unforeseen benefits

a7u · 10-11-2008, 04:29 AM

Today I realized something odd: I have held my current job longer than any job in my life. I am sure the #1 reason is that I finally sobered up. I was a daily drunk for 25 years. The most I could stay on a job was a year, maybe 18 months before they got rid of me. I have had my current position a bit more than 3 years, been sober a bit more than 2-1/2 years.

It’s an odd thing to realize.

It fits with a more general phenomenon I am seeing. There was no way I could imagine or anticipate the sorts of new things and changes I would encounter upon sobering up. When I stopped drinking all I knew was that life was going to be different but my imagination would let me see nothing more than not-drinking. I was drunk for so long I completely lost touch with what real normal life was like. Yet this new place I find myself in feels really good and suits me well. It is like I have travelled to a foreign place only to discover it is actually my native land that I left long, long ago.

To all you noobs trying to get your act together: keep up your “won’t power!” The drinking lifestyle sucks, plus being sober is so different you can’t imagine what’s in store for you.

Realized another thing that is a lot less comforting. I drank steadily for 25 years but like most hard drinkers I started young. I have now been sober for a bit more than 2-1/2 years. It dawned on me the other day that far less than 2-1/2 years passed between the 1st and 2nd times I drank. That means that I have now been sober the longest I’ve been sober in my entire life except for the time BEFORE I started drinking. I just turned 51. The last time I had gone this long without a drink I was 15 and *that* was before I had my first drink of alcohol! Between 15 and 25 I would stop for long periods for one reason or another but I certainly never went 2-1/2 years without alcohol in that time. It is really an odd feeling to be 51 and realize you suddenly have this weird direct (and very short) link to yourself at age 15. It’s like a little time warp in my heart and it feels strange.

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10-11-2008, 04:29 AM	#1
a7u Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 23	unforeseen benefits Today I realized something odd: I have held my current job longer than any job in my life. I am sure the #1 reason is that I finally sobered up. I was a daily drunk for 25 years. The most I could stay on a job was a year, maybe 18 months before they got rid of me. I have had my current position a bit more than 3 years, been sober a bit more than 2-1/2 years. It’s an odd thing to realize. It fits with a more general phenomenon I am seeing. There was no way I could imagine or anticipate the sorts of new things and changes I would encounter upon sobering up. When I stopped drinking all I knew was that life was going to be different but my imagination would let me see nothing more than not-drinking. I was drunk for so long I completely lost touch with what real normal life was like. Yet this new place I find myself in feels really good and suits me well. It is like I have travelled to a foreign place only to discover it is actually my native land that I left long, long ago. To all you noobs trying to get your act together: keep up your “won’t power!” The drinking lifestyle sucks, plus being sober is so different you can’t imagine what’s in store for you. Realized another thing that is a lot less comforting. I drank steadily for 25 years but like most hard drinkers I started young. I have now been sober for a bit more than 2-1/2 years. It dawned on me the other day that far less than 2-1/2 years passed between the 1st and 2nd times I drank. That means that I have now been sober the longest I’ve been sober in my entire life except for the time BEFORE I started drinking. I just turned 51. The last time I had gone this long without a drink I was 15 and that was before I had my first drink of alcohol! Between 15 and 25 I would stop for long periods for one reason or another but I certainly never went 2-1/2 years without alcohol in that time. It is really an odd feeling to be 51 and realize you suddenly have this weird direct (and very short) link to yourself at age 15. It’s like a little time warp in my heart and it feels strange.