Looks plain stupid!

I just celebrated my 1600th sober day! I probably wouldn’t bother counting days at this stage of my sobriety but the day counter widget on this site makes it super easy.

Celebrating milestones is fun!

For this nice round number I made a date loaf especially so that I could cut it lengthways and write ‘1600’ on it with jam. Satisfying! Then I took a photo and shared it on my social media accounts. Was proud to be celebrating my sober milestone and am always keen to be a visible person in recovery.

Had some lovely responses including one message on Twitter from a yoga teacher in the UK which said: “There was a time I couldn’t imagine how people managed life without booze, now I wonder why I ever bothered!”

Yes I totally get this. My goodness when I think back to first giving up the drink and how terrified I felt of living my life with no booze in it.. how boring I thought I was going to be and how I could not fathom never drinking again… those feelings were very intense.

But now? I’m just happily living my life with no alcohol in it and it’s no big deal. Better than that it’s surprisingly easy. (It wasn’t always, it was hard work at first and I had to concentrate very hard on beating cravings and turning my thinking around).

I don’t miss alcohol. I don’t crave it. I don’t think about it at 5pm every day. I don’t wish I could drink like other people. Far from it.. when I see people getting hammered I can feel quite grateful that I’m not doing that any more.

Member @pinky feels the same and she wrote this great update in the Members Feed the other day which she has agreed to let me share here.

==========

@pinky: Company staying for the last week, and it’s been a challenge. They are big drinkers, and like to have a two hour cocktail session before dinner every night, which is generally around 9:00 pm. Conversation deteriorates, stories are repeated night after night, and I’m really so done. They leave today – thank God – and I can resume my quiet little sober life where I eat dinner early and tuck in for some TV and a quick read before bed.

Interesting that I used to feel somehow ‘less than’ that I couldn’t participate in this nightly ritual because I am not drinking. Now I feel so relieved that I don’t have to do this anymore.

For those of you worrying about how you’re not going to be ‘fun’ anymore, take heart. I no longer feel any regret, or jealousy, or desire to be part of that.

My little life may look boring from the boozer’s point of view, but the boozy life looks plain stupid to me now. I agree with Mrs. D et al that we’re the cool kids now!

==========

Yes we are! We are the cool kids and don’t you forget it. If you’re reading this and can’t ever imagine feeling relaxed about living alcohol free, hang in there… it really does get easier. Work on trying to turn your thinking around, attack every hard-wired belief you have about alcohol and make sure you call ‘bullshit!’ on those beliefs (because they are bullshit). And if you are ever having a bad day might I suggest making a date loaf and writing your number of sober days on it in jam? Might just be the pick-me-up you need.

Mrs D xxx