I remember your name, but don’t remember your jerkiness so no worries here. 
I’m so glad you’ve found your way out of alcoholism and I hope life just keeps getting better for you. Great job!
I’ve heard an alcoholic say, ‘Being sober is boring.’ 
Congratulations, HMS.
Great… I am a newbie, looking forward to knowing you!
Best wishes, HMS You are a good guy, and it really shows when you’re sober.
I’m glad you’re back and congratulations. Best wishes for the road ahead.
?? . . . so continue using your support.
That’s the very nature of addiction. A real alcoholic would be bored skydiving if he couldn’t do it drunk. (And of course, until he gets sober, the actual activities of his life will become narrower, and narrower, until it becomes the most boring existence you can imagine–basically doing as little as possible that doesn’t involve drinking or procuring booze.)
I’ve had a couple of friends go through what you’re going through, now HMS, and both eventually have become much more successful and happy than they ever were while drinking–though it took time. I trust the same will happen with you!
We burning your support!
Congrats and best wishes.
It is boring, and that’s OK. Alcoholics are terrified of boredom, or of any emotion for that matter. Part of sobriety means learning that boring is OK. Boredom can motivate us to do something interesting/productive, or just to be content with the blessings of peace and quietness. Boredom is just fine with me at this stage in the game.
And thanks to all for the encouragement… wasn’t really fishing for it, just felt like I should clear things up for anyone curious about the epilogue of this particular microdrama.
Good luck to you.
Congrats. I’ve known folks who fought the Demon Rum and won. And those who fought and lost. I’ve never met anyone who regretted trying to fight it.
We’re looking forward to helping you have a sorta-social life that doesn’t revolve around drinking. That’s often the hard part; figuring out what to do with the hours you used to pass at the bar with the guys.
One foot in front of the other into the future. You can do it. We can help at least a little.
Best of luck.
Congrats!
Six weeks is a long time. Almost as long as the first day.
I am glad you found something that works for you. A gentle piece of advice: the longer you are sober, the better life gets. The better life gets, the more you forget about how bad it was. The more you forget about how bad it was, the more harmless one drink will seem.
In my experience, there are danger points. Nine months to a year and a half, five years or so and around fifteen years, though it can vary a bit. All the problems that drinking caused get fixed. Life gets good. And many people forget why it got good and decide ‘One drink won’t hurt’ and it always does.
I take a bit of time fairly often to remember all the shit and pain I caused when drinking. I am at peace with it, or as at peace as I can be. But I don’t want to forget because if I do bad things will happen. So I remember how bad it was so it won’t be that bad again.
Part of that is talking to other drunks.
Then, once I finish wading through the awful memories, I focus on how good life is sober. Even my worst day sober is better than my best day drunk.
Good luck.
Slee
This happened to me a couple of months ago… got a few weeks under my belt and thought it was safe to let my hair down a little bit. Spoiler: nope, not safe.
It is pretty remarkable to hear so many different people talk about having the exact same defective thoughts when it comes to alcohol. I have learned to listen.
Good on you for spotting that, HMS! Keep up the good work.
:: Bolding mine :: Yup, which is why places like A.A. (or other support groups) can be very valuable.
There are certain things, addiction and depression come to mind, where the thinking of those experiencing the problem is fairly well understood because most people who have the problem think in the same way. I talked to one of the best addiction docs in the world at my rehab stint. It was ~30 minute conversation. He asked a few questions, read the case notes and then described me almost perfectly. It was a bit creepy.
However, that doesn’t make it any easier to treat. But it does point a way to go. If you think like person A, have the same problem as person A and person A fixed their problem it is likely that what person A did to solve the problem will work for you.
And, if you are smart enough to shut up, listen and admit you don’t know what the hell to do (and, in my personal experience this is very, very hard), you can follow in the foot steps of others.
Slee
Good for you! Fucking AWESOME!
It’s going to suck for a while, but at six weeks, you’re off to a great start. After one year sober, I’d gone from sleeping on a friend’s couch to having my own place, my own car, and the start of an actual career. Your life is going to get immeasurably better.
I found AA really helpful, even though I didn’t stick with it. Just listening was very therapeutic.
There’s a bunch of us former drunks on this board, so you’re in good company. Well, you’re in company, anyway.
I’m glad for you and I hope that you’ll find sobriety to be worth the potential boredom, that in the end sober life is more exciting on its own.