The little thingsGoto page 1, 2 Next
The little things
Author: Smoothy1125
Posted: 06/26 10:49 PM
I was thinking the other day about all the little things that sobriety has brought back into my life. We always discuss the big ones (health, money, family, legal) and while those things are amazing to get control of through sobriety, I tend to live and appriciate the little things in life. Music and comedy or getting lost in a good movie or book. Those are things that just went away while using. I probably sound like a simpleton but my absolute favorite part of my day is when I get home from work I have the house to myself for an hour. I hit the sofa with my two pugs lying next to me and put in a Simpons or Futurama DVD. And yes I am 39. I never had down time like that before, always running here or there to score or try to scrape up some money (without my wife knowing). Don't get me wrong the big things are great but those little things are amazing to experience again. What are some little things sobriety has brought back to your life?
P.S. Not to be crude but having a sex drive again isn't to shabby either.
little things, and the good moments
Author: autononymous
Posted: 06/28 10:36 AM
I totally agree--the little things in life and the good moments are what make life good. than ks for mentioning this. One of the worst things about my addiction was how it destroyed my creative life. I still feel i lost a lot....but...when my addiction went into remission for a while I got my creative life back but with a new area of interest--music instead of visual arts! Now I'm doing both...
but you are so right..the big things are important--finances, having your home together, career, and relationships of course..and...being able to be HONEST with your loved ones is a big plus...but what keeps me going is the good moments and yes, the small things that i appreciate....sometimes it's just having the right kind of food that makes me so happy..
Anyway, I think life always comes back to a matter of balance...You have to look at the big picture, but also notice the details.
Author: hatmaker510
Posted: 06/28 11:38 AM
Thanks for bringing this up. I think it's so important to be aware of the positive changes in our lives that come with addiction remission. For me, I'm so grateful to have my memory and attention to detail back. My mind feels sharp again, if you know what I mean. The drugs took away my memories from more than 3 years of my life, it's like it's just gone. I only remember bits and pieces of things before I started suboxone. Which is why I'm immensely thankful to have my mind back at full power.
I believe that if we take these positive changes for granted or fail to acknowledge them, then our recovery isn't as strong as it could be. Does that make any sense?
Author: RTLmom
Posted: 07/03 04:13 PM
Great thread!
Well, the number one thing, and may not be little but I have to mention, is being able to take my kids out to play and play with them without being high. Cleaning and tackling projects at home with out being high.
I also (like Hat said) enjoy having my memory back. When I was getting high off of any pill I could find I had a shitty memory. I do something or put something somewhere (something important) and not remember the next day!
Im glad to have those things back.
Author: hatmaker510
Posted: 07/07 11:44 AM
I had another maybe not-so-little thing that came to me today that I'm so thankful I have back - pride in my appearance! So many people I talk to experienced an apathy towards their appearance while we were using - no make-up, hair undone, etc. I now wouldn't be caught dead looking like I used to look back then. How did I not notice!? I'm like a new person in many respects.
I think this thread is a great opportunity for all of us to identify some of the things we got back or gained since we started recovery/remission. Thanks again, Smoothy, for starting this.
Author: Smoothy1125
Posted: 07/08 03:03 AM
It's now 5:50am and I'm leaving to take my 9 year old to his golf league and the work 10 hours after that. While it's not my favorite day of the week (being on my feet for 12 hours straight) Thursdays are a definate reminder of what can be accomplished while sober. I would never been able to handle a day like today with out mass quantities of amps and percs. And to see my son alldecked out in his red Nike tiger woods shirt and hit some great golf shots is absolutely one of those little things I was thinking about when I started this thread. Have a great day everyone!
Author: skayda
Posted: 08/01 03:37 PM
I agree with you completely. It's those little things that I've missed as well. Even being able be in the right mental zone to enjoy and appreciate those little things without my mind constantly thinking about when I'm going to run out of pills, how many I've got left, what hospitals haven't I hit recently, etc, etc, etc. The constant never-ended cycle of drug addiction got in the way of so many things that life has to offer. I am thankful, now, that I can kick back and relax with friends and family or just by myself and enjoy "life on life's terms". I never really understood what that meant until I found myself again through being clean and in recovery.
