The Freedom Thread (Continued) - Enjoying the positives of an alcohol free life *Title edited by MNHQ*

[BunniesBunniesBunnies]

Hello all,

This is a thread for people who have decided that life is much better without alcohol!🤩 These threads were started by @Drybird, and they have changed the lives of many people.

Some posters on these threads have been sober for a long time, and some are only just starting. We are a very friendly and inclusive bunch and we are always excited when someone new joins the thread. The only thing we ask is that our posters have given up alcohol completely. Talk of moderation can be triggering for some people, so this thread is not the right place for that (there are other moderation threads🙂).

I hope to see many familiar names on this thread, and some new ones too! We always welcome anyone to share their feelings, ask questions or simply “check in”🙂

I’d also like to thank @Breathmiller for hosting the last thread (and to ask for your forgiveness for shamelessly stealing your thread title😳) - Thank you @Breathmiller 💐

Thanks all!

Bunnies

@Touty that is excellent news. Well done! Also big well done to @Newmum738 and thank you for your kind words @ChampooPapi, this thread saved my sanity and sobriety so many times, I am very happy to pay it forward.

After I got through my first sober/AF/HF last year it was such a boost. I felt like if I can do that sober I can do anything sober. I hope that all of you who just nailed your first sober Christmas feel similarly emboldened.

Thank you @BunniesBunniesBunnies and @Blackberryblossom. I got through it ok, and it was fine really. I did feel like something was missing, to be honest, but I sat with that feeling, and then when I was prepping the sprouts at the table, playing 80s hits on YouTube (following on from the 80s singingfest DD and I had on the journey up) and watching the rain coursing down the window, I thought ‘just be present and appreciate the moment’. And I did appreciate it. Simple pleasures.

Hope everyone’s had a peaceful day.

Well done to all who have got through today AF. Sending kindness to those that struggled and had a drink (just in case you're struggling with self compassion, I'll send you some).

That's me through my second AF Christmas. I had one momentarily wobble a few days ago when I realised there would be red wine in the house. But its fine. The thought came in my head "maybe I could?" And the answer straight back was "no you can't, you daft mare" then I realised it had passed as quickly and as painlessly as that. Much easier than last year. This really does just get easier all the time so hang in there folks.

Still waiting on my PCR results unfortunately so not sure tomorrow will be going ahead, which is a bit crap. But, I think it's been lots of changed plans for lots of people this year somI can't really complain.

Well done everyone on an AF Christmas day! Your days all sound lovely in different ways, but we've probably all had some tricky moments today so here's to a job well done! Cheers (haha)

Sorry about the pcr test @Breathmiller I hope it comes through for you tonight.

And we're done. Christmas is not the easiest AF day for me, I still have a slight sense of something missing. Tomorrow, however, the only thing missing will be a hangover. Congratulations all. Breathmiller, fingers crossed for negative pcr results overnight.

Thanks all.

No results yet! Boooo!!!
But....no hangover! YAY!!!!

@Breathmiller hope you get the test result this morning!

Hello everyone, I have been on the previous two threads. Well done to everyone for their AF Christmas days! I have done my first one and I am on day 99 today. Merry Christmas to all x

Good morning and a happy hangover free boxing day!

Morning all. Thanks for your kind words from yesterday.

Morning all! Happy Boxing Day, and happy 100 days for tomorrow @Sunflowersinthewind 💯

I am waiting for the fog to lift, promised dd a bike ride today. Hope your test results are in soon breathmiller.

Well done everyone! And don't beat yourself up to anyone who did have a drink. It did feel a bit like something was missing and maybe a bit of the sparkle was missing, but I still had fun and lots of laughs. I had a handful of small wobbles thinking why can't I just have a couple, but I'm feeling much better today (and last night) for staying AF.

@Sunflowersinthewind well done on your almost 100 days!!!

I think it’s so important that some of us are sharing it felt like something is missing. Thanks to those who shared this. I do love AF Christmas but yes of course there were moments where I too fancied a glass of processoco. What helps me is to weigh it all up: Yes a glass of Prosecco at Christmas would be nice (and not harmful), but (for me) the slippery slope of starting drinking again is not nice, and is harmful. Even though I decided not to drink, I think it’s really important to acknowledge these feelings (and “sit with them” like another poster said). It’s okay to feel like you’re missing out a bit, and it’s also okay not to be overjoyed with the thought of an alcohol free Christmas. Being alcohol free isn’t all roses and sunshine and that is okay too. Anyway thanks all for sharing.

