The fellowship of AA is there if you want it.
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I know, I’m having trouble going. I wish I felt more comfortable
Are your kids around? Hang out with them! I find that one of my kids usually ends up making me laugh. Or they suggest things to do. It’s nice because we can finally go outside again woo hoo!
Thank you for the suggestions, I see all the options. Can anyone relate maybe to these feelings? I’m almost a year in and still don’t know what I’m doing or why I’m doing it. I did get Beautiful Katamari for xbox360 to zone out on. I will try some other game options as the time alone zoning out on games feels similar to why I liked alcohol. Gives me a reason not to think too hard about life. I tried Skyrim and I feel bad saying it but it wasn’t for me. Lol. Any 360 or android game suggestions? I hike, spend time with my kids, work, clean, etc already. I’m trying to join an indoor soccer league but you have to come in on a team… I’ll keep trying. Sorry if this post is all over the place.
Has anyone suggested doing volunteer work or working with another alcoholic. My new passion is trying to get into high schools and middle schools to work with at risk youth. I’ve been contacted by a couple principals so hopefully it takes off.
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I feel so close to wanting to go to the bar 
trying to stay focus though . Maybe some video games!
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Lol I downloaded diner dash.
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Wise words. Thanks for this share. Makes me feel more positive.
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Yep I can relate to those feelings. I have less time sober than you but definitely get waves of feeling really isolated and sorry for myself. I did when I was drinking too - I used to drink rather than dealing with those things. Now I am working out how to deal with the feelings. Meditation and working on happiness are helping. Not every day is amazing but that’s ok. Acceptance is a pretty important part of my process.
There is a post with lots of suggestions of meditations for recovery if that’s something you want to try. I’ve also been working through a daily happiness calendar this month in case that’s of interest 
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I haven’t told many people I’m “sober” and haven’t made a year and still super struggling with wanting to drink all the time and questioning why I’m doing this, so I wouldn’t be the motivational speaker they need. It’s awesome of you to do that though. As a middleschooler many of us were already smoking and drinking but hard drugs didn’t come in until 8-9th grade. 6-7th would be a good grade to talk to them I think. I know it can be life altering to hear people talk about drugs and alcohol and what they can do to you. Many people come from families where it is normalized. I applaude you for having the courage to talk about it so publicly because that is the only way to spread that message.
I do volunteer in other capacities and find it very rewarding. I’m volunteering this weekend at a fundraiser for mental health resources in our county and I volunteer for my kids scouts and soccer. I used to be on the board of directors for a charity assisting people with PTSD.
I will keep my eyes toward pulling out of this month’s long depression slump.
When my daughter says she’s bored I point out that being bored is not a lack of having things to do, it’s a lack of imagination. It’s a lack of motivation. It’s an overabundance of procrastination.
Pick some activity that you always thought about doing, and then go do it. Bowling or ballroom dancing. Spin class or martial arts class. Yoga class or Tai Chi. Go to a driving range and hit a couple of buckets of balls. Buy a couple cheap fishing rods, and take the kids fishing. Pick your favorite author, and read everything they’ve ever written. Read their commentaries on their work. Read what critics say. Pick some historical happening, and learn everything you can about it. Learn a new language. Learn to cook in a new style. Start a blog, and write about being “You”.
Me? I am never bored. If anything, I wish I had more time to get to all of the stuff I need to get to, as well as the stuff I want to get to. For me, it’s about growing, and moving forward. It’s about getting better at getting better, each and every day. It’s about finishing this race we call “Life” as strong as I can.
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That is great you have the ability to self motivate. Depression for me is crippling and it isn’t simply, just be happy, meditate, smile, go do something. … I have fishing rods, a guitar, a house to clean, movies to watch, kids to play with… I know all the things I’m supposed to go enjoy… I love all the people posting ideas and I think it’s wonderful you can do all these things with your life. It’s beautiful even… sometimes I feel that energy too and it’s wonderful, also sometimes I hide under a blanket and I can’t move and feel lost and alone… it’s hard to fish from your self made depression cocoon.
That being said I joined meetup thank you to someone’s suggestion and there are many local activities so I’m going to sign up for some of these and possibly. … maybe finally go to a meeting on my own
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You’ve got so much going on, that’s awesome! I have had to shift my idea of what counts as being social, it’s not just getting shitfaced on a Friday night. In fact that’s probably one of the least social things I can do! I go to bed early and get up early and I’ve started looking at my hobbies as opportunities to socialise which I didn’t before (cos there was no booze involved).
I get when you’re feeling shit it’s hard to see all that good stuff though. Are you getting any support for your depression, either medication or counselling?
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Depression and mental health are the main reasons I stopped drinking. I really thought it would get better being sober. The realization that I have depression all on my own had been hard to accept. I was kind of hoping with sobriety did all the other issues would subside. You know like that was my main problem. The reality is I have serious chronic depression and ptsd and I was using alcohol to feel better. Depression medication does not do the trick. So I am left finding another way to feel happy. This has been the struggle for me this past year. I have dabbled in many crafts volunteer activities and Hobbies. I am trying very hard. The highs and lows of alcoholism do not make it better so I am sticking to sobriety. I love this forum and reading all of the threads. I am sorry if mine are not uplifting like most.
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There’s a difference between not feeling like doing anything, and feeling like you’ve nothing to do.
I have days where life feels like it’s got the upper hand, or I’m tired, or preoccupied, or worried. I choos to dig in, and push through, because old me would have hit the bottle. Old me is gone, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure he stays gone.
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Sorry I didn’t reply to this sooner, just got a notification on this thread and saw I hadn’t responded.
You don’t have to apologise that your experience isn’t positive. I think all of us have those times - some more than others of course - and being honest about the emotional difficulties is hard.
I think you’ve nailed it though, just because we get sober doesn’t mean the problems go away. And some problems are just hard to shake.
How are you getting on at the moment? I hope you find something that helps make the days go by a little easier 
️
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I really enjoyed drinking and actually had a lot of fun when drunk. So i stopped, initially kept busy by my struggle to quit now 2 years later the boredom is creeping in. Get a hobby, yoga etc an option but still feel bored. I have still n9t worked out why i loved booze so much or if i was trying to deaden my senses. Physically i feel much better which is a big motivation to quit forever
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You sound exactly like me. Like, exactly.
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This is my feeling a lot. I don’t have many friends and no family in the area. I am also super weird and awkward so trying to socialize makes me feel worse cuz I get the weird looks or people walk away. I feel lonely and bored but afraid to go out for fear I make my bad feelings worse!
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I tried an app called meetup. There wasn’t much near me. I took on extra clients for work to stay busy and have been cleaning and organizing everything. My son and I stayed playing Pokémon go. He’s 8 and we’re loving walking everywhere and playing plus the dog likes it. I went off fb which had actually been wonderful, even though it’s supposed to make you more social I found my “close” friends could save themselves guilt about not texting or calling by thinking they knew what was going on in my life just by watching it through fb… so that’s feeling good. I’m at 353, almost a year. … I still feel numb a lot, I’m still lonely and sometimes it is worse than others, but I’m still really proud of myself everytime I quiet that voice in my head that is telling me I don’t need sobriety.
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