A couple quotes from an article i love. Hope everyone is doing well.
"When I stopped drinking, I filled that gaping chasm in my life with the opposite of drinking. I wrote, I learned how to fix and modify guitars, I learned to run, box, kickbox and suffer gladly the torturous workouts my trainer devised. I ended a lot of hollow friendships, deepened my relationships with friends who, sober or not, were good for me, repaired my relationships with my father and older sister and invested deeply in my relationships with my nephews and nieces. I ate my vegetables and took my vitamins and did my homework. I stopped doing fun things I wasn?t proud of and did a lot of hard things I knew were good for me but somehow still couldn?t feel proud of because they were so "recovery-by-the-numbers" like raising plants and doing yoga. Of central importance to my transformation was keeping my appointments with my counselor. I didn?t want to go so I forced myself to go. I didn?t want to be honest so I forced myself to be honest. Some of it was really rewarding, a lot of it sucked and all of it was hard work. Don?t erase all my vigilant efforts to change by calling me a dry drunk just because I get pissed when I get a parking ticket. Parking tickets suck?that?s a universal constant.
....It?s not necessary to pathologize my every move simply because I am an alcoholic. I don?t run because I?m an exercise addict, eternally chasing the "runner?s high." Occasionally, I enjoy running but mostly I endure the discomfort of running because I know it increases both the length of my life and the quality of my life and I hate running less than I fear death and the sensation of dying. Just because I have been addicted to alcohol, it doesn?t mean my life after alcohol is necessarily just an empty series of dire cravings and desperate injections of pleasure. When I pat your dog, I am not chasing "dog patter?s high," I am just patting the dog. Because, at the end of the day, yes, I?m an alcoholic, but I?m also a bass player, a gear nerd, a writer, an ultrarunner, a guitar wrangler, a songwriter, a mediocre kickboxer, a solid friend, an uncle, a brother, a step-brother, a foster brother, a son and a flawed, imperfect but mostly happy human being.
"When I stopped drinking, I filled that gaping chasm in my life with the opposite of drinking. I wrote, I learned how to fix and modify guitars, I learned to run, box, kickbox and suffer gladly the torturous workouts my trainer devised. I ended a lot of hollow friendships, deepened my relationships with friends who, sober or not, were good for me, repaired my relationships with my father and older sister and invested deeply in my relationships with my nephews and nieces. I ate my vegetables and took my vitamins and did my homework. I stopped doing fun things I wasn?t proud of and did a lot of hard things I knew were good for me but somehow still couldn?t feel proud of because they were so "recovery-by-the-numbers" like raising plants and doing yoga. Of central importance to my transformation was keeping my appointments with my counselor. I didn?t want to go so I forced myself to go. I didn?t want to be honest so I forced myself to be honest. Some of it was really rewarding, a lot of it sucked and all of it was hard work. Don?t erase all my vigilant efforts to change by calling me a dry drunk just because I get pissed when I get a parking ticket. Parking tickets suck?that?s a universal constant.
....It?s not necessary to pathologize my every move simply because I am an alcoholic. I don?t run because I?m an exercise addict, eternally chasing the "runner?s high." Occasionally, I enjoy running but mostly I endure the discomfort of running because I know it increases both the length of my life and the quality of my life and I hate running less than I fear death and the sensation of dying. Just because I have been addicted to alcohol, it doesn?t mean my life after alcohol is necessarily just an empty series of dire cravings and desperate injections of pleasure. When I pat your dog, I am not chasing "dog patter?s high," I am just patting the dog. Because, at the end of the day, yes, I?m an alcoholic, but I?m also a bass player, a gear nerd, a writer, an ultrarunner, a guitar wrangler, a songwriter, a mediocre kickboxer, a solid friend, an uncle, a brother, a step-brother, a foster brother, a son and a flawed, imperfect but mostly happy human being.
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