I woke up this morning inexplicably happy to be sober! Just a big burst of happy endorphins and optimistic feelings. I had a big long hot shower and when I finally padded down to the kitchen in my slippers the sun was breaking through the clouds over the hillside across from our house. I grabbed my phone and took this photo…
Then (because this is how I roll) I put the photo on Twitter with the text “Beautiful hangover-free Friday morning!! So happy to be #sober” and then I put it on Facebook with the text “This time three years ago I was awash with wine and just 2 weeks away from hitting rock bottom and making a monumental life-changing decision (to remove all alcohol from my life). Today I am waking up hangover-free and very, very, very grateful to be sober.”
And now I’m putting the photo here on Living Sober! Mr D says it’s blurry but I don’t care. I like the raindrops on the clothes line and my grandmothers twirly-wirly wooden thing that I have hanging off the deck and I love, love, love the sunbeams shining down like rays of happiness and joy.
There’s a lot of talk in recovery circles about gratitude and how beneficial it is to practice daily. Sober bloggers often write random gratitude posts listing all the good things in their lives. Lots of people in my personal Facebook feed have recently been doing ‘7-days of Gratitude’ lists (or something like that) and yesterday on Channel E! I heard Giselle Bundchen say ‘The secret to happiness is being grateful’.. (look here I just found an article online where she says the same thing….!) so if glorious supermodel Giselle says it’s so it must be so…
Being grateful for the good things we have makes us feel better.
I suppose it’s all about positive thinking. I’m feeling positive today! So here is a list of some of the reasons why I love being sober….
* I feel like I’ve crawled out of the cave I’ve been in all my adult life where I drank alcohol all the time and never developed any proper strategies to deal with emotional shit.. and now I’m standing tall and blinking in the sunlight waking up to myself and the world for the very first time..
* Whenever I get through a tough time and have to do some proper work to deal with things (e.g. listening to Tara rather than drinking crap-loads of wine) I feel incredibly better resolved about the thing I was dealing with..
* I have removed a ginormous area of concern from my life and now don’t have to waste any mental energy worrying or feeling guilty about my alcohol intake..
* I can rest easy that, if nothing else, I am bringing up my sons to have a full understanding of alcohol and all it’s affects, so that they can move into adulthood making their own choices with full awareness and knowledge..
* I have more money to spend on fresh flowers, in op-shops & at the deli (and I’ll never feel guilty about any of my purchases unless they are too sugary!)
* I sleep better, I cook better, I read better, I concentrate better, I sing better, I dance better, I listen better, I hug better, I clean better, I write better, I am better.
I am a better person sober than I was as a person boozing.
How about you?
Love, Mrs D xxx
[…] can often give an addict back a sense of gratitude. When we are in our addiction we often overlook the gifts and beauty of everyday life. In recovery […]
I glanced in the mirror earlier tonight and saw a sober me looking back – true story. It was astonishing and awesome all at the same time. I liked what I saw.
Just admitting I’m tired, and having a quiet night in and early night instead of getting false energy from drink and then feeling even more exhausted the next day! To sum it up: getting to know myself better, and treating myself nicely.
that false energy from booze kept me going for YEARS. Yet really, you are just getting tireder and tireder. It is supposed to be a depressant buy I always find it waay overstimulating.
I am guilt free, I am grateful for all the wonderful opportunities coming into my life, I am functioning fully in life, I am happy, I am grateful to be sober, I love living
not contacting people who better left in your past because you are pissed!!!
Well said Mrs D… it is amazing what we can achieve with a positive mind, being grateful for what we have rather than wishful for what we don’t.
Fantastic post and keep sharing your photo’s
Cheers
Martin
My soul fits my body better.
Or is it the other way round: my body now fits my soul better??
Deep! Nicely put!☺️
LOVE this description!
