So, now that you are sober, what the heck do you do with all your free time? I know, personally, that thought crossed my mind quite a few times, especially in my early days of sobriety. By now, if you have read any of my blogs, you know that lifting is my passion, obsession, and non-paying side job. The one thing that helped bring me back to life! But honestly, lifting was not even in my thought process during my first weeks of sobriety; a time when there is a necessity to fill the gaps between work and sleep.
I was told multiple times by more than one person, you need to find a hobby. Hobby? My hobby was sitting on a barstool! Although true, that answer did not get me very far in my new way of living. Sitting on a barstool drinking diet soda will only make you the butt of every drunk guy's jokes. I know because I tried it. So, the next best item on the list was sports and lifting.
At first, I was pretty well set, and in fact, happy with my decision to never touch a weight again. It brought back to many memories of perceived failures. I went from being a top area crossfitter to an unhappy, over-weight crossfit coach...a transformation paved by injuries, depression, and lots of alcohol. So, in my mind, a return to lifting would bring failure. And failure would ultimately lead me back to alcoholism. Drinking was the only way I knew how to deal with those situations.
Ulitimately, you do have to find something to fill those moments of boredom, aka put something in your hands besides drugs or a cold one. And the sooner the better. For me, it took some convincing that failure was not directly related to any type of athletic endeavour. The most important thing to remember is that alcoholism is a disease; a preoccupation with a substance, lack of control, and a way to hide from the world. So, I started with early morning rowing workouts, and the rest is history. There are many people that use lifting as a way to relieve stress, but I use it for pure enjoyment and peacefulness. It helps me clear my mind, re-focus my energy, and reach for goals that don't include an eighteen pack.
It is hard enough to try and help someone turn away from a life long addiction, but helping someone stay sober is more or less a monumental task. There are typically multiple emotional responses that trigger the knee jerk reaction to reach for a beer or a bottle of pills. Addicts have to have something else to reach for...a book, pen and paper to write, music, or a stack of weights. Finding that one hobby is essential in the recovery process. And it doesn't have to be something your good at, or used to enjoy. If your chosen hobby is something new, you will have plenty of time to perfect it. In addition, my last year of competeing in strongman and powerlifting has taught me how to deal with a lot of emotions, ups and downs, that I would have previously tucked away in a bottle of beer. It hasn't been easy, in fact, a lot has been pretty hard, but it has all been well worth the fight.
FYI...I really wanted to answer the initial question with "I'm going to Disney World". ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment