What good things have happened to you sinceyou stopped drinking?

Tender Hoop

Hey Josh and Co..

Yea I know man, same boat. Treatment centre in January, aftercare, AA etc.... My previous post was probably a bit extreme..... For the most part i feel ok. Initially I felt great.. no hangovers, no more blackouts not having to share my bed with spiders!! Its just amazing how easily you can forget all the awful **** and just remember the good times. So I have to force myself to remember how bad things got to stop me starting again.. but that leads to terrible guilt about all the **** I did.... no win...

I'm glad i've stopped. The game was up. It just tough adjusting to the new life style. thanks.

Tender Hoop

Tender Hoop wrote: »

Hey Josh and Co..

Yea I know man, same boat. Treatment centre in January, aftercare, AA etc.... My previous post was probably a bit extreme..... For the most part i feel ok. Initially I felt great.. no hangovers, no more blackouts not having to share my bed with spiders!! Its just amazing how easily you can forget all the awful **** and just remember the good times. So I have to force myself to remember how bad things got to stop me starting again.. but that leads to terrible guilt about all the **** I did.... no win...

I'm glad i've stopped. The game was up. It just tough adjusting to the new life style. thanks.

Heh, the spiders were the worst..

I think it could just be a case of you not finding a new níche. I mean you probably defined yourself as a drinker like I did, but seriously I wasn't even having fun drinking for a long time. Ever been in an Irish town/city on a big drinking night? Doesn't look like many people are having fun really.

Should we really have to drink to make other people and activities seem more exciting? Because imho that's the biggest reason that people drink. Because they fear the boredom and awkwardness of sitting with a few people and socializing without some sort of social lubricant. As Frank Skinner put it: if you went to a dinner party and the host was handing out sedatives in pill form to make people less anxious wouldn't it seem a bit weird?

jiggerypokery

Tender Hoop wrote: »

I'm over four months off the juice now.

I'm not going to lie to you.

I'm bored, angry, constantly losing my temper, feel like I'm missing out on all the fun. I'm fcuking sick of AA and the recovery scene. I hate the fact that I'm an alcoholic.

I'm 29 and I cant drink again or i will die.

Tender hoop, I was a little older than you when i quit drinking 5 years ago. I went through same things your going through now, be prepared to give it time these things pass. I never drank during the week only at weekends, two or three day benders. Life didn't begin for me till i stopped drinking. You'll find interests in other things to replace your drinking. I don't ever regret quitting, give it a chance.

Tender Hoop

jiggerypokery wrote: »

Tender hoop, I was a little older than you when i quit drinking 5 years ago. I went through same things your going through now, be prepared to give it time these things pass. I never drank during the week only at weekends, two or three day benders. Life didn't begin for me till i stopped drinking. You'll find interests in other things to replace your drinking. I don't ever regret quitting, give it a chance.

Cheers, It just sucks a bit at the moment. I've started fishing again, something i did when I was young, its good but not exactly white knuckle exciting.

[-0-]

Tender Hoop wrote: »

Cheers, It just sucks a bit at the moment. I've started fishing again, something i did when I was young, its good but not exactly white knuckle exciting.

There's a ton of things you can do though. If you're going to be staying in staring at the TV all of the time then you will find it amazingly difficult. You need to get out and about. Fishing is a good start. Why not go climb a mountain, start training for a 10k (it's keeping me very occupied and I feel great), get a new digital camera - I'm sure you could get some great photos when you're out fishing, take diving/flying lessons, learn how to drive a boat, do a self defense course, join a library.... the list really is endless.

You have to take it day by day but if you stay in and just stare at the paint fading on your walls it's going to make it way more difficult than it has to be. Keep active.

frecklesgalore

Lifestyle - we choose it, but can we loose it?

Drinking at the weekend was all I knew. It was my release at the end of a hard working week. Saturday night was what I lived for, until a series of unfortunate events at night time caused me to abandon myself and question my very existance.

So what changed when I dropped the bottle? First, I stopped getting blackouts - I had 2 major ones in the UK. I wanted to go home (Ireland) and got into an awful state. Couldn't remember who I came out with, where I lived, how I ended up on the side of the street...it was dead scary and I was totally drained after it. Ending up coming home to Ireland the following day.

Since then I haven't touched a drink - 3 months! WOOP!

I'm calmer, motivated, focused and energised. The relationship I have with my parents now is unbelievable. The support from my "real friends" has been outstanding.

I Yoga - that's what really has been the best for me. It's great fun, all shapes, sizes and sorts do it. There's even a channel on SKY with classes. Only the other day I saw a magazine specifically about Yoga in the shops.

I've completed 3 10Ks. Each time I've done one I've improved on my previous time by 10 mins. I've been picking the most random places to do them so that I get a day out: driving, sight seeing, meeting new people and having a laugh. I get the fullfillment of telling people what I did at the weekend, and the medals on the fridge remind me that there is an alternative to life.

