Need positive reasons to stay sober
Member
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,065
There are so many benefits! So many positives!
- Appearance, my skin is great, I had some work done, but not drinking means that work will last longer and look better! In fact before my last appointment, the doctor said, you look great now, but in a couple weeks, (he said a week, he was wrong, I'm really fair, so I was more colourful than others from bruising and trauma) you are going to look amazing and he was so right!
-I was in a store that also sells alcohol at 10am on a Saturday morning a lady was there buying a dozen beer and some cheap wine, I was like, OMG it's Saturday morning LOL, then I looked closer, her hair was limp, part of that could be it didn't look like a professional had touched it in an eon... she had a very oddly shaped body, I felt sad for her, then relief, what if that had become me? My hair is amazingly healthy, despite highlights, low lights, colour and heat treatment every day, my hair has never been like this, even my stylist who I have had for years, is amazed. In 4 months, my hair has dropped 20 years and I do nothing different. Except, I don't drink. My body, I got a little junk, but that junk doesn't wiggle or jiggle, I don't retain water - at all. I used to be guaranteed 10lbs of water gain in the week leading up to menses, now, not at all.
-Mental clarity, my mind is clear, I can focus on as many things as I want. I don't stumble over words.
-Improved relationships with everyone, husband, kids, extended family.
-Saturday and Sunday mornings are fun! I do things, sure I still play taxi to the kids
but I also hit the stockyards and buy carrots for my horses, or apples, meet my meat lady for my dog food. I am living life, not living and then stopping to drink and deal with the eventual hangover.
-I once paid a tab in a restaurant on vacation, (so tourist tax and such) that was over $800 for 5 people to eat, three of whom were underage. Dh and I sat in the bar for 3 hours while the kiddos and their sitter played games in the arcade. Dinners out haven't been much over $100 for 5 of us in months - now we aren't eating fancy either, but not having that bar tab helps too!
-I don't have to worry if I smell - I can smell a drunk a mile away
-People are a lot nicer to you, if you don't drink. I hired a very grumpy service club to work for me on an event, as soon as I said, I don't drink, they went from grumpy to happy! Nobody wants to work with or for a drunk.
-Energy, I used to fall asleep with my younguns during the week at 7:30 many nights, there is a whole, wonderful world out there that only starts as the sun goes down.
-The future, I don't worry about it anymore. I worry a lot less, I just bought my dream home and property, it checks every single box on my happily ever after list - heck I couldn't even decide that list when I was drinking. My goals are all positive, in fact, I have one lofty goal that I plan to realize this fall, it is the dh's birthday, I plan to take him, our three kids and his Mom to Turks and Caicos - dh loves it there, I would never have planned something like this drinking, mostly because I feared myself. Sure I always paid more for the premium booze because all inclusive booze is wretched, but I don't have to worry about that! I'll pack a flask of lime cordial for my seltzer and water
-Life is amazing and I never got that, until I got off the drinking carousel. I feel like I have lived and loved more in the last 4 months than I have in years. For goodness sake, we no sooner got home from vacation than my FIL's accident and subsequent death, while we sold our house, waiting for dh to come back to buy another, going through all of this while 2,500kms apart, save the 3 days I went down with the younguns at the end. I flew, 2,500kms with 2 children, stayed in hotels, by ourselves, dealt with rental cars and driving 4 hours in an unfamiliar place, by myself. I couldn't have done that drinking and if I did, it would have been a lot more difficult for everyone and a lot more emotional and dramatic than need be. Then I brought the kids back, by myself, flying in and out of one of the busiest airports in the country.
Nothing but positives from me. I don't do AA, not my thing, I have tools in my toolbox I lean on, because I was sitting in the hotel restaurant when I got the call my FIL passed, I could have ordered a shot right there, but instead, I hugged my kids, talked to them and we went back to our room to wait for their Dad. Then I processed my emotions, I told myself to deal with this straight and I did.
- Appearance, my skin is great, I had some work done, but not drinking means that work will last longer and look better! In fact before my last appointment, the doctor said, you look great now, but in a couple weeks, (he said a week, he was wrong, I'm really fair, so I was more colourful than others from bruising and trauma) you are going to look amazing and he was so right!
-I was in a store that also sells alcohol at 10am on a Saturday morning a lady was there buying a dozen beer and some cheap wine, I was like, OMG it's Saturday morning LOL, then I looked closer, her hair was limp, part of that could be it didn't look like a professional had touched it in an eon... she had a very oddly shaped body, I felt sad for her, then relief, what if that had become me? My hair is amazingly healthy, despite highlights, low lights, colour and heat treatment every day, my hair has never been like this, even my stylist who I have had for years, is amazed. In 4 months, my hair has dropped 20 years and I do nothing different. Except, I don't drink. My body, I got a little junk, but that junk doesn't wiggle or jiggle, I don't retain water - at all. I used to be guaranteed 10lbs of water gain in the week leading up to menses, now, not at all.
