The downsides of sobriety
 

I might have thought there were some negatives to sobriety in the first year. Part of me was still wistful about drinking, even though I knew that quitting was something I had to do.

But in the course of eight alcohol-free years, my perspective on sobriety has changed. There are only upsides. I was chained to alcohol and to drinking by my addiction. There are only downsides to drinking; none to not drinking.

Only downside I can think of is sometimes feeling a tiny bit left out when others do things that revolve around drinking and I'm not invited. Yesterday, a bunch of my friends when on a little tour of local wineries - they rented a party bus and by all accounts, had a great time. Of course, I wasn't invited, which was perfectly fine as it held little interest for me, really, but at the same time, I had a few minutes of wishing I was along for the ride, if only for the social aspect of it. On the other hand, this morning I'm hearing that a couple of people got pretty drunk, and I would have been one of them if I were still drinking and had gone. Instead, I got a lot of things done around my house yesterday and I'm at work bright and early this morning, no hangover and no regrets.

The only downside is that I didn't discover how great it is earlier than I did!

Drinking made me lazy and self-indulgent. A day to myself and a box of wine was “a plan”. I put on weight, and was a red, bloated, dehydrated (amazing how you can be both!) mess.

I despised myself for that self-indulgence, and feel much better now that I’m back in shape and alive. But I do sometimes miss being able to slough off the responsibilities of adulting and just wallow.

-bora

For me its taking so long to flip the script. Never knew what I was missing . enjoying all 156 days of it so far.

The downside to sobriety is that I no longer have anyone or anything to blame for my moments of stupidity. The blame strictly is strictly all mine, LOL!..."I couldn't help it...I was drunk" is no longer the number one arrow in my quiver of denial. :~)

I can't think of any downsides to sobriety. :) I'm happy as a lark living sober and wish I'd done it sooner. :)

is no more gloom,dispair, and agony a down side?

When on cruises several of us went to AA meetings at our port of calls. Always welcomed...and usually was invited to their houses or showed us their cities. Many of the sailors who went out on the town paid for it in the morning. But also, there was organized tours. So no down side of sobriety. All is good.

No downsides, here.

All that supposed "fun" I had was a bunch of immaturity (doesn't everyone get drunk when the sun goes down?), self-delusion (those naked girls in the strip joints really like me) and idiotic debauchery (the cops aren't around, are they?).

I only come around here when I start to get some odd cravings... can't identify why, but SR always keeps me grounded. I absolutely love this thread and reading the responses. Thanks for posting it!

For me, the downside was how to combat the boredom. When I drank, I drank to get drunk. Not take the edge off. I wanted to black out.. because that's just what I did. I'd wake up with bruises, cuts, scrapes, smelly, just overall not what I wanted to be. Am I perfect now? Ha, far from it! But I have very few regrets, I feel better, and working on being more social even though I'm sober.

my downside is I haven't found anything similar YET that gives me the same "relief" that alcohol did...when I drank alcohol...nothing mattered...

I am thinking more healthy now and think that...I just have to find something to DO that I enjoy....which will make nothing else matter.

HAHAHAHA!!!! I just thought of this the other day! That I had lost the one excuse one can have for when they do something ridiculous or idiotic..."Sorry, I was drunk!"

Funny thing is, I have not lost the silly person I have always been, only know I have more control.

I have yet to see a downside to my getting sober. Life has become so rich so quickly, I actually can show up to events I always wished I could do, I have more friends now than ever before, and I am working out because I don't have the hungover feeling anymore. Life is good.

Not a downside but definitely challenging are the feelings that are coming up throughout this process. I am raw and open for the first time in two decades and that of course comes with pain, shame and guilt and an underlying sadness. But I cannot call it a downside, because even those feelings live within a container of LOVE. I am at peace with these raw emotions and can look at them objectively and asses them now.

Meditation has been key for this awareness.

I did go out to a bar with my girlfriend this past weekend and it did nothing for me. I was between bored and sociable. I told her it was a fun experiment and that I was actually repulsed by the idea of alcohol (I know where it ends for me), and could hang in that setting, but next tim e I would love to just go chat or bowl, anything other than stand at a bar.

Cool to see that a drink doesn't trigger or tempt me, but I am not putting myself in that situation again, nothing to be gained from it.

I second the statement that only downside was not getting sober, but I am exactly where I need to be in this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing , happens in Gods world by mistake. ;)

Not a single one!!