I may not be able to change my spots, I have the scars to remind me of my mishaps. I now live in the present. What happened in the past is gone, I can only glance into the future. I can control what I am. I'm happy being me - for the first time in years, if anything that's been the best and biggest changed. A Domino effect if you will.

Elenxor

Hi Tenderhoops, thanks for your post, it put things in perspective for me, on a day when my head is all over the place.
I love the support shown by the other posters and the identification shown by them all.
It;s only a suggestion on my part but....(there's alwayws a but):D
I travel out to a different meeting now and again just to see a few different faces and hear different stories, I get tired of the same faces and the change does me good.
Also, did you get a Sponsor yet?, if not, start looking around and listening to people sharing, you will know them when you hear them, and again, can I sugggest..a man for a man... and a woman for a women, it's a lot less complicated.
Good luck and be good to yourself.

SUNGOD

Tender Hoop wrote: »

I'm over four months off the juice now.

I'm not going to lie to you.

I'm bored, angry, constantly losing my temper, feel like I'm missing out on all the fun. I'm fcuking sick of AA and the recovery scene. I hate the fact that I'm an alcoholic.

I'm 29 and I cant drink again or i will die.

i know where your coming from i went through the whole treatment aftercare AA route i started running and did 3 marathons and a ultra i got lost in running and stopped AA and aftercare as i hated both then i got injured and all my demons returned.
ive had a few slips but still ok im back running recently but god i have to watch the thinking as it can change my perception on if im happy for what i can do or sad and depressed for what i cant.
its almost funny as why would i want to be the way i was? not a hope but sometimes i want to say f*ck you , aiseiri, aftercare , and AA and just go on the piss f*ck the consequenses and then i think about the nervousness and depression i feel after drink

CDfm

one thing i have gotten is some really super friends I did not know i had.

work has been absolutely shiite recession wise and i am dealling with some crap extended family stuff -but i handle it

you do what you need to do to get thru it and its for living

Me Me

have surprised myself that I can still go out and not drink, it hasn't bothered me as much as I thought it would:)

Suburbanite

Hi all,

I’m in my mid 30’s and out of Aiseiri 6 months now and I’m doing well. Most of the life improvements for me have been motioned already but there was one thing I noticed the other day. I was able to walk around my town center with my head held high. Normally I would have been afraid to meet someone I had wronged during a blackout. I would have been carrying around this burden of shame and embarrassment that would have kept my head welded firmly to the floor. Now I have made my amends to the people that count in my life and whatever I did in my past, that’s not who I am now.

Giving up the drink has given me a new outlook on life and not just bouncing from one session to the next

I have to say I’m going through a phase now where my drinking mates are gone and I’m trying to find new things to do. This week its get back into the golf!!!!

Only found the non drinker forum and I’m looking forward to contributing in future.

Tom Thorne

Hi Sub,
In mid 30's also. Peace of mind is one thing I've also noticed in my few weeks off the sauce.

Wingman2010

I'm off it 6 months tomorrow

I'm really loving the joy of sobriety.

Every evening walking home from work I seem to walk past somebody or more than often a few people who are completly intoxicated. This is such a sad sight. Seeing these people re-enforces my decision not to drink. A major motivational tool though. But saying that I feel so helpless walking past these people.

I still think the drink problem is being swept under the carpet by this country. I can't see this government taking any radical action to tackle this problem. A lot of the politicians in the dail are publicians so it's not in their best interests in take any tough actions.

As I said I'm really enjoying myself since I decided to give up the drink; the last 6 months were amazing. But its not easy being a 25 year old non drinker in Ireland. Your mates ridicule you! Everyone questions why you are not drinking! When quite simply I just rather having a fanta than a pint of Heinekein! Why is such a big deal made of this?? You have to avoid going out with certain people because of all this crap. A lot of girls think there is some other big reason why you don't drink!

Sorry for all my complaining..

bank

Hi Wingman2010

You must be incredibly proud of yourself and certainly shoud be. I agree that we have a massive alcohol problem in Ireland which will have to be addressed sometime. It will probably take something tragic to happen before people sit up and take notice.

For now it's young people like yourself and myself (a wee bit older) to lead the way and show the country there is a better and more enjoyable way to live. When we turn our lives around after drinking/drugging/smoking/over eating, it often threatens people. This is often because they are not proud of themselves either etc. Smokers are more comfortable in other smokers company and the same with drink.

We've all been there, worn the t-shirt. Just feel sorry for people who feel the need to comment on your not drinking and remember that they are probably enving you but putting up an act. Well done and thanks for the inspiration you give me because I am only starting out after what seems like about 100 years of drinking sessions etc.

CDfm

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