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What have you lost by NOT drinking?

Magpie2
Magpie2
People often talk about what they have gained by quitting drinking. Self respect, clarity of mind, better relationships.
This morning as I looked at myself naked in the mirror I thought about what I have lost. I'm not talking pounds. Sadly. :(. BUT I realize I have lost a SHITLOAD of bruises. I used to be a walking bruise. I'd say "I have low iron, I think I might be anemic" Or some bullshit. Or "I don't know how I got that bruise" Which was kinda true. My mom thought my husband beat me a few times I suspect.
The truth is I bumped into a lot of walls while drinking. I bumped into a lot of things. I fell. I stumbled. When in Jamaica this past summer I woke up one morning with such a bad hangover and about 20 bruises. I kid you not. The biggest bruise was under my hair on my head. But my legs, my arms. It was awful. Not bathing suit material.
So what have you lost since not drinking?
parthgalen
parthgalen
Hi Magpie -- Thanks for a great post and generating some food for thought. I have managed to lose 10 pounds in the past 5 months, especially around my waist and in my face. Physically I look and feel so much better. I was a closet drinker (usually 12-15 beers a day in my home office). With that comes a TON of shame and guilt and self-loathing. I have lost a lot of that as well as the constant agitation, and numb thinking (or really NO thinking or feeling). I have lost the feeling of being a walking zombie that was not present for myself, much less my wife and two kids. I am happy to say goodbye to all that crap!! Hugs, PG
1is2many
1is2many
ive lost the red cheeks.
I've lost the bills that came in each month
I've lost the late night texts and calls I used to make
I've lost the lost the self loathing
I've lost the lost phones, credit cards, and passwords
I've lost the missing days
I've lost the fear
1-2
citychick2011
citychick2011
I used to be a walking bruise too. I still have bruises. Bruises from practicing yoga, but that's ok. I have lost the self-loathing and guilt and also days wasted being a negative, hungover ball of bad energy.
billwfriend
billwfriend
well I will tell you since I used to be teacher when I was drinking I lost my teaching career by stopping drinking because I could not take it without the booze the kids hated school...I worked with the special ed kids that had LD/BD issues all the time and I couldn;t stand it when I was given no return notice from school district I worked for....I actually thought thank you but lied and said I wanted to keep teaching....well I am still teaching but this is self employment in my car and one on one instruction the best of the teaching world....so I am now happy teaching but the money I made in mid 40K range went bye bye long ago in 2001 when I got that no renewal of my contract notice....so I lost a lot of money but gained happiness?
Impermanence
Impermanence
I lost my keys
andrealambert
andrealambert
Since I stopped drinking two years ago I lost 20-30 lbs, lost the vomit stains on my scale, lost the humiliation, my friend and loved one's anger, the embarrassing drunk texts, emails and Facebook chats I used to send, the spending, the hole in my bank account, and the lost phones and debit cards.

I lost a lot of things i didn't want or need and gained a wonderful new life when I got sober.
soberblonde
soberblonde
self loathing, guilt and that feeling of hopelessness. all gone thankfully. I wish I could say a few inches off my waist but that hasn't happened yet, however I do have faith that it's possible to lose weight now. when I was drinking, I didn't have faith that anything positive could happen. I certainly didn't have faith that I could make things happen and now I do. it's nice feeling like good things are in the future for me.
stickywick
stickywick
Odd way of putting it. So what don't I miss?
I don't miss hangovers. I've LOST them. I've lost a free floating sense of gloom and doom. I've lost a ton of anxiety. I've lost a compulsion to drink no matter what.
Its better for me to talk about what I'm grateful for which is the antithesis of the above.
I've lost a demon, a monkey on my shoulder, and an impending sense of doom and gloom. And I've gained a world I didnt know existed that was here all along.
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