Fridays are the hardest. When I was drinking, I was drinking daily but Fridays were different. They were the days I looked forward to because I could drink two bottles of wine instead of just 1. After a while, it was a couple bottles of wine and 5 shots of vodka. And then it became an entire bottle of vodka.
I would drive to work on Friday planning out the night. There was a liquor store by my office that I would stop at. I would buy nice bottles of wine, not the cheap stuff I drank the rest of the week.
And even though I’m happy to be sober, every week I catch myself thinking about stopping at that liquor store. Just one more night of drinking sounds okay if it’s on a Friday.
But I know I can’t go down that road. What used to be my favorite day of the week is now my most challenging. It can be hard. Today is hard.
But then I remember, my new favorite day of the week is Saturday. On Saturday, I can wake up at 6 and go hiking instead of recovering from a hangover. And for that I’m grateful.
I relate so much to what you’ve said. I know the feeling well and my drinking was similar, down to the nicer wines. I went to a really dark place before I dragged myself out of it, and I’m so grateful, too. Those weekend mornings are precious. I really like Sundays now, too! I can actually enjoy the second half of the weekend and not be incapacitated or, at a minimum, dreading a Monday when I don’t even have a job/career right now. What a delight!
It is all worth it to get through the hard moments where our brains go after beating in a pattern of Friday night drinking for so long.
That’s awesome! Yes - feeling free, and feeling like we can look at ourselves and be satisfied with ourselves - that is the best. One of the greatest feelings
Want to join in on the encouragement in the Friday thread? It’s the place to be on Fridays
I absolutely can relate to this. I would honestly do the same. And at work we would all talk about what drinks we would have afterwards. And I have been thinking about it as well today but just as you said, waking up the next day not feeling sick is one of the best feelings.
We got this.
Yes I feel you here too. Friday & Saturday night used to be what I lived for! Now I find myself questioning whether to go to bed at 8 pm and wondering what to do with myself. But completely agree once the morning comes I’m always glad to be sober. It’s tough, but we got to keep going, keep it up
I hear you loud and clear. The two bottle nights were especially brutal when I spent the next day at work regretting it.
One of the main reasons I stopped is the shame and regret I’d feel every Monday morning driving to work and tallying up the number of drinks I’d had over the weekend. 25? 30? It was easily four bottles of wine plus beers here and there. Of course that didn’t even include the bottle of wine on Thursday night…
Day 40 for me, and “170 drinks passed” according to my handy counter.
Looks like you’re making it through another Friday. I saw your post but never had a chance to weigh in. I’m glad you’re here. There’s always someone around as you have seen. I’m glad you reached out for a bit of extra support. That’s half the battle. Reaching out for help. I could not do it alone.
‘Free’ time, i.e. time when drinking heavily was possible, was difficult and downright scary when I quit. The wrestling of thoughts was consuming. The more sober free time you accomplish, the more you no longer associate with drinking. I relish free time now, it really is a wonderful freedom.
) the weekends are much better when you can actually remember them
way too many embarrassing zoom happy hours
