One Addiction With Another

What happens when we stop drinking and we are faced with all this new time on our hands?  We can go to meetings sure but I suspect that one or even two hours a day doesn’t come close to replicating the time spent thinking about the next drink, drinking itself and of course the recovery from the hangover most of us suffered through where there was little of anything constructive we filled those hours with.  

There are plenty of things we can occupy our time with but finding what that exactly is might take some doing and some good old fashioned  trial and error. For me it was becoming an avid classic movie fan and my collection of movies from the 1930’s and 1940’s started in earnest. At the time I put down the drink the VHS was still in vogue and I found myself in front of the television watching old Abbott and Costello movies that I had loved as a teenager. Fortunately I didn’t smoke so I didn’t start increasing my cigarette intake but what I did find was that I started exercising again and for me I found an instant nirvana of putting my body back together little by slowly.   

I was a runner in my pre alcoholic life so it wasn’t that much of a stretch to put on my New Balance shoes and hit the roads, but for those that aren’t so  inclined there are a myriad of things to do now in the 21st Century to occupy our minds and quell the savage desire that once ruled our lives. More recently as the severity of pounding from running was just too much for my joints I took up spinning for the last 21 months and it has afforded me a tremendous loss of weight and has given a shot in the arm to my self-esteem as I can actually take off my shirt again and not feel too self conscious.

What about you? I think one of the things that is most important is that we don’t take any human hostages and try and replace one addiction for another because the effects can be devastating and too many of us have gone back out again using and misusing relationships before we are even right with ourselves.  More better as they say to take up an avocation that can give us satisfaction like reading or like me writing. Whatever it is we must occupy our minds with healthier addictions if we are ever to remain sober.