It has been a rollercoaster of emotions lately and I have to admit that too.
Being away on the holiday gave me lots of time to reflect, and being back from the holiday has been interesting too with conflicting feelings.
I feel very grateful to have a home I am happy in and a life that is rich with the love of my children, friends, family in the background, a business to run, goals to achieve and a general sense of purpose.
Being away also helped me to see that I've been living in a bit of a bubble of my own creation, and for most of last week I was quite troubled about that. Here's a wee bit of an email I was writing to my friend Charlie trying to describe how I was feeling: "ah what's it all about? I could fucking murder a southern comfort and diet coke, why all this deprivation? What am I doing? I used to have a life. A personality, fun, friends, lots of social events, girlfriends visiting and fun afternoons/evenings - a few drinks and tons of laughter and fun and friendship, I used to also enjoy my nights alone getting a bit shitfaced, cooking, playing music, writing stuff, don't do any of that now. I live in my wee safe haven, all fucking serious and boring, in bed so super early it feels dysfunctional, watch movies, don't sleep till about 12 or 1 and get about 5 hours and start all over again. And if I let myself that is the way I think. I don't often think this way but it does happen and it scares the daylights out of me. Just how easy it would be for me to give in to that, and in a way what a flipping relief it would be (for about an hour!!)"
It's funny how when I romanticise about alcohol I remember all the good bits, I associate it with sunny back yards, beaches, laughter, warmth and conviviality, great parties, and I conveniently forget that I didn't stop there! I carried on until I was drunk, loud, talking shit, looking like a drunk older woman I guess, smoking more cigarettes, and giving in to the compulsion every time to have one more drink, and one more, and one more. And the more I had the better I felt, I absolutely flipping loved it, yes I did, and while I was being that loud drunk woman that other people saw, I was feeling fabulous and fun and funny and cool, I'd even look good, touch up the lipstick, feeling quite sexy and exciting, and then gutted when the night was over coz I could have partied all night long! I was never one to get sick or fall asleep, no, not me!
How terribly fucking sad!!! I truly do miss her sometimes but I'm glad I finally dumped that version of myself!
So there are some of the conflicting feelings, and at 300 days I am still a work in progress with tons of room for improvement in all ways, but I am liking who I am way more than I ever have before, and as I say that a wee email just arrives from my daughter .......
"Awwww how cool mum, so proud of you, you truly are just a new
and improved you. To me your more fun exciting and special sober ! I love the
sober you (not that I didn’t love the naughty you) very proud of you xx
love you lots"That alone is worth every struggling moment I have been through to get to where I am today.
And where I am today is where I want to stay.
Hi Prudence. Congrats on your 300 days! Trying to figure out how to be fun again can be tricky, but I'll bet you don't have to be all tucked up by 9 just because you're not drinking. Maybe figuring out fun is the next part of being sober for you. I used to fall into that romanticizing the booze thing too, though I find that fell away eventually. One thing I've found over and over is owning up to conflicting feelings helps me make sense of them, so I hope it works that way for you, too. Anyway, I'm glad your daughter is proud of you, and I'm glad you're liking who you are and you know you're where you want to stay! Take care. xo
ReplyDeleteAmazing analysis, ruthless honesty, glaring at reality. great writing. Love this. The next step in your philosophy & acting on the awareness is eagerly awaited XXX
ReplyDeleteYou have raised a very smart daughter! She sees the real you, the beautiful sober you! Please remember, we are still quite new to this sober world, we have time to build our future and the freedom to make it ours, truly ours! Congrats on 300 and so excited to be along the journey with you!
ReplyDeleteThank you all so much for your comments x
ReplyDelete300 days my wonderful friend! It seems we are arriving at a similar place at about the same time - I too have just come back from holiday and am searching my heart / mind / life ... trying to work out the next steps toward being the person I want to be. Glad to be sharing this journey with you xx
ReplyDeleteThank you and I also am glad to have shared this journey with you from the very beginning xo
DeletePrudence, Thanks for sharing where you are at - it's so healthy to let go of the past and keep taking responsibility. And those major milestones like the email from your daughter are just as powerful as anything in life. Keep up your hard work and dedication! You're going great!
ReplyDeleteBren
Thank you Bren x
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