drank alcohol. You didn’t need that high or miss it. Life — natural, simple, healthy — was all you needed for joy and fulfillment. No outside substance. The longing is addiction only. Remind yourself of that each time it rears it’s head. Eventually that will take its power away.

Do 100 pushups or situps in a row. Can't? Then do as many as you can and go for 10 more tomorrow. Go until you can do 100. Same with running and I hate cardio..go for a walk/run..then go further..then further.. Start a new hobie that you enjoy. Start a charity. Start a side business for extra money(this can be like I do and invest in my close/trusted friends dreams, be it by money or time/skills). I can keep going.