I feel like I am never "going to have fun"

I feel like I am never "going to have fun" again. Restaurants, household gatherings, anything social and I feel doomed. :frowning: why do I need a drink in my hand to feel good?

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I'm sorry. It can be really hard when things feel that way. Not sure how long you've been sober, but that part of it does get better. In the meantime, just try something that will work for you in these situations. Early in my sobriety, I noticed I still liked to have something in these events as well. Weddings, social things, etc.... Sometimes I would carry around a water bottle or glass of pop with me at least till I got past this psychological part. As for the mental part of thinking you need to drink to be social or have fun, that will also pass in time once you start building more and more things you do sober. You will feel comfortable again. You will laugh again. You will have fun again. Also, there may be discomfort if/when you are hanging around with the same people sober that you were while you were drinking. You don't want to lose friends or feel awkward around friends and family, but make sure you notice and think about your comforts first, put you first. Do your best not to worry how you look to others, those good friends and family will be supportive and understanding of who you are!

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14 months sober! I just struggle with the culture of drinking built up around me. I want to have a glass of wine with dinner but I can't because I will drink 40 glasses of wine. Its about ESCAPING and I need to figure out why I need to escape :frowning:

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You don’t need it, it’s all a facade. Just keep staying true to yourself, continue to work on yourself with your sponsor and supports to get to the root cause of your triggers and why you feel the way you do. It gets easier, congrats on the 14 montha

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Wow, very insightful of yourself, your feelings, and what you need to figure out. Like that self awareness! Yeah I am with you, there was never one drink, ever in my life. I realized drinking was just the end cause of my disease. My disease was one of my mind, my thoughts, feelings, and emotions. I also had to figure out why the escape?, what was I afraid of facing, why was I scared to live? Over my sober time so far, I've had to work hard on changing my thought processes, disputing many irrational beliefs about life that I had, developing more emotional wellness, holding on to some things and letting go of others. Healing from my disease is a process, and you know as well as I do, it takes time, but it will come! Congratulations on 14 months! :heart:

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I can not believe I'm at 14 months. I literally can not. So thx

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That’s how we’ve been programmed. Think about this, when’s the last time you saw an alcoholic in a alcohol commercial? I hope and pray I can make it 14 months one day. Congrats to you.

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I felt the same way, but you really don’t. I’m only 53 days, but my brain is coming back and the joy that comes with it beats hand over fist the numbing of it with alcohol.

I thought that too for a long time and then a sponsor asked me if I had fun for the years when I hadn’t been drinking and I said yes, he said so then of course you can have fun now without it, it’s the disease lying to me saying “you can not have fun unless you include me!” Truth is life is way more fun without the drink.

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I thought that also, but I’m coming up on 3 years of sobriety and I am having fun while doing it. This past summer I was able to help coach my son in football, and currently I am the head coach of his basketball team. I go fishing with my other son and I am able to hold conversations with my oldest son and actually remember them. We go to the movies, sporting events and family functions and I am able to have a good time. If I feel uncomfortable at anytime I am able to leave that situation. I have a whole new group of friends that are sober as well. We go all sorts of places and have a great time doing it without alcohol. Not everyday Is great in sobriety but it’s a better life than what I had when I was drinking. It all takes time and a willingness to make changes in yourself. It does get better. One day at a time!!

Get clean, then be proud to be that way.

Oh no, FOMO. So, I’ve certainly experienced that, especially early in sobriety. When it happens I have to remind myself that I’m projecting into the future-in other words, I’m making stuff up about what hasn’t happened yet. I remember that I can handle things, including having fun and enjoyment moment by moment, days by day as I choose. Just last night, I joined a group of friends who drink and, even after 3 years of sobriety, the thought crossed my mind: will this even be fun for me. It was. I laughed myself sore, enjoyed reliving meteorites, and am glad I went. Hang in there. There’s lots of life to enjoy sober.

How much sobriety do you have? It's not like we can push a button and all is well. It's 10 miles Into the woods and 10 miles back out.

One of the drawbacks with trying to do it on our own is that people can actually stop drinking for a significant period of time but deep down inside of them there hasn't really been any change and so they are miserable and unhappy.

We have a Question in AA that asks, What do you get when you get a horse thief sober?

A sober horse thief.

You see, drinking was but a symptom of our problem. We have to get down to causes and conditions. If we don't have a plan in place that has a history of working, nothing will change and yes, we will feel as though we need a drink.

The program that I used to create the changes in myself and find joy were the 12 steps of AA.

And trust me when I tell you that there really is life after sobriety.

When I was out there qualifying I used to wonder how people could possibly have fun without picking up a drink. I just couldn't fathom that concept.

I have learned over time how wrong I was. Life can be a lot of fun and there are certainly a lot of things that we can do in order to feel like life is really worth it. Sometimes life can suck though too.

But Life doesn't simply get easier because we stop drinking. We just get better at taking life on life's terms one day at a time without picking up a drink.

I also learned that I wasn't really happy when I was out there drinking. But you can only come to know that after you build sobriety time.

I got sober in 2002 and stayed sober for almost 9 years. Unfortunately, I believed what I call "the big lie" that tells us, this time, everything will be OK. It wasn't! It cost me 3 years of being in oblivion before I came crawling back into the rooms of AA. Now I'm coming up on 9 years again.

The first time around, after I cleaned up the wreckage of my past, I set out to earn my Private Pilot License. You want to talk about something that is a challenge and very exciting.

It has been one of the biggest accomplishments and dreams of my life.
It is certainly bigger than anything I ever accomplished while I was in oblivion everyday.

I love sobriety and I love AA!

I was going to reply with my two cents, but there's like 3 million cents of info here, all good. Just do you, everything else will fall into place