Sober Living and How to Enjoy Our Sober Life

Sober living is far more enjoyable than anything available while drunk. When we first get sober there can be a lot of a lot of concern about what to do in our free time; after all we have just spent x amount of years devoted to drinking or using our favorite drug. Now that we are sober it can certainly free up a lot of time. I can remember thinking prior to getting sober about how I was possibly going to fill the time without drink; how was I going to manage sober living. The fact is almost from the start there was no problem fitting things in, the problem I have had in my sober life is making room for things; and this seems to be true for most people in recovery.

I feared the long dry days without alcohol, but the fact is that there hasn't been one day like this. Sober living has never been dull for me. When you are in recovery your options expand dramatically. When I drank my options were severely limited; that is the irony of it all. You worry about what you will do sober without realizing that it is the drink or drugs that limit your options and not the absence of them. When you are sober you have the freedom to do almost anything and as your mind leaves the dull stupor that we have kept it imprisoned for years we want to try new things. We will soon find these things that are going to fill our day and when we do we will be looking for ways to fit them into our time. So if you are planning to quit drink or drugs and you worry about how you will fill your time; in your sober life you don't have to worry and this is not going to be a problem I promise you. Just give it a while and your sober free time will be full of things that you will enjoy.

I avoided bars during a two year period of sobriety in my twenties. I would rush past them afraid that they would drag me in and somehow force me to drink. When I did enter a bar two years later I felt overwhelmed and the good memories came rushing back. I was soon back drinking again. It is not always practical to avoid drinking places completely, so I believe that we do need to be able to handle these situations so that we don't become overwhelmed.

Another problem that people worry about in regards to sober living is how they will manage social functions where alcohol is served; should we avoid these types of places altogether? This is a personal choice, but it probably is best in the beginning. During the first year I went into a bar a few times. This wasn't because I wanted to drink though. I live in Thailand and occasionally crave western food; the only real place to get this is in western style bars. I had a reason to go there and after I ate I left; there was no hanging around to enjoy watching other people getting drunk. I haven't been in a bar in ages, and I have no yearning to be; I am not avoiding them though, and would go again if there was a good reason. I have no problem with other people drinking; I have chosen the sober life and not them.