Author: Smoothy1125
Posted: 08/06 08:59 PM
This time of year the PGA has a tournement about 40 miles from where I live. I always take my 9 year old son so he can see some of his hero's up close. On Thursday we got to the 7th tee a half hour before tiger woods was playing that hole. We were not more than 5 feet from him for about 3 or 4 minutes. After his tee shot my son yelled "good shot tiger" and he looked at my son and smiled. My son was so thrilled I thought he was going to faint. When we got home we watched it on tv and there he was right on camera. Things like that would have never happend years ago. I would have never of gotten that thrill of watching my son experience something like that. I would have never taken him to something like that, I would have made up some excuse or pawned him off on his grandparents for the day while I did my thing. I was thinking on the drive home that you never know when moments like that are going to occur but one things for sure, they wouldn't happen if I was using. Like they say anythings possible when your sober. If you are living a clean life, with or without suboxone, I'll bet if you try at the end of every day you can think of something great that happend because your sober. Even if it's enjoying a movie or throwing the tennis ball with your dog, some little thing has happend that wouldn't have when you were using.
Author: Diary of a Quitter
Posted: 09/24 01:20 AM
Another old-but-good topic from the archives! 
What little things has recovery brought back to your life? What little thing made you smile today?
Author: Goinstrong
Posted: 09/24 02:17 AM
See Diary? It's the little things that you do, like bringing back a great thread, for all of us to appreciate, that make you pure awesome!!!!
I don't even know where to begin when it comes to the little things that I have gotten back. One big thing that I can mention is seeing my 18 month old grow up! I am so thankful that I won't miss that! I can easily break that same thing down into little moments....His first word, his first tooth, the first time he crawled, the first step he took, the first time he kissed and hugged me back. And just yesterday, he said "I love you" for the first time! Completely melted my heart!
Besides the obvious things that have already been mentioned like finances, stability, family, there is one thing that I do have back that is very important to me. That is my self respect, and love for myself. I no longer allow people to walk all over me. Most people who know me, know that I don't like confrontation. Some people will try to take advantage of that in me. Like try to pick an argument with me, just to satisfy there own sick personality. Like my mom. LOL! So now that I am clean, I am able to spot that in people when it happens, and walk away from it. I do understand that those people are sick, and that they need help, but the fact that I have so much respect and love for myself, to not allow people to treat me that way, is HUGE for me. I will take it for a little, but eventually, I will cut my ties, because there are no losses with walking away from people like this, and move on. I'm pretty good at pretending people are dead, or like they never existed~LOL! Especially the crazies! Now my mom, I HAVE to deal with, but everyone else can take a hike as far as I'm concerned. They aren't real friends anyway.
It is things like this that are important to me because they contribute to my overall happiness. Love of self is so important. I used to get sucked in to other people's drama too, but I no longer do that either. I do what DiaryofaQuitter suggested, nod and let it go in one ear and out the other. Some people just like drama, and everything is a crisis in their world. They are not happy unless everyone is foused on them, and they have something going on. And it's almost always negative.
Now that I am clean, I am able to remove myself from these types of people. I no longer have any negative people in my life. I had stated this in a thread a while back too. I cannot even begin to tell you how important inner peace is with me. And I FINALLY have inner peace. No anxiety. No negative friends. In fact, that brings up another bonus of sobriety~My friends!!! I LOVE my friends!!! The four girlfriends that I have since high school, of course Amber from this forum, and my bff in Georgia! My relationships with them are healthy, drama free, and so positive! I hated how negative all my relationships were when I was using and first getting clean.
Someone already said getting lost in a good book~I just read three books last week! I haven't done that in years! And I loved it!
Great thread to revive Diary!!! It helps me to be more grateful too, just typing this out. Double bonus!!! LOL! Yes, all of the non physical things. It's all about loving other people, helping other people, and loving myself again...... From suboxforum.com