Why I love being Alcohol Free!

[My New Beginning]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

I love being alcohol free because:

I don't hate myself anymore
I have a better relationship with my husband
I am sleeping so much better
It's great to have the extra money!
No more blinding headaches in the morning
I don't have to 'hide' what I'm doing anymore
I love this thread. Thank you!!!

[franziasgone]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

contact lens humor

I decided to take my contacts out while talking to a friend one night at a party. We were standing in my kitchen and both wasted. I just took them out and laid them on my kitchen counter.....figured "what the Hell?". Found them the next day dried up and crispy......they were brand new.......
Another reason to rejoice in being sober: bringing home work from the office over the weekend, only to find on Monday morning you can't read what you wrote on all the "work" that was done at home.

[want2Bsober]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

Great Thread 4 Newbies 2 Read!!

tatoosh;717612 wrote: Popeye,

Thank you so much for this post. You put into words what I was feeling. Next time I think about drinking I am going to come back and read this.

You are a better man for all your efforts in the right direction.

I second this!! In fact, I think I'm going to sit down and make a list of my own tonight for inspiration ...

[feelgood]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

Feeling in charge feels good. Cannot see how I made it through it all, every day starts out good and every day ends on a good note.

[Lost Soul]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

I am AF 11 months now It feels good.

I am enjoying today, I am putting in 100% in(well 90% on a bad one!)
but always everything into being a better, happier me!
I know I used AL to escape, for bordom to feel better.
I am working on:
- remembering I have nothing to escape from.
- putting my energy into being where I want to be.
- I don't need AL to feel better.
I am confident in myself and abilities.
No more lies - being honest with me
Doing everything for the right reasons - not just to feel better.
Not forgetting how easy it is to slip and ruin all my progress, being grateful I've come this far and looking foward to the future

[DriftyAlison0]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

*Being able to do stuff the day after that I wasn't able to do with a hangover*
*Not wasting my time and money on something that only lasts a few hours,then I would be hungover*
*Being able to not worry about being cut off*
*Not making an arse out of myself*

[looking for peace]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

Allison and Lost Soul, Thanks so much for bumping this up. I needed the extra inspiration. I don't have a solid block of AF time under my belt yet, but i am sitting in bed about to go to sleep and going through the MWO website. This thread made me think of what a love about today's sober evening vs. the majority of my evenings for the last 20 years or so...

I made and enjoyed dinner with my family. I washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen right afterwards instead of leaving a sink of dirty dishes until morning.

I was able to drive to the grocery store at 7pm to get cat food instead of saying screw it... I'll feed the cat a can of tuna in the morning.

I had a conversation with my son that we both will remember.

I was able to sit with my family and watch 60 minutes and I know I'll remember what I saw.

I transferred the clothes from the washing machine to the dryer instead of leaving them there until morning and trying to rewash the mildewy smell.

I put on actual pajamas instead of just wearing the shirt I've been wearing all day with a pair of old pajama pants.

I washed my face, put on moisturizer, brushed and flossed my teeth and put hand cream on my hands. All of this instead of flopping into bed with unbrushed teeth, dirty face and not caring at all about my evening hygine routine.

It's so nice to have this kind of evening instead of an alcohol soaked foggy evening.

[looking for peace]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

Just to add to my post..... Thank you, Feel Good, for bringing this thread back in focus and to others for adding to it.

[lu4]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

Can relate

Looking for peace ... everything you said relates to me!! Scary, how we just let thing's go ..

[Sunbeam]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

I have self-respect, instead of feeling disgusted with myself.

[FlyAway]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

1. I love remembering how I got into bed.
2. I love sleeping the night through.
3. I love being able to drive at any time, day or night.
4. I love that I look younger and that my face isn't swollen.
5. I love that I have just as much fun at social events sober as I did when I was drinking.
6. I love that my body is on the mend.
7. I love that I have more energy.
8. I love that I don't hate myself.

[Blooming Rose]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

I love this thread too.
For me it's much better to focus on the positive reasons to stop drinking, rather than telling myself I have to stop because of the damage it's causing (which it is, but this doesn't seem to work for me).
So like lots of other people:
- I sleep HEAPS better
- I don't feel guilty
- I can remember the evening
- I feel great in the morning

I slipped up today at a gathering for a certain Ausse horse race, but not too badly, and I think I'm heading in the right direction at last.

[BlondeAFAmbition]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

This is a wonderful thread and I can relate to what everyone has said thus far. Since I am starting out on Day one, and I know I will have lots more to add tomorrow when I wake up hangover free for a change, I will say that the best thing living AF today is that it was my day off from work, and I had a long list of things to do. Usually, I would rush through and not get much of them done because I would start drinking at lunchtime! Today, I enjoyed my day, knowing I had a whole evening's worth of time to do something productive instead of pass out. That is awesome. It's like adding 5 hours of precious time to your day, every day. I'm so excited about this!

[DriftyAlison0]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

I have my dignity and still have my friends that I had before I quit.

Not puking, feeling hungover and wishing that I didn't drink so much the night before and not at all, and to never drink again only to plan my next time to go and get drunk once I felt better.

No more going home after a night out and thinking about how bad my hangover is going to be the next day.

No more shame and no more of mom worrying about me and the amount that I drank.

No more worry about not having enough beer for me at home when I did drink at home. I was so afraid that a six pack wasn't enough and even though after awhile I never felt as drunk at home then going out, I was afraid that I would run out, and end up drinking 3-4 beers.

No more having to worry about the amount I drank period.

No more drinking more experienced drinkers under the table.

[Mish]

Why I love being Alcohol Free!

Waking up knowing that I'm finally the person I always wanted to be instead of a sad, pathetic shadow who had brought misery into so many lives.
Looking at my eyes in the mirror instead of avoiding them because I hated who I'd become. Smiling at my own image in recognition of how far I've come.
Knowing that if the phone rings or there's a knock at the door I can answer it instead of pretending I'm out.
Not having to cover the bottles and casks in the recycle bin with newspapers.
Knowing my children are proud of me instead of sad and disappointed.
Oh, so many reasons...