some people think it’s tragic if one can’t have fun without alcohol or drugs .
i think it’s much more tragic if one can’t live without fun .
this early stage of sobriety is about facing the grey light of boring reality . this is not fun but i believe something good or at least less worse awaits .
I needed to hear this today…
I’m two weeks in, and I feel like crap today.
This is the reminder for me…
Thanks for posting! 
For me a big part of it is redefining fun. I don’t consider being under the influence of this or that, or this and that together, as fun. Being sober, having my wits about me, being able to think and feel and act and interact IS actually fun. Instead of being sedated, numb, dizzy, woozy, out of it, drunk or stoned or high, not feeling anything, not being present.
Redefine what boring is or isn’t. My advice. Yes it takes time and effort. Staying in active addiction takes effort too. While the longer it lasts, the less fun it is. With sobriety it’s the opposite.
Build a relationship with yourself for more fun. Discover who you are & what you like.
“The grey light of boring reality” absolutely spot on. Thank you for sharing this @Malakoff
I have struggled so much with this in the past few months. I was thinking about it the other day, my using goes wayyyy back to when I was 13, and even at that age every Friday night hanging around the parks and streets was ‘the BEST night ever’.
Once I could access clubs and amphetamines/MDMA every Friday and Saturday became ‘the most INCREDIBLE night ever’ as the euphoria continued to teach my brain that THIS was what a good time was all about. It got to the point of teenage years being saturated with Wednesday-Sunday morning stretches of drinking and using.
Continuing to drink and use throughout the next decades meant that although I never reached the euphoric heights of those first few years, my whole concept of fun, enjoyment, good times was/is that each evening out needs to be the most incredible ever.
Real, ordinary, sober life isn’t like that and the grey light is absolutely something I have to work on getting used to.
Thank u for sharing 
I think many of us can relate to this, I know I can. In early recovery, i didnt know what to do with all this “extra” time now that I wasnt using. And I didnt know how to have “fun” without being on some sort of substance. The reality of it all, is that using and drinking isnt fun. Maybe at one point it was (in the very early stages). But there definitely came a time when I crossed that invisible line, where my use turned into a necessity as opposed to recreation. For me, the idea that drugs and alcohol provide “fun” in my life, is just a lie that my addict self is trying to tell me.
Honestly, i realized in recovery, how BORING i was in active addiction. Everything revolved around drugs and alcohol, and finding ways and means to get more. Thats it, thats all.
In recovery, i can experience new things! New hobbies! Discover who I am! What i like I now have the money to try new experiences, new foods, new activites. Its really eye opening actually, how much I was missing by being on drugs.
Recovery doesnt always feel fun and sure it can get boring. But i use those “boring” times to reflect, write, do something for my recovery. We choose how we want to live our life and what we want to incorporate into it 
i am only few days further and carrying a similar crap . here we go , mate ! 
i really needed to read your story ! my hundred thanks to you . felt like if you had scanned my insides .
thank you so much for sharing this . i found a lot of myself in your writing .
Ive been thinking ill get fomo when my friends are out drinking and party’s. I needed to hear this today 
I felt that the grey light was the dimming effect of longterm drink / drugs. As I healed, after months, the lights began to turn up, like the house lights in a theater. Stay the course. We make changes to our brains when we use, but we do recover!
This resonates with me…
I have been on a ‘one track mind’ for decades. Everything revolved around my addiction. I just didn’t care about anything or anyone else.
I really love the idea of discovering who I am (and what I really like) - for real, without the addiction…
That actually does sound fun. 
I can’t wait to experience this.
Thank you for the inspiration. 