Gratitude…to be alive, living life sober, wanting to be more, experience more, be present in the moment…for finding this safe place to be me & it’s enough…doesn’t mean there was suddenly twinkle dust sprinkled over my life & it is now perfect…it’s not, but I have gratitude that I can deal with my life, feel my emotions head-on & not under a cloud of booze…life is beginning and I am experiencing lots of gratitude to be here on this journey…we are not alone & there is such comfort & power in that… 🙂
Gratitude – I can get up in the morning look into my eyes in the mirror and smile. 🙂
Brilliant Mrs D. Yes, we are all better people for being sober. I did some unbelievably stupid things pissed. One small consolation – I’ve learnt I wasn’t the only one who hid booze! Such a good feeling to spend time in the garage doing normal stuff, and not glug, glug, glug.
funny, before logging on and reading your blog I was bouncing round my kitchen getting tea ready thinking it’s Friday night and I am not drunk. I am not drunk. I am not even remotely tiddly and I feel great, buzzed, wonderful. Working in the kitchen with hubby I was a little kissy 🙂 to which he asked was I sure there wasn’t alcohol in my drink earlier [white Russian mocktail – yum!]. Nope, no booze, just that wonderful buzz that comes from being high on life and success. I love being sober to, I am grateful for the strength to acknowledge I had a problem, the strength to do something positive about it, the strength to keep on doing it and for finding this wonderful supportive understanding site.
Love and laughter everyone, hugs and smiles and joy
I am grateful that I am able to see what life is like on the other side. It’s just a big ol’ pile of good actually.
I am grateful that by not drinking I am improving my health and reducing the risk of getting cancer.
( I had no idea how carcinogenic it was!). My children deserve and need a healthy mum. I am so damned pleased I know this now.
With regard to your last point Lotta, I regret to say I am not a better dancer. You see I have been busting out a few moves lately, what with all that extra time on my hands, thinking that I was AOK. My kids, however found it very embarrassing and told me in no uncertain terms that I was NOT a good dancer. I swear I was really good after a few drinks.
same- feel so incredibly self centred and absorbed drinking (and smoking while drinking) when I have a wee boy who would be devvastated if I died tomorrow.. and guess what I AM- actually, WAS!!!
I don’t think this is the right place for this, but I don’t know where else to post it, sorry Mrs D.
Auckland Council is currently shaping its new Proposed Alcohol Policy Bylaw. Given the, at times, heated discussion around alcohol use and availability, perhaps some here would care to have their say. Go to http://www.shapeauckland.co.nz. Submissions open from 15 Aug to 15 Sept 2014.
If we are really going to start a sober revolution, it will have to be one step at a time. Maybe someone who knows more about how these things work will guide us through the process?
thanks for this, share it wherever you can. Ill put it on my facebook. Our beautiful sober voice should be heard!
Hi freshstart – dont care where you post it, that is very useful information. Kicking the booze is about taking back control of your life and people are finding so much wisdom about life and themselves here that they need to go share it with their community and having input into the Alcohol Bylaws is a great place to start. I’m all for the REVOLUTION 🙂
– I no longer tell lies on a daily basis
– I no longer have the anxiety and stress of making sure I have alcohol in the house, and hiding how much I was drinking
– I can decide to drive spontaneously because I will never be over the limit
– I wake up in the morning and can remember going to bed
– I can read a book or watch a DVD in the evening and actually follow the plot
I could go on….and on…and on…
I honestly cannot think of a single downside to being sober.
Ditto
And email people in the evening without fear of wondering what the heck I said last night.
The kids having friends over without me having to hide the drink.
Not staying up late just so I can sneak in an extra glass or two when everyone else has gone to bed.
Not quicky stowing the booze at the back of the grocery cupboard when no-one is looking when I unpack the groceries, and destroying the till receipt incase someone adds up just how many bottles are coming and going in a week.
Putting out a recycling bin which isn’t overloaded with wine bottles – most of my own drinking.
Not having to wrap some of the bottles in newspaper so they are not visible and don’t “chink”, and chucking them in the rubbish bin so the recycling bin isn’t too much of a dead giveaway.
As you say, there are plenty more great pluses!
And I agree, not a single downside. Happy sober Friday evening, everyone!
thanks so much, I have just finished your book – fantastic to read, really identify. Im on day 2!!! TEE
Hey Mrs.D,
Yes, yes, yes to your gratitude list. Swap the fresh cut flowers to blowing my extra loot on groovy boots from the many sales around town….love it!
Great photo too. It is Impressionistic as opposed to blurry…..it’s art darling.
Cheers,
Penny