Giving Up Alcohol – It Feels Different This Time Around

By Madison


During a phone call today, my friend was asking how long it had been since I gave up drinking so I told him it was about 10 weeks now. He went on to give me some words of wisdom and said that nobody should give up all pleasures in life because sooner or later they will realize it and end up giving in to whatever the vice may be. He said that moderation is the key and that if you can live within the confines of moderation then you will ultimately be happier and more in control of your life. He went on to say that he thought alcohol had been a way for me to express emotions that I had on a deeper level but the chemistry of alcohol did not agree with me. He thought it was good that I had given it up but that in future who knew, maybe I would just drink moderately and be able to enjoy it rather than forego the pleasure of alcohol altogether.

After the call, I thought about our conversation for quite a while and I realized that I didn’t really agree with him because of how I feel now. This time is completely different to any other time in the past when I tried to give up drinking. This time I do not feel like I am missing anything, therefore I am not giving up one of the so called pleasures in life. This time around, I do not feel left out or that I am unable to enjoy life without drinking anymore. Slowly but surely as each day passes I am beginning to understand that there is so much more to life than wasting it away by drinking. I am learning how to have fun again in situations that once I could never imagine without having a drink. Even when I am around others who are drinking, I do not feel envious or like I can’t enjoy the level they are on. I am getting more and more in tune with who I am and the key to knowing that I am on the right path is that I don’t feel like I am missing anything when I am not drinking. This kind of realization is such a release and is a milestone in my recovery.

 

What is your opinion? Does sobriety feel different to you this time around?

Thank you for visiting “Recovery Princess; Quit Drinking and Enjoy Sobriety”


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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Get Sober. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Giving Up Alcohol – It Feels Different This Time Around”

  1. Skinnyninja
    October 1, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    Yes! Sobriety does feel different when you have made a decision on a really deep level.

    When you truly surrender to your alcoholism, there is a tremendous release, and a burden is lifted. Now it is easy to get misled here because many people in early recovery also experience a “pink cloud” phenomenon, but that doesn’t have to be the end of the world when it eventually bursts. Recovery is going to be full of ups and downs–just like regular life–but we can choose to handle our problems differently in recovery.

    Surrender to your disease deep down and realize that you cannot drink successfully. Ever. This is the key to freedom.

    If we could moderate successfully we would not have sought out recovery to begin with.

    #4
  2. admin
    October 2, 2008 at 2:41 pm

    You make some really good points Ninja. Especially the last one, “If we could moderate successfully we would not have sought out recovery to begin with” I totally agree. I think that anyone toying with the idea of trying to gain control over alcohol after a spell of sobriety would be wise to consider these words.

    #5

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