Mags1

“The definition of boredom means having nothing to do or being disinterested in anything you could do”.



That’s what I thought when I first set out on my sober journey.



How can I possibly be happy and fulfilled without alcohol?



I seemed to ignore the true effects it had on me….hangovers…regrets….blackouts…total crapulence.



Looking back I realize that was my addiction talking. I wasn’t happy being a drunk, I was an addict. It really had me fooled.



Returning back to sober boredom. I’d decided better to spend the rest of my life sober and bored than ruin mine and other’s lives drinking.



I had an empty feeling initially, similar to missing an old friend. I used the word floundering a lot for the first few months of sobriety. Pretty much like a baby wanting to take its first steps.



I was getting the hang of being sober and until I found SoberRecovery. I didn’t think about recovering.



On the recovery road I found people actually happy being sober…well I never.

Sober and happy wasn’t something I thought could be.



My addictive brain had always told me sober people are bored people….what a liar it is.



There was much more to life on the recovery road that drunkenness could ever have given me. I found you could have a good life sober. Fulfilled and happy.



If you’re thinking ‘she’s been got at’ or ‘brainwashed’ you’re mistaken. The only brainwashing I had was swilling the booze down my neck day after day, night after night.



If you’ve had enough of alcohol or substances that are having a destructive effect on you, give sobriety recovery a chance.



Just one small step will start you on your recovery journey.



Bored? Never.



If this is your first weekend sober, or many, come join us for support and chat...as we know the weekends may be a struggle. (We’re here all week too!)

calmself

Shotgun... agree sober boredom is much better than drunken hell. Great opening, Mags!

Purplrks3647

Thanks Mags! I used to think I'd be bored without alcohol...

Then I think of times where I'd be "sober" or "quiet" at the bar and I'd hear "Someone get this girl a shot!" ---- At the time I thought it was funny, but after while I was like "Why am I providing free entertainment for all these jerks?" Now I save all my energy for me, and if that makes me selfish, so be it!

In for the weekend

Chevy123

It's funny reading this because yesterday I was doing my garden. I'd been at it all day it was looking fab and I felt I'd had a super productive day. Then, My AV popped up with "Oh imagine sitting out this evening with a nice glass of wine like you used to, you deserve it" . At first I just tried playing the tape forward but then a bigger moment of clarity hit me. The thing is while I was drinking I would have done an hour or 2 and felt I deserved a glass of wine and then another and ya know !. Then I probably wouldn't have done an awful lot more for weeks even months and the garden would look like crap cos I was too busy drinking wine. The work I did do was shoddy and quick fixes . Jeez I'd let that baby go over the years in reality. Sad thing is I do love gardening, I always have. I don't do it out of boredom, I do it cos I love it. It's the same for the inside of my house. I mean, it looks fine but not how it used to before all those years of drinking. I'm naturally a creative person and I love being creative . There's loads of other things I did before I started drinking and I forgot.
Anyway I'm off to buy some paint and some nice new room accessories today with all the money iv saved over the last 2 months not drinking. Next month I might even buy a new kayak ( thanks Alpine)
For me, sober boredom is a lie. Drinking has you in a false sense of boredom when in reality it creates it.

fishkiller

I got no time to be bored.

Alpine

Hi Mags, Purps, Chevy, and Calm

I found I was more bored when I drank. When drinking I was not able to do much of anything I enjoyed, well, at least not well. Then as I drank more and more I would be just sleeping or just doing a bunch of nothing. Nothing productive at all. Sure I get bored at times being sober, but I will take that kind of boredom any day over the drinking boredom.

Whoops, Hi to you to Fish, we posted at the same time.

fishkiller

Hey Alpine!
Seems we are on the same schedule often lol.

I will 2nd your post. Drinking bored the hell out of me but I saw no other way. Until I did. Glad I, we, found our way out.

Hodd

We’re all different, but there are rare occasions when I imagine having a drink would be nice.

But I see such thinking on a par with me running a mile in five minutes or using my charisma to charm a room full of people. It’s not going to happen in this lifetime. I don’t have the genes or whatever to make it happen, and that’s exactly the same with drinking. We need to accept we’re flawed in some way, even if that means being boring 🙂

Robbie64

Thanks Mags for another great OP. I'm IN for another sober weekend. This will be my 9th consecutive sober weekend. It will be two months alcohol free for me on Saturday.

Also Monday will be the 5th anniversary of me being a member of SR I'd been a long time lurker at SR but I finally got the courage to sign up and post. It is one of the pivotal moments on the (sometimes rocky) road to my sobriety.

Alpine

Hi Robbie and Hodd!

venuscat

Ditto. ❤️

I am busier than I have ever been....and I always have so many things I want to get to. Years and years ago, I read that the secret to happiness was a full inbox. ❤️

Mags1

Congratulations on Shotgun calmself

Just back from Mil’s. Earlier than expected, her friend turned up and they went food shopping. So a chill out afternoon for me. The air is very heavy. Hope we have some rain.

fishkiller

I always thought when I retired I would slow down. Thought that was what I wanted.
I now know otherwise. Busy is life.

Down time is real though . A necessity.
I am learning to take breaks and be "bored" for a day or 2 when I feel it get overwhelming.

Much better than blasting through life wasted and perpetually overwhelmed.

Free2bme888

Good morning!

Bored? Oh no! I’m so busy I have no time, like fishkiller. Better yet, retired AND sober? Does that equal nothing to do?

For me, does that mean all my friends can’t drink around me? No! I’m the one that doesn’t drink, alcohol is all around me and I choose to be sober, and I choose to be busy. To do those things I like,Thank goodness as a young person I found pleasure in my chores as well.

Thanks Mags! And congratulations on 9 years on 7/20! 🎉🎊🪅🪄🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🥳🥳🥳🤓❤️

MLD51

I'm IN!
One of my biggest fears was that I'd be so bored in sobriety, that I'd have no social life, that my friends wouldn't want to spend time with me. That I'd turn into some dull, lifeless person, sitting alone in my house with my cats. None of that turned out to be true. I did lose a few "friends," but it was because I wasn't hanging out with drunk people at the bar anymore. They were not my true friends anyway. Just drinking buddies. The people who matter stood by me, and my relationships with them have improved SO MUCH. I'm never bored. Honestly, I don't know how I had time to drink. OH WAIT, yes I do know how I had time. It was because I was neglecting so many important people and things, and because I had stopped doing so many of the the things I enjoy in life. I have freedom to do so much now. I stay busy, but I also allow myself quiet downtime. I used to equate the quiet downtime with boredom -- now I see it as restorative and healthy. I just can't imagine going back to a life of drinking.

Day 4 of covid symptoms, and I'm feeling better. I think I've turned a corner. Still feel a bit ill, but I might be able to do a few things around the house today. Might even be able to take my little convertible out for a spin today.

Alpine

I am rarely if ever bored, there is always something to do plus I have a lot of hobbies that keep me busy. So between chores, helping my family, and hobbies I need extra hours in the day. LOL.

Mags1

Pleased you’re feeling a bit better Marty. Enjoy your drive in your convertible.

Alpine if we had extra hours in the day it would make us younger I think.

Alpine

Hmmm, Mags I think you may be right.

Alysheba

Thank you Mags!

Nonsensical

I know that lie AND that liar.
Since getting sober I have started two profitable businesses, a non-profit professional association, and a 501c3 charity. I finished my master's degree and I start on the PhD this fall. I teach as an adjunct professor at a local University and I build sets at the local community theater.
Boredom is a choice.