-Mental clarity, my mind is clear, I can focus on as many things as I want. I don't stumble over words.
-Improved relationships with everyone, husband, kids, extended family.
-Saturday and Sunday mornings are fun! I do things, sure I still play taxi to the kids
but I also hit the stockyards and buy carrots for my horses, or apples, meet my meat lady for my dog food. I am living life, not living and then stopping to drink and deal with the eventual hangover. -I once paid a tab in a restaurant on vacation, (so tourist tax and such) that was over $800 for 5 people to eat, three of whom were underage. Dh and I sat in the bar for 3 hours while the kiddos and their sitter played games in the arcade. Dinners out haven't been much over $100 for 5 of us in months - now we aren't eating fancy either, but not having that bar tab helps too!
-I don't have to worry if I smell - I can smell a drunk a mile away
-People are a lot nicer to you, if you don't drink. I hired a very grumpy service club to work for me on an event, as soon as I said, I don't drink, they went from grumpy to happy! Nobody wants to work with or for a drunk.
-Energy, I used to fall asleep with my younguns during the week at 7:30 many nights, there is a whole, wonderful world out there that only starts as the sun goes down.
-The future, I don't worry about it anymore. I worry a lot less, I just bought my dream home and property, it checks every single box on my happily ever after list - heck I couldn't even decide that list when I was drinking. My goals are all positive, in fact, I have one lofty goal that I plan to realize this fall, it is the dh's birthday, I plan to take him, our three kids and his Mom to Turks and Caicos - dh loves it there, I would never have planned something like this drinking, mostly because I feared myself. Sure I always paid more for the premium booze because all inclusive booze is wretched, but I don't have to worry about that! I'll pack a flask of lime cordial for my seltzer and water
-Life is amazing and I never got that, until I got off the drinking carousel. I feel like I have lived and loved more in the last 4 months than I have in years. For goodness sake, we no sooner got home from vacation than my FIL's accident and subsequent death, while we sold our house, waiting for dh to come back to buy another, going through all of this while 2,500kms apart, save the 3 days I went down with the younguns at the end. I flew, 2,500kms with 2 children, stayed in hotels, by ourselves, dealt with rental cars and driving 4 hours in an unfamiliar place, by myself. I couldn't have done that drinking and if I did, it would have been a lot more difficult for everyone and a lot more emotional and dramatic than need be. Then I brought the kids back, by myself, flying in and out of one of the busiest airports in the country.
Nothing but positives from me. I don't do AA, not my thing, I have tools in my toolbox I lean on, because I was sitting in the hotel restaurant when I got the call my FIL passed, I could have ordered a shot right there, but instead, I hugged my kids, talked to them and we went back to our room to wait for their Dad. Then I processed my emotions, I told myself to deal with this straight and I did.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,978
There are millions but I'll be short.
My memory. It's taken some time for my ability to remember to come back but it is so much better now. A better memory allows you to learn so many things faster and long term which make life easier and much more fulfilling.
My memory. It's taken some time for my ability to remember to come back but it is so much better now. A better memory allows you to learn so many things faster and long term which make life easier and much more fulfilling.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,978
Originally Posted by gettingsmarter 
There are millions but I'll be short.
My memory. It's taken some time for my ability to remember to come back but it is so much better now. A better memory allows you to learn so many things faster and long term which make life easier and much more fulfilling.
My memory. It's taken some time for my ability to remember to come back but it is so much better now. A better memory allows you to learn so many things faster and long term which make life easier and much more fulfilling.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: California
Posts: 13,044
I agree with all of the above posters, my mental, physical and emotional health is so much better in sobriety.
I am always busy with kids, reading, exercise, work... when I was drinking I would find excuses why I couldn't exercise or volunteer for something, my life is much more fulfilling.
What have you been doing in your free time? What do you enjoy?
I am always busy with kids, reading, exercise, work... when I was drinking I would find excuses why I couldn't exercise or volunteer for something, my life is much more fulfilling.
What have you been doing in your free time? What do you enjoy?
Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 123
My biggest motivation at the moment is just money, I drank a lot at bars and racked up some credit card debt, now I have a big mess to get myself out of. It feels good not to look at my bank statement in horror every month. :-/
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