Good things about being off drugs/getting sober

I know that sometimes, in the midst of addiction, when you try and imagine a sober lifestyle, it seems like it'd be no fun at all. So I thought we could use this thread to document and describe some of the awesome aspects of life without drugs. What are the things you have been able to enjoy once you've quit? What makes you happy? What have you been able to achieve without an addiction holding you back? What are the small pleasures in each day?

I know that in the middle of active addiction, I can sometimes find it hard to believe that life without drugs could be anything but miserable. I know that's not the case though, and I'm hoping a thread like this will be able to provide motivation to those who want to quit, or are in the process of doing so, but are scared that a sober lifestyle equals a dull lifestyle.

This is one for me - I love running, and I really enjoy seeing how much I can improve day to day when I put my focus on my health. There's a real sense of achievement from beating my personal best, and it's also a great deterrent from using, because I know that will put me back.

How about everyone else?

Not having to constantly worry where or when you'll be getting your next dose.

Footscrazy I can totally relate to the running thing. I also am into health (diet/running/weights) and because I've been sober these 4 months I've also been working out consistently these past 4 months.

Also I've been able to go back to college and now (finally) have a great direction I'm heading in life that makes sense to me. (career/volunteering, etc.)

I'm not bankrupting myself today.

And I think the best part is that feeling you get when you get a little sober time under your belt, where you stop and look at how many days it's been and your filled with hope, joy, and excitement. EX: I always thought I'd have to carry this ball & chain, but now look at me!.

And I think the last point I've made is this. If your an addict, realize that there is a reason that other addicts do this sober thing. If you can see that your closest familiy members aren't trying to take your fun away, their trying to give you a better way of life, you might come to see things differently down the line if you give sobriety a chance.

-Normal sleep schedule
-More even moods
-More patience in the face of frustrating situations
-Wittier
-Clearer eyes and skin
-Saving money
-Better concentration

Things just have a way of working out more often than not in the six months I've been sober

Great topic!

~Less stress about where your next dose will come from.

~Better physical health.

~Closer personal relationships.

~Not living with a secret.

- Much more money to spend on other things
- Not stressing out about being caught/people finding out
- Wanting to go out and socialise more, not wanting to be alone all the time
- Feeling better physically

Saved ~2500 euro on that the last 6 months.

Not having to worry about if my dealer is going insane again (she had various mental illnesses and would go into mania and then I was fucked when she was forced in a mental institution often for 6+ months) I learned to notice the symptoms of this though during the years, she'd be walking around for like 2 hours with me before we could find a suitable place to deal (lol). I wanted to express my frustration so badly, sometimes did but it would not always help. Once I got all the drugs but she was too afraid to take the cash so I had to meet her like a week later and pay back (lol).

I don't miss this, especially the horror when she just vanished, fortunately I found one of her friends that only took 50% more for the drug (it was still cheap by standards). Before that I had to go to the mental institution, pretend I was my crazy dealers son and get to know what to do from there. It was unsettling, but worked, though it wasn't easy. Dealing with people locked in mental instutions that are either wacked or a zombie from the drugs is hard. But of course I always found a way. Took alot of time and effort though, something I am glad to not have to waste my time with.

footscrazy said:

This is one for me - I love running, and I really enjoy seeing how much I can improve day to day when I put my focus on my health. There's a real sense of achievement from beating my personal best, and it's also a great deterrent from using, because I know that will put me back.

Click to expand...

Running is great and helps a lot. Lifting too, I like to do cardio on my off days. Not sure what it is about it, but I enjoy lifting more than running, but doing both feels great.

Great thread! For me:
* lost weight (33 pounds so far) I always ate so much candy while on opiates, really bulked up
* clear skin...all the puffiness and blotchiness is gone
* got my sense of humor and sense of adventure back
* actually feel less pain chronically
* the best one...not having to wake up and worry about if I have drugs or not, not getting the sweats, the shits...I can just go to bed and wake up with no worry, preparation, planning, etc.

I can still remember how I felt when I realized that I no longer needed to be high to accept myself. It sneaked up on me, this realization, but it hit me like a thunderbolt at the time (I was about eighteen) and I felt such gratitude for the freedom. I had not even realized how much that was a part of my drug abuse. I thought I was doing it for the adventure and just because that's what everyone in my tribe (hippies LOL!) was doing.

When I realized that I actually liked myself, could feel pride in some of my accomplishments and could just wake up in the morning and think about what I was going to do without the self-obsession that is so much a part of anxiety, I felt free to simply be. What a comfort that is. Although there have been times when my sense of self-acceptance has been fragile over the ensuing years, like rejection from a lover or rejection of my art (lots of those LOL), nothing undermined it as much as failing to protect my son from his own struggles with self-acceptance and the guilt I carry as a parent over that. But even this could not ever lead me back to wanting to numb away my painful emotions. I want to feel. I relish being an emotional creature. It is what we human beings were designed by nature to be. We have this crazy world of culture that we have created that tries to mask, anesthetize or kill our emotional cores, and yet this is really our true nature every bit as much as our intellectual capacity.

So I guess in a nutshell, living a sober life has given me the room to develop fully as an emotional human being.

-not blacking out
-not waking up and having to scroll through my phone to see who i said what to and having to ask my friends what i did the previous night
-being able to hold a job
-being able to pass a drug test
-being able to spend money on cool shit instead of drugs
-not being in abusive relationships to obtain said drugs
-not being in insane situations that i'm never in except for in the pursuit of drugs
-being able to be a part of your community (coaching teams, volunteering, etc.)
-not having to wear long sleeves in summer to cover track marks
-being able to smile again
-being able to giggle like a little kid, something i had been seeking since the first time i smoked pot
-having real friends, not just people who used
-being able to be more productive in 10 months than i had been in five+ years

lots of things really, being clean is infinitely better than using ime

Not thinking about scoring as soon as I wake up
Not spending all my cash on heroin
Freedom to go away without worrying about being ill
Putting on weight
Feeling my personality returning
No secrets from anyone
Not being a slave to a substance
I certainly feel so much better that I am no longer a slave to heroin. I can do what I want & go where I want without having to sort out taking heroin with me first as if I couldn't get any then I couldn't go away.

Benefits of being clean?

The ability to live and enjoy a life without having to, quite literally, hotwire your brain to get those chemical kicks. What goes up...

I mean the real question is what are the benefits of active addiction? I have a hard time with question.

Not waking up in hospital every other day after a heroin overdose or a tonic clonic seizure related to benzodiazepine withdrawal. That's a bonus!

Ash.

I can go to work in the morning ON TIME..without having to run around first and find something, every other day- that will make me better so I can work.

Actually having money in my checking account
I have a retirement plan
I own a house and car
But, mostly the best part of being sober is that I have the love and respect of my children.

LilbabiC said:

Actually having money in my checking account
I have a retirement plan
I own a house and car
But, mostly the best part of being sober is that I have the love and respect of my children.

Click to expand...

((((()))) LilbabiC

You can feel happy without drugs. That's probably the best thing about getting off drugs.

The sense of relaxation, that you have nothing more to worry about and nothing to hide. Also that you are no longer dependent upon chemicals. Freedom.

Not staying in my room for hours at a time watching porn then feeling like i have lost my soul