Four years - So lucky to have quit when I did
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 3,956
Four years - So lucky to have quit when I did
I quit at the end of a holiday on the last day of 2018. No real reason for that date, but I’m so lucky I quit when I did. Since quitting, both parents died, then came Covid (which affected all of us) and the biggest bombshell was my wife leaving. It’s not truly terrible compared to what a lot of people go through, but it’d be a testing time for most, and the drinking version of me would’ve fared terribly.
My dad died when I was 8 months sober, and that produced a full blown craving which luckily I didn’t act on. Since then, minor cravings pop up, but these vanish within seconds.
But so much good stuff has happened too. As a drinker, I was a miserable git. Now I’m way way more positive and have masses of energy. I do gym and triathlons and have a nice side hustle as a science teacher. I could barely do a day job as a drinker.
I’m 53, and the thought of trying to date again was terrifying. But I’ve just spent Xmas with an amazing person. I’ve had to pinch myself. I’m not the sort of person who meets people like that! A massive factor in all this is the way I’ve changed since I stopped drinking. This latest development has left me walking around in a daze.
And I was once the person who made excuses about needing to drink to relax. I was an obese wreck, literally good for nothing. I told my new partner about my previous drinking and how it made me negative and unpleasant, and her face fell. I wouldn’t have got a look in as a drinker.
Given up alcohol is the gift that just goes on and on.What an opportunity to be at our best.
My dad died when I was 8 months sober, and that produced a full blown craving which luckily I didn’t act on. Since then, minor cravings pop up, but these vanish within seconds.
But so much good stuff has happened too. As a drinker, I was a miserable git. Now I’m way way more positive and have masses of energy. I do gym and triathlons and have a nice side hustle as a science teacher. I could barely do a day job as a drinker.
I’m 53, and the thought of trying to date again was terrifying. But I’ve just spent Xmas with an amazing person. I’ve had to pinch myself. I’m not the sort of person who meets people like that! A massive factor in all this is the way I’ve changed since I stopped drinking. This latest development has left me walking around in a daze.
And I was once the person who made excuses about needing to drink to relax. I was an obese wreck, literally good for nothing. I told my new partner about my previous drinking and how it made me negative and unpleasant, and her face fell. I wouldn’t have got a look in as a drinker.
Given up alcohol is the gift that just goes on and on.What an opportunity to be at our best.
. Huge congrats on four years sober!! 
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 3,956
Thanks everyone. Let’s hope the thanks button comes back from its Christmas break soon 🙂
“It must have been really hard to lose a parent so early in sobriety.”
Thanks bogler. We never know when these bad things will happen, so being long-term sober is so very important. Imagine if someone relapsed and was a few weeks into recovery when a family tragedy or similar occurred. Drinking would be almost a certainty. In my case, eight months meant I’d got out of the habit of drinking - but only just. Long-term sobriety (ideally forever) is the biggest weapon we have.
“It must have been really hard to lose a parent so early in sobriety.”
Thanks bogler. We never know when these bad things will happen, so being long-term sober is so very important. Imagine if someone relapsed and was a few weeks into recovery when a family tragedy or similar occurred. Drinking would be almost a certainty. In my case, eight months meant I’d got out of the habit of drinking - but only just. Long-term sobriety (ideally forever) is the biggest weapon we have.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 173
Congratulations Hodd
just so you know, one bit of advice you posted many moons ago changed my whole approach to sobriety..and it stuck.
so thanks from me and a massive congrats to come through all the adversity intact.
just so you know, one bit of advice you posted many moons ago changed my whole approach to sobriety..and it stuck.
so thanks from me and a massive congrats to come through all the adversity intact.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
