The Highs

Ah HA! Here it is, that euphoric "I'm doing great and being sober is AWESOME!" feeling that all the other ex-alcoholic blogs keep talking about. Maybe I felt it before, but I'm 5 months into sobriety and I don't think I've written about it yet.

It's nice.

Here is how my morning went:

Woke up about 30 minutes before my alarm went off, feeling well rested probably because I went to bed a little early last night. Lay in bed and snuggled with the boyfriend until it did go off. He was restless and more snuggly than usual, but I know it's because he's dealing with some stress himself that, for once, is completely unrelated to me. I hope he feels better soon, but in the meantime it meant that I got 30 precious minutes of quiet time listening to him breathe as he nestled his head into my chest and I held him around the shoulders.

Eventually I disentangled, showered, did some dishes while waiting for water to boil, ate a healthy breakfast of oatmeal and protein shake while reading emails, then went to the gym.

I had a great workout, made even better because I've been going regularly for almost 6 months now, and so I am stronger and in better shape, and I feel like I'm looking pretty good.

Then I arrived at work, made cheerful small-talk with my co-workers and here I am with my coffee and a banana, ready to start the day (but not too soon...gotta finish this post, ha ha). I'm sure something will temporarily derail this happy little train, because I've got work stress (boy have I ever), but I know that as soon as the clock strikes 4, I'm free for the whole weekend, which promises to be full of friends and family and relaxation.

Contrast and compare to a typical pre-sobriety morning: alarm goes off, but I re-set it because I am hungover and/or sluggish and don't want to go to the gym. The boyfriend can't sleep because I was snoring loudly all night. Finally get up at the last possible minute, have a shower even though it won't hide the smell of booze and sweat, not completely. Arrive at work late. Grumble at co-workers, or if it's a high stress day flip out and make a scene at someone. Spend the day feeling miserable and just waiting for 4 o'clock to strike so I can bee-line to the beer store and obliterate the weekend with booze.

No contest, right?

Next post: the tragic realisation that happiness doesn't last.