Two Weeks sober today...

[James40C]

Feel great actually. I know I'll not drink for a few weeks at least, but a question for you all. When you have time off work or a holiday coming up, how do you approach that with the intension of not drinking? I'm fine when I'm on term time (I work at a school) because I'm in a routine and I'm usually too tired by Friday night to even want to go out. Plus the hangovers last for 2 (sometimes even 3 days now that I'm 37) days and if I go out on the weekend I'm still feeling pretty miserable by Monday morning when I have to get up. All these factors make it easier for me to say no to alcohol.

When I'm off work I feel like the only way I can socialise is at the pub. I don't currently have a girlfriend, I don't have kids and I just feel like I'm missing something during that time off when I should be relaxing, but that's when the cravings start intensly for me.

I drank pretty regularly on the summer break and I'm glad to be out of it. I should be looking forward to those times when i get to have a break, but I just know the bar is a short taxi ride away. I don't want to drink anymore because of the health, hangovers and I've made some bad decisions when intoxicated, said stupid things and I'm sure it's slowly taking years off my life.

Anyway rant over.

By the way. This is the second thread I've made and I actually found this forum from google. It didn't click until I joined that it was for women/mothers lol. I've just been looking for some support and offer some support if I can so I hope it's okay for me to be here with you all? If it's against the rules because I'm a guy and not a mum I'll completely understand and I'll move on. Let me know.

Well done on your two weeks. Enjoy feeling stronger and positive. I normally do a dry spell after summer. I only got to 8 days this time due to a work thing but it breaks the spell doesn’t? I’m hoping to not 🧑‍⚕️ no again for 8 days from Saturday

Oh very good luck to you and thank you very much! Yeah I've been working at the school for 3 years on Sept 20th actually and last year I naturally tended to want to have a big break after the summer holidays too. Seems this year has kind of mirrored last year. Things just go better in general for me when I'm in a routine. Work, life, I go to the gym regularly and just seem happier. The irony is when I working I actually go out and explore more inbetween shifts. I live near a massive beach and there are tons of places to walk which I love. When I was off work you'd think I'd do more of it, but as I said I just went to the pub, got drunk had a hangover for 2/3 days and rinse and repeated.

I think next year I'll look for some part time work during the holidays or at least 1 or 2 weeks of it.

Congratulations! I’ve just reached 28 days of no drinking. Is it me, or does time go really slowly when you quit drinking? Every time I go to check the calendar to see how many days it’s been now, I’m disappointed by how few days it’s been. Feels like ages, but only 28 days!

I too am not sure how to navigate social activities or holidays. I’ve so far just avoided all social gatherings! I suppose that can’t last forever, but I don’t have a solution yet, let me know if you find one!

I work in a school as well (although not in the UK), so I know what you mean about the holidays. I suppose my plan is to find more sober friends, and find some hobbies. Traveling more also, although traveling and not drinking will also be something I need to adapt to. I love meeting new people when traveling but I’m so much more confident and friendly after a couple of drinks, so need to try and work on my sober social skills a bit!

Time - Oh I wouldn't worry about time going more slowly when you quit. When i was drinking I was worrying time was going by too quickly :D I haven't been to any social event since I quit and I'm still quit now. Almost four weeks now and still strong. Feeling so much better :O

Social stuff - I don't know. I get paid tomorrow and I know money in the bank is great, but it can be an enabler for me. I know that familar feeling of "It's been a mont, go on have a beer" will come around this weekend, but I'm gonna try and remain strong. I don't see any point/reason to give up the good feelings I'm feeling being sober at the moment so a social situation isn't really a priority for me right now in any case. I'm fine having weekends in with nice food, gym and going on my long walks. It's lovely waking up on Sundays feeling fresh and rested instead of looking and feeling like death because I wanted 6-8 hours of booze induced instant gratification the evening before.

I'm just not saying to myself one thing or another about my intensions with my sobriety if that makes sense. My drinking isn't so bad that I have to quit for health or money reasons (at least now) and that's a double edged sword for me. Steve-O from Jackass said his drink/drug issues were so bad that he HAD to quit and that gives him strength, but for me I'm not there yet. Here he talks about it:

Oh and very good luck to you Katie. I hope you do great in your journey. We seems to have similar stories so it's great for me to read someone who really gets where i'm coming from.