day 59 - football season!

So if you know me, you know I love football. Yes, yes, I also have a personal weakness for football players, but we don't really need to go into that. I know this will shock most of you, but I usually enjoy a few adult beverages while watching football. Weird, right? This automatically means Saturday and Sunday become drinking days/nights along with the occasional Monday and Thursday dependent upon who's playing. I don't think I can even think of the last football game I watched or went to without having at least one drink (before tonight). Prior to embarking on my sober year, I thought about specific circumstances that would be the strongest triggers along my way. I think football season was in my top three, therefore I'm glad I had a couple months to settle into my new lifestyle before the season began. Tonight as I watch the first NFL game of the season, I have no desire to drink. I'm tired, I'm sore from workouts, I cooked an amazing dinner (Asian Peanut Noodle Salad - WW's recipe) and I'm perfectly happy relaxing and winding down for the evening. 

Tonight's dinner - mine looked exactly like this...yea right, but it was tasty!

I keep noticing a lot of irony in my sober discoveries. One that I found myself thinking about tonight was my perceived happiness. When I was going out and drinking a lot, I thought I was really living life to the fullest and enjoying every day. Now I see things