I only seem to feel like my best self when I’m high on thc as I quit alcohol for the time being. I just feel as happy as a kid when I’m high. I feel very bland when I’m sober. I just can’t see being completely sober from weed too.
Give consentual pets.
Alcohol only gives you empty calories which fills your belly unnecessarily. So I drink it seldom, and tbh I still not get used for that burning tasteless liquid
I mean, it definitely gives you more than just empty calories. It can be quite pleasant.
Never felt any impetus to drink, and I have a personal aversion to recreational drugs.
Without thinking too hard about it, I probably get the most joy from learning stuff, especially when it’s within a topic of interest and has any level of application to my interests or skills. Bonus points when I make the connection myself.
I see other comments mentioning ADHD, so I’ll add that I have a diagnosis for it as well.
Good question, though. It’s been a while since I asked myself this, and I’m overdue for a reassessment. Thanks.
I have ADHD and for me there is only joy or great missery
i know that feeling…
Basically the same for me except it’s great joy or worry. And it’s a lot more worth than joy.
I like growing and tending to plants, painting miniatures, and working on DnD projects. All of these also generate a physical, tangible thing which is also nice (though I really wish I could use the DnD stuff more.)
I don’t drink or weed.
joy is fleeting.
rage is eternal.
accept the rage, become the rage.
I drink alcohol maybe once per year and I’ve never touched weed. I feel joy when I am around people and animals whom I love.
Honestly breaks from instant excitement. Spending some time coding, making soap, fixing up the house. If I spend three days boozing, playing games, watching shows, etc I’ll be fucking wiped and spend some time just feeling like death afterwords.
If I instead stick to things that require some choring to get to the yippy stage I find I’m just more content.
Do you have a soap company? Perhaps on paper street?
Sport and board games.
Nothing like the adrenaline of sport. Capoeira, fencing, whatever…I think having no power, being completely depleted after doing sport is one of the best feelings.
Boardgames: simply a decent combination of strategy, luck and talking, that keeps you engaged.
I have never been high and don’t really drink much. I have been mostly depressed since about 2013 but happy maybe here and there. The clean air a few months into lockdown was amazing though.
Take a month off the chems and exercise regularly during that time
Was a daily smoker for almost two decades and would defend my usage to anyone who suggested it could be a source of discontent in my life. I kicked the booze habit 10 years ago, kicked nicotine a few years after that, but held onto bud for a long time.
I’m almost 4 months sober now from thc and, while the first 1.5 months were shit cause of sleep issues and general system regulation, I’m so happy to be on the other side of it. It started out as tea break, I had some projects I kept putting off and thought I could reset my tolerance and get some motivation at the same time. But now that I’m several months deep, I’m not going back. My life has improved so much, in both minor and major ways.
Every person is different and it’s not my place to tell anyone what they should or shouldn’t do regarding substance intake. All I can say is, as someone who was dedicated to a substance supported existence for the majority of my adult life, I am definitely, without a doubt, my best self as a sober human.
Thanks, very interesting! Could you explain how you managed to completely stop? Any major driver?
It’s a great question, I don’t know if there was one main driver. I think I’d hit a wall in a way. I was tired of spending the money, the time, tired of the repetitive necessity of needing something to feel ok. Also, I had some house projects piling up. It was way easier to come home and smoke and do nothing so nothing was getting done. I guess I hit a sort of rock bottom of motivation and general exhaustion.
The first two weeks or so were really hard, not gonna sugar coat that truth, it truly did suck. It also took over a month to get back to somewhat decent sleep without assistance. I used valerian root and magnisum oil to get me through that first month and a half.
I focused on a lot of self-care, tried to eat really nutritious food, went for walks, started a daily journaling practice to try and quiet the mind. Used the supplements to get the best rest I could and tried to cultivate the patience I’d figured I’d need. Cliché I know, but I really did try to take it one day at a time.
I wish I had a better answer, maybe it was just time for me. Like I said, everyone is different and I’m no prophet of sobriety or anything. It just happened to turn out that sobriety works best for me and my mind. The freedom is my favorite part though, I can just go about my life without needing something or planning around something, sounds silly but it’s such a relief for me. I can just be.
Sugar, chocolate, cookies and cakes.
Exercise & fresh air & sunshine & nutritious food. As a bonus, it costs nothing! Aside from the cost of food which we all need anyway, so might as well spend our money on healthy food instead of the other options.
If you can’t feel joy with substances that means you’re an addict. You need professional help probably.
But speaking more generally, your issue is you think ‘happiness’ is an emotional high you have to chase. What you don’t get is that happiness isn’t some intense feeling of joy… it isn’t. It’s the ability to self-regulate and to stop chasing the highs and the lows. It’s realizing the ‘bland’ feeling is good. You should be feeling bland.
Well, in this society, I totally understand people needing substances to be honest.
What is there to be happy about in day to day? Maybe when you are a teenager, that girl brings you happiness. But its not a lot of happiness in the daily work routine that goes on for 50 years.
Actually you are meant to be sad so you consume stuff. That bland feeling you mention. Very good, you will buy shit to get out of it temporarily. Icecream, games, phones, movies, you name it.
Your life is probably better than the vast majority of other people. But you choose to fixate on it being crappy for whatever reason.
It’s your choice. But people like you weirdly seem to fixate on that ‘oh if only i had more stuff than my life would be so much better’.