Happy late Christmas everyone! Your post is spot on @BunniesBunniesBunnies.
I managed AF Christmas too, but if I’m honest spending the entire cooking and hosting my family was an endurance test. On many occasions I felt like running out the house to let out a primal scream of rage. Issues to work on there I think! Anyway, no hangover today so that’s great. Have a lovely Boxing Day everyone. Lovely you are back @Kindtomyself!

Yes, so much of what you said there bunnies rang true. Being AF isn't all hearts and flowers and fireworks at every turn. In fact it sometimes feels a 'quiet' life choice I have made for myself.

Some aspects of me have had to be let go of. Some are easy to let go of, some harder.

And some bits of drinking are just great to have let go of and some I'm a little sad to no longer do. But all in all the bigger picture is a better and brighter one.

Do i miss a glass of red wine with Christmas dinner? Yes. For a fleeting moment, and the moments getting less and less all the time.

Do I miss hangovers, the guilt, the shame, the waste of money, the fog....? Not one bit.

It's a balance, tipped in the right direction for me now.

Crap crap crap, nearly, NEARLY caved this afternoon. Held firm fellow alcohol free people 💪.

Christmas is so much better without it but it's bloody at every turn!

Had about four incidents where I was either given alcohol or whole bottles of wine/spirits today to 'pass on as gifts' 🙄

I told these F#ckers I'm no longer drinking yet still they bring bloody alcohol for me to pass on to other relatives. One particular person was my own mother who has actually worked as a nurse in drug and alcohol addiction. FFS 😫😂

I handed all items back and said yet again I'm not storing it in the house on case I'm tempted to drink the evil stuff

She was like 'but it'll be heavy to lug back home' 🙄

Not my problem woman! Grrrr. Rant over

@Kindtomyself 💜

champoopapi yeah, that's crap of other folk.

I was talking to my close friend about the fact I watched a certain programme with my gran with a certain drink in my hand in the past. She asked if I was watching it with the drink in my hand? Well no, because I don't drink. I dont think people get that this is for good and not easy.

Well done at avoiding temptation

@Breathmiller it is a 🤦 moment isn't it? I know it's hard for some people to remember/get their head around. But I know a fair few people who have stopped drinking and actually it's not ever something i'd ask, and I bet you wouldn't either. There is just a large group (majority?) of our society that do not get addiction, drug and/ alcohol abuse. They either have a very black and white view or are very deluded about their own drinking so cannot or will it see or face the realities

@ChampooPapi well done for not caving and well done for giving the bottles back!!! “Not my problem woman” - I really want to adopt this phrase😂😂😂

I had a lovely big country walk today followed by an AF mulled cider.

Hello everyone, we're all still standing, yes?! I have to confess I haven't been posting much in the last two weeks as deep down I felt I was going to cave / quite deliberately- around Xmas eve/ Xmas day/ Boxing Day and I didn't want to post while half contemplating lapsing. It felt duplicitous. However I'm not sure quite what happened but as last week wore on I didn't actually feel the pull towards alcohol half as much as I'd predicted! Yes there were a few hairy moments and today has probably been the hardest- Boxing Day for me was always about lacing around and finding increasingly ingenious hangover cures (all involving alcohol) to throw into my face. But I'm through the other side of it now and I'm proud and shocked ...... and a little wistful if I'm quite honest. I feel so raw but don't have the space or the drive right now to examine why- I'm just going to push through the holidays and keep going! New year is normally a big deal for us, but Covid has meant we've cancelled our travel and party plans. I had a dry NYE last year and I loved starting a new year fresh (which I did- a crisp run followed by wild swimming, followed by a bottle of champagne in a hot bath... so thinking on the right side. I lasted until about 2pm dry last year, which felt like a win at the time!!) This year will be different. Like some other people there's a feeling for me that something is slightly missing from the festivities. I know it's a trick of the mind and it's about retraining the muscle memory of the brain - it's just so QUIET and I'm not used to that at all.
Sending love, fistbumps and high fives to all of you, with some hugs and kisses for anyone who could use one.

Amazing update @CardinalCat. You should be very proud!!!

Well done champoopapi that must have been challenging.

cardinalcat you made me realise that alcohol was not the only thing missing from the festivities this year, “wistful” is such a good word to describe that feeling of something being missing, but also the sense of loss around another year of covid and the disruption wrought to Christmas once again. So I don’t need to lay all the blame with choosing not to drink.

💐 iamyourequal .

No hangover today, and I went for a bike ride with dd. That most definitely more than outweighed any tinges of wistfulness yesterday!