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what keeps you sober? What is your reward?

xxsicknessxx

xxsicknessxx

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
1,014
What do you do to reward your self for being sober (if you are) or what kind of fun do you have? How do you kill bordom?
Just looking for ideas that might help me out, thanks I will add my own..

Rewards (a certain food, music, a walk, read a book I like, a movie)
My list is weak....


For you guys you attend AA do you find that it helps? or hurts (kinda a bonus question as im asking sober people might well kill two birds with one stone)
 
*tumbleweed*

Just kidding, one thnig I have on my phone is a "sober counter" the daily amount I spend on heroin, I go a few days or whatever and that's money saved to buy things witth. So get binned or buy other goods, fish tank, car. etc.

this only applies really to shooting heroin, I am still killing bordom with lines of ethyplheadate and tanning the gbl. Mehh it's (to me) a step anyway.
 
The boredom goes away after time. For me, waking up not feeling like complete shite is a pretty nice reward already. Knowing I'm not continuing to fuck up my life and the lives of those around me is a reward too. Advancing my spirituality is a plus too, and no, I didn't go balls-in to an idiotic (IMHO) organized religion. I have a very cool understanding of a higher power and that works for me.

Being sober frees me up to do whatever I want. Here's some of my rewards:

Canoe trip
Cleaning house (love my house clean)
Playing ping pong and being able to see the ball
Playing pool and being able to see just one ball
Word games on FB--I'm a fuckin nerd
Not having to lie
Not having to remember my lies
Not lying
Increased sex drive
Sense of inner peace
Cooking
Walking the dog
Talking to hot women at AA meetings (even though I have a gf)
Being happier
Not getting pissed off all the time
Not staying pissed when I do get pissed off
Meditation with a clear head
Enjoying music that I lost interest in before
Enjoying pretty much everything I lost interest in before
Doing some photography
Smiling
Crying
Not being numb
Laughing at people falling down on YouTube
Eating healthy food
Remembering that my path to sobriety was fuckin nightmarish and patting myself on the back for making it.

Loving the world!
podsnomo
 
Great thread idea! One of the major problems I have with trying to stay sober is just the general anhedonic (activities that others or yourself used to feel pleasure from just don't give you the satisfaction you crave) feeling I have when it comes to getting out and actually doing sober activities. I know this passes with time, but for the time being sobriety can be a real drag.

Anyway I would love to see more posts like the one by podsnomo. Seeing what others do gives me inspiration and I can see it helping with staying motivated to keep on track.
 
It took me a while to differentiate the difference between "boredom" and being "at peace". It was a difficult lesson but I had no other choice. I left treatment and had nothing to distract me from me so there I sat, a fiend alone.

Being accustomed to either the chaos of doing what needed to be done to get my get high or being involved in the false entertainment of being high, I found the transition to "normalcy" overwhelming. It was an incredible feeling the day I realized I could be alone with myself and be comfortable in my own skin.

I knew I couldn't stick that shit in my body even once because the evidence from my past clearly indicated that, no matter what, I always nd up in the same horrible place physically, mentally and emotionally. I learned I couldn't use successfully.

I started hitting the gym furiously because I wanted to get as far away from the old me as possible. I changed almost everything regarding my ideas, attitudes and behaviors because I was told that if I kept doing what I always did, I would keep getting what I always got. That at process of change kept me very occupied. Most of it involved trying to do things for others so that I could counteract my self-centeredness.

Above all, I knew that I had to stick with the plans I made on a daily basis because consistency, commitment and discipline (on the positive side) was completely dissimilar from the consistency and commitment (undiscoplined) behavior I had practiced for many, many years.

Time crept slowly and nothing seemed to get accomplished but, whenever I looked back, I had accomplished much more than I could have possibly done.

Keep it moving. Don't think too much. Do things for others. These things will keep you more than occupied.
 
OverDone said:
It was an incredible feeling the day I realized I could be alone with myself and be comfortable in my own skin.


Keep it moving. Don't think too much. Do things for others.
Click to expand...

+ a million. OD, you continue to be such an inspiration.

The most freeing moment in my life was when I experienced this. It has done nothing but improve and deepen from that day forward, tragedies and sorrows notwithstanding.<3
 
Tony Williams said:
*tumbleweed*

Just kidding, one thnig I have on my phone is a "sober counter" the daily amount I spend on heroin, I go a few days or whatever and that's money saved to buy things witth. So get binned or buy other goods, fish tank, car. etc.

this only applies really to shooting heroin, I am still killing bordom with lines of ethyplheadate and tanning the gbl. Mehh it's (to me) a step anyway.
Click to expand...

That's awesome, I'm going to have to download the app!
 
what keeps me sober? Not using and an imperfectly practiced program of action that involve(s) the 12 steps. Perfecting and enlarging my spirituality via self sacrifice and work with others. seems like lofty talk. for me spirituality is simply...being honest with myself at all times, and as honest as i am capable of being with others. willingness to not use and take simple actions that seem silly but help my overall quality of life. (praying to whatever's out there i certainly cant define it, eating decently, trying to treat others as i would want to be treated, acting like a decent human being, taking a deep breath, being kind to my girlfriend, family, and co-worker even though they all can be crazy at times, going to meetings in hope to find someone who is at the jumping off point and ready to accept the same program of action that will solve their problem, paying my bills on time, cleaning up after myself even though my roommate forgets to do this for himself, exercising regularly, when i make a mistake admit to it and correct the behavior)

Rewards? a life I don't really deserve. a life worth living. exhiliration and boredom. a life filled with ups and downs, but a life not a mere existence...which is what i was doing while being a slave to chemicals... today i have choices. today i have friends. today i feel decent most of the time. thoughts of the people i hurt dont race through my head as i attempt to sleep. a life full of luxury problems - making more money, treating my girlfriend better, what food i want to eat, where i want to hang out at, having to pay my bills. today i have problems in areas that i didnt even have areas before. you feel me?

"see i aint dead or in jail i cant complain" -young jeezy
 
I'm almost where you are man. I've finally, after 15 months, got the first three steps. I thought I had them before, but it was just me saying the words. Now I've internalized them and I'm about to start my inventory. It's great to read a story like yours on here, where too often I read posts from those of us who are still suffering under the baffling delusions of our disease. People who are all judgMENTAL about AA or any 12 step program just don't understand it. Even if they think they do. No one, NO ONE, who has ever worked the steps with all the earnestness and thoroughness at their command has ever regretted. It's a gift we may not think we deserve, but we do. We are human, we have good in us, and planting those seeds and tending that spiritual garden is one of--scratch that--THE greatest thing I've ever done for myself and for those I love.

God on ya lilmizer. You brightened my day. Thank you.

lilmizer said:
what keeps me sober? Not using and an imperfectly practiced program of action that involve(s) the 12 steps. Perfecting and enlarging my spirituality via self sacrifice and work with others. seems like lofty talk. for me spirituality is simply...being honest with myself at all times, and as honest as i am capable of being with others. willingness to not use and take simple actions that seem silly but help my overall quality of life. (praying to whatever's out there i certainly cant define it, eating decently, trying to treat others as i would want to be treated, acting like a decent human being, taking a deep breath, being kind to my girlfriend, family, and co-worker even though they all can be crazy at times, going to meetings in hope to find someone who is at the jumping off point and ready to accept the same program of action that will solve their problem, paying my bills on time, cleaning up after myself even though my roommate forgets to do this for himself, exercising regularly, when i make a mistake admit to it and correct the behavior)

Rewards? a life I don't really deserve. a life worth living. exhiliration and boredom. a life filled with ups and downs, but a life not a mere existence...which is what i was doing while being a slave to chemicals... today i have choices. today i have friends. today i feel decent most of the time. thoughts of the people i hurt dont race through my head as i attempt to sleep. a life full of luxury problems - making more money, treating my girlfriend better, what food i want to eat, where i want to hang out at, having to pay my bills. today i have problems in areas that i didnt even have areas before. you feel me?

"see i aint dead or in jail i cant complain" -young jeezy
Click to expand...
 
What keeps me sober is that I have regained a quality of life that I am happy with. I have a great career, a house, cars, great friends, and I'm involved in my community, etc.. I have come very far and I don't want to lose everything for the solitary confinement of shooting up and nodding. I realize that life isn't perfect but, I can work through any problems that come my way. I'm no longer afraid of my own emotions. My reward is being able to travel and having money in the bank when I need it.
 
This is actually something I need to work on...as I don't have any rewards for staying sober. The only thing keeping me sober is knowing how intensely disappointed I would feel with myself if I drank again....
 
Doing literally anything that isn't getting high, and being able to go day to day without living the way I did has become more than enough reward for me.

Literally grateful to the point that I am happy to be doing ANYTHING BUT living the life that is the definition of monotonoy: addiction. Waking up every day, going to see the same person, spending the same $, feeling the same way for the same amount of time, then feeling horrible until i can start it all over?

SO HAPPY I dont' have to do that anymore that I literally can get my teeth pulled at the dentist now and still feel rewarded that i'm feeling that intense pain.

Although real answers include playing video games, reading books, exercising till my ass falls off, to name but a small small few.
 
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