Things I've learnt about sobriety after 40 days

Life in Recovery
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It’s been 40 days since I last had a drink - a night out with a friend which could have easily ended up with me in hospital or in a police cell.

Since then I have learnt a lot about what it means to live a sober life free from the safety blanket of alcohol. Here are a random collection of some of my experiences thus far.

The first 3 weeks were the hardest. Particularly that third weekend. I got an extra kick on the fourth weekend because It was the last weekend before a month, but that third weekend was torture.

I wasn’t a night owl, I was a drunk. I have spent most of my life thinking “I’m not a morning person”. I now rarely wake up after 8am and love being up with the birds. My sleep is 1000x better.

Being sober has opened my eyes to how much was triggering me to drink. Uncomfortable feelings. Drink. Injured myself running. Drink. Friend at works birthday. Drink. Friday. Drink. Tuesday for no reason at all. Drink.

Being sober makes you realise how much time you loose. Being sober is a double edged sword. On the one hand you can find yourself bored and missing alcohol. On the other hand you have far more time to fill that boredom in. Not a bad thing.

My identity and values are changing so quickly. Being sober has made me more empathetic and aware of how my behaviour effects others. I can feel myself doing more good now and no longer have to lie about things. Sobriety flows over into every other aspect of my life in a positive way.

My skin is 1000 times better. My teeth and gums are 1000 times better. My mood is far more up and down, but generally more stable. Colours appear to be more vivid. I can smell again, I appreciate the little things and am more present.

People like me more. My family can see the change in me. I’m more respected/taken more seriously at social gatherings and havent fallen out with anyone since I stopped drinking.

I am learning to compartmentalise my anxieties. Previously I would drink and the anxiety would grow. Not drinking has forced me to put my anxieties in a box without judgement of myself. Overall my anxiety is 1000 times better than it was.

And finally LIFE IS GOOD! Sobriety isn’t perfect. It’s not all rainbows and butterfly’s but even when it sucks I’ve tried to remember that it’s a hell of a lot better than never having a weekend. Always having to apologise. Loosing relationships and feeling sick all the time.

Oh and also how good is coffee :raised_hands::raised_hands:

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I love this. Thank you :blush:

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Nice one! :facepunch:
Learning as you go really helps to boost your satisfaction along the way.

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I can totally relate to this. I always wanted to be a morning person lol thought it was impossible to become one of those productive people who can get an early start to the day “but I’m a night owl” lol no I wad just up all night drinking and doing whatever I was doing. I too now wake up early on demand, non groggy. It’s a blessing.

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Haha I know right! I guess because I was drinking I just wasn’t allowing myself to get enough REM sleep. It’s such a nice feeling hey :ok_hand:

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I don’t think alcoholism freezes personal development completely, but it slows things down a lot. Once you stop drinking, your brain starts processing issues you have been repressing with the bottle. You start to become more able to deal with things in a normal way and improve your life. The change in perspective starts slowly but the results accumulate over time.

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I guess it depends on the person. I’m just speaking of my own personal experience but alcoholism is a spectrum after all. For many people it may in fact freeze personal development - especially all day every day drinkers. Thankfully I never got to that stage.

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Good deal continue to write. Very true being sober is not perfect and sometimes boring. But I rather be like that than trashed.

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Thanks for posting this. It definitely gives me hope to keep pressing on.

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This is really cool, this reflection. I’m around the same number of days sober, and I definitely feel so much better, just because I am no longer engaging in deceptive behavior every day. I just like myself better.

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Esteemable people do Esteemable things I guess :ok_hand: Congrats on your sober days thus far :blush:

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40 days?! Wow! Congrats man. :clap:t4::clap:t4::clap:t4: looming forward to smelling better haha day 2 here :+1:t4:

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Haha I can’t tell if you mean smelling things better or actually smelling better yourself :joy: One thing is for sure though - once I got that heightened sense of smell back I realised how bad people who are drinking smell. Congrats on your days so far and good luck on your journey to a sober better life :raised_hands:

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Looking forward to my sense of smell I meant haha

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It’s hard but it’s gets easier faster than I thought it would :blush: You can do it!

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I totally agree with you. It can be boring, but that’s life I guess. Sometimes it is boring. I was just an asshole trashed.

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Thank you for sharing this. Loads of inspiration here🖤

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Sharing always gives me a chance to reflect I guess. Glad it helped in some small way :blush:

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This is such an excellent post!!! Thank you!

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Good on you,yes it’s hard work but hell yeah it’s worth it.:muscle::muscle:

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