When I first got sober I was really worried about what my life would be like without alcohol. I feared that it would be boring and that no one would want to hang out with me. It is tradition in my group of friends to always celebrate eachother’s birthdays. Usually, that involves some kind of function revolved around drinking. This year, I wanted to do something for my birthday but without alcohol. I decided to go on a hike and invite my friends.
We planned to do a pretty strenuous hike that would take about 4 hours. Eleven of my friends wanted to come and nine showed up. The two that didn’t show up drank too much the night before and 6:30 a.m. came too early (another reminder of why I am thankful to be sober).
The night before the hike was a Saturday night and had I still been drinking that evening would have been spent at a bar celebrating with all of my friends. My birthday would have been spent hungover and recovering from the night at the bar. Instead, I went to bed early and was excited about the next day. I woke up early, refreshed and ready to enjoy my birthday.
We hiked for about 9 miles total that day and it was sunny and gorgeous outside. Throughout the entire hike I was so grateful for my sobriety. I was so worried about things changing when I quit drinking and what I didn’t realize is that I was going to like the change.
I did not think that my life was horrible before when I was drinking. I was not miserable. I was high functioning. I thought I was happy. I really had no idea that drinking had that much of an affect on my life. But, now I see that it did because life is even better than before.
P.S. Although, I feel great and I have had no desire to drink I realize that I still need recovery in order to stay this way. Plus, it can’t hurt right? So, I am going to go to my first AA meeting this week.
I’m so glad you had such a lovely, healthy, sober birthday. And I think it’s all kinds of awesome that you didn’t need to be miserable to see your life is so much better now without booze. It makes it harder, in a way, if things seem mostly ok, as when they get really bad it’s easier to KNOW something has to change. So that makes you extra smart and sharp to have tackled this.
And despite my own postings about AA and my misgivings around it I still think it’s a great idea to go and check it out. You may LOVE it. You may find a group that’s perfect for you. Or, as Belle said to me if it even helps 5% – if you make one new sober friend or hear one new thing that really resonates with you – that’s totally worth it.
xo