Today is Easter, and whether you celebrate it or not, it’s a great time for resurrecting, right? 🙂 Thanks to Whineless (day 3) for the great title.
You might think it’s hard to describe how great it is to be sober. Apparently Carrie (21) has no problem finding the words:
“Being sober is like the smell of freshly baked bread every morning when I wake up. It’s like the smell of fresh cut grass when I go outside. It feels like the last day of school as I go about my day. Like stretching your legs after a really long car journey when I get home. At the very end of my day, it’s like getting into bed when the sheets have just been cleaned. It’s like the white noise that you didn’t notice in the background of your thoughts suddenly stops. I can’t get enough of that silence. Being sober is all of this and with support it is even more. It’s when someone puts a blanket on you just as you are about to fall asleep. That’s you, that is. You do that.”
So how great is it to be sober? Her email got me thinking.
- It’s like a Sunday long run, where you get all the green lights, taxis stop to let you cross, and then you run along the water in a group of other runners
- It’s like when your husband makes you a tuna sandwich, because he does a better job, cuz he puts in bits of minced garlic
- It’s like eating the best piece of red velvet cake, on a holiday weekend, after your long run, reading a brand new magazine, with a cup of coffee
- It’s like a trip up the Eiffel Tower, a tour through the Vatican, a midnight walk across the Tower Bridge (with a full moon!).
- It’s like swimming in the ocean and then stretching out on a blanket to dry off in the sun
And you? Can you describe how great it is to be sober … “It’s like… [insert here]”
Happy Easter, or Happy Sunday, or Happy Whatever this day means to you 🙂 Love, me (274)
It’s like being hugged by your Mom. Walking down Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom. Like holding your newborn for the first time. Bliss.
Its like waking up smiling every morning, it’s like no regrets, it’s like knowing your doing the right thing for you and its enhancing all your senses!… Feeling, hearing, smelling, touching, doing and seeing the changes for the better, little by little… Its bliss……
Borimom(day18)Its like the smell of breakfast in the morning, like I’m in tune with the universe, like walking on a powdery sandy beach barefooted!
a little late to the conversation here, but i wanted to comment because all of the beautiful replies here are bringing me nearly to tears! i keep reading them over and over again. 18 days sober, a record for me, these comments are making me feel so lucky to be exactly where i am at, if that makes any sense. : )
I know, aren’t these ideas just beautiful? I want to read them over and over again. Maybe I should make a screen saver with all these great quotes on them … and now you’re working on day 19. hope there’s a present coming for you at day 20!
It’s seeing my life crystal clear without the fog hanging around to annoy me. It’s being able to really really laugh at something funny my kids say. It’s waking up feeling rested. It’s remembering the end of a movie we rented. It’s loving a really really good book.
Being sober is living life for real. It’s being able to sit still and be comfortable.
Happy Sober Easter.
Jenny
Thank you for sharing that Belle 🙂
So many positives. It really is the gift that keeps on giving!
3 weeks today, yippee!!
Happy Easter everyone.
X
Me too Carrie! Yay us!
I will totally add to this later when I’m not on iPad and running out soon but I was thinking about this in the shower this mornings, having read it late last night, and in essence it’s just more positivity, less negativity, in so many ways.
Sobriety to me goes beyond just putting down the drink. It means cleaning up my side of the street and making sure there are no amends to make and no wreckage from my past to deal with. Having accomplished that….
Sobriety is that otherworldly stillness that speaks to the heart and says “Everything is going to be ok.” It feels like ten hours of sleep (un aided.) Then awakening to a clean house with a full refrigerator and a stack of good books. It feels like all the bills being paid with money left in the bank. It feels like the love of your life telling you you’re the most beautiful woman in the world and that they wish to gOd you wouldn’t do your hair or wear makeup because you look better without it.
🙂
oh oh, a full fridge! a clean house! what great images : ) thanks for sharing!
It’s like taking a big breath of fresh air and just when you think you can’t get anymore great air into your lungs your chest opens up and another rush of air lets in.
It’s like driving in your car on a quiet Sunday morning and over the horizon the clouds break up and a beautiful rainbow emerges filled with hope and opportunity.
It’s like waking early on a camping trip to stoke the fire while everyone else is asleep and enjoying the first mug of coffee while sitting on a log.
It’s like petting your dog and appreciating the innate intelligence and wisdom of the animal kingdom.
Ok, I’m going to have to steal this idea. I was sitting around this morning thinking, It’s Easter, I have to write a blog, but I’m just not feeling it. Then I read your blog and you reminded me of all that sobriety has brought me. Happy Easter to all of us that have found our new life and to those who will find it, if they just keep looking. It’s just like looking for the prize Easter egg and we’ll give you lots of hints.
perfect. let’s have a sober easter egg hunt!
J says: “Being sober is being able to truly notice, appreciate, and be grateful for all that you and Carrie pointed out.”
It’s like having no place to be in the morning. It’s like that feeling you get when you’re running and you have to cry some because it is all so beautiful right fucking now. It’s how you wrap yourself in the relief that you woke up sober again. It’s like a french press and a fire in the morning when you’re camping. It’s like someone walked up to you and said, “You won the lottery” only there’s no money there’s just time to live life for real. It’s like the best feeling ever in the world, even when it isn’t.
Amy (115) (word.)
p.s. sandwiches are always better when someone else makes them for you. : )
fire + camping! it’s like having time off! it’s like the lottery without money (only amy!). it’s the like the best even when it isn’t – there’s a t-shirt for us all : ) you’re now on day 116 (word x 2). beep beep.