So what mundane changes were you/are you most proud of

[wildeyed]

right after you got sober. We all have the biggies, like say, it's great not to have black outs and wake up in a strange place with a strange person not knowing where your car is. And then there are the little things.....

One in particular that I remember was being proud and happy to have normal garbage. Yes, garbage. But when I was drinking, I didn't eat much or have any sort of domestic life, so my garbage consisted mostly of empty bottles of cheap vodka and beer. It would go clink-clink-clink all the way to the trash room in my apartment building. After I got sober and learned how to eat again, I had normal quiet garbage with stuff like potato peelings and milk cartons in it and it gave me a strange kind of gratitude. Go figure....

Don't know why I was thinking of that suddenly. So what small change made a big impression for you?

[NMDemDist2]

1. being able to go to the Laundromat

in the drinking days the Laundromat was take a $20 to the bar and buy a drink and a roll of quarters,

use quarters to start laundry

have a couple pops while they wash

use quarters to start dryers

have a couple pops while they dry

I had to have another AA go with me the first couple times I did laundry to make sure I didn't go next door to the bar

it was a feeling of absolute freedom the first time I went to a Laundromat alone (but I found one that was NOT next to a bar)

this is a great thread wild, good for us to remember how the little things made such a big difference in the early days

:hi:

[wildeyed]

2. They did make such a difference.

To be grateful for quiet garbage or have the freedom to just go and do laundry..... and then actually come home with all of it. Amazing!

When I started going to meetings, I made a list of things to do, stuff like "paint the bookcase" and "clean out closets" because I knew that sobriety would be profoundly and endlessly boring and I would need things to occupy my time. Who knew that stuff like taking out the garbage and doing laundry would become an opportunity for profound gratitude? Everything was suddenly so different and new! Those were some crazy times.

:hi:

[NMDemDist2]

3. i'll be 15 in a couple months (and I know you have more time than I)

but it's good to remember where we came from

here in my new town, I'm doing only noon meetings so far, but have committed to Mondays and Thursdays because the girls from the half way house come on those days in the van

It's good to be of service (since I'm one of the 3 women who regularly attend out of 20+ people and I have MANY more years than any of the "regulars", male or female) and good to remember how much I have to be grateful for :bounce:

and in a small town it's good to talk about what's going on. I lost my job right before Thanksgiving (seems it was a temporary position after all, they just didn't want to tell me that LOL) and I've had two different people come up this week with job leads :bounce:

I love being Sober and I love old fashioned small town AA :evilgrin:

[wildeyed]

5. Sorry about the job loss.

Hope the new leads pan out. Glad you like the new AA groups. Sounds like you are finding a place in the community, which is always a good feeling.

[Kajsa]

4. I am also glad to have more

balanced garbage.

It's not weird at all, IMHO.

Not having the clink,clinking of all bottles is great!

I would actually transport some of the bottles I had
to dumpsters in other locations.

Man, I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore.

This is a great thread.

:hi:

[SPKrazy]

6. That Over Time I've Been Able To Go To The Grocery Store

and public places, not necessarily related to my alcoholism, but somehow entangled in there. I have also been dealing with a good dose of social anxiety over time and phobia about being in grocery stores, etc. May be related to use of other things besides alcohol, or maybe just the way it is.

I can shop at any hour of the day and don't freak out in crowds nearly as much.

I still won't go and hang out at places where it is HOT and there are lots of people.

That combination sets me over the edge.

Living in the South, that is a tall order sometimes.