aihfl
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2015
- Messages
- 2,834
Hey All, haven't been by in a while. Just thought I'd celebrate American Independence Day by committing to words how I gained independence from alcohol and prescription drugs. Maybe they'll help someone else, too.
1. Get a hobby. You're going to have a lot of free time that you spent drinking/using drugs that is now unoccupied. Me personally, I bought a sailboat, got back into sailing, started kayaking with renewed gusto and got advanced scuba certifications that made me eligible for professional development courses that will allow me to earn money in the diving industry.
2. Take charge of your mental health. If you're like many other addicts, you drank/used drugs in a misguided attempt to self-medicate. If you're not anxious/depressed/whatever, you no longer have a need to self-medicate. So what if a doctor prescribes you an antidepressant. Isn't that better than downing a fifth of ___spirit of your choice___, or scoring some ___DOC here___?
3. Don't get hung up on making amends. If you materially hurt someone, i.e. stole from them, by all means make good. But don't get wrapped up in making a bunch of apologies. It's just going to sound like more hollow words to many people you've hurt. Simply staying sober is the best amend you can make. A lot of people still may not like you, but at least you will have their grudging respect.
4. It's all a matter of time. Sooner or later, being sober just becomes the natural order of things. The second thirty days will go much faster than the first interminable thirty days, the third thirty days faster than that and so on. Sooner or later, you'll find that months or even a year has gone by without even having thought about it.
1. Get a hobby. You're going to have a lot of free time that you spent drinking/using drugs that is now unoccupied. Me personally, I bought a sailboat, got back into sailing, started kayaking with renewed gusto and got advanced scuba certifications that made me eligible for professional development courses that will allow me to earn money in the diving industry.
2. Take charge of your mental health. If you're like many other addicts, you drank/used drugs in a misguided attempt to self-medicate. If you're not anxious/depressed/whatever, you no longer have a need to self-medicate. So what if a doctor prescribes you an antidepressant. Isn't that better than downing a fifth of ___spirit of your choice___, or scoring some ___DOC here___?
3. Don't get hung up on making amends. If you materially hurt someone, i.e. stole from them, by all means make good. But don't get wrapped up in making a bunch of apologies. It's just going to sound like more hollow words to many people you've hurt. Simply staying sober is the best amend you can make. A lot of people still may not like you, but at least you will have their grudging respect.
4. It's all a matter of time. Sooner or later, being sober just becomes the natural order of things. The second thirty days will go much faster than the first interminable thirty days, the third thirty days faster than that and so on. Sooner or later, you'll find that months or even a year has gone by without even having thought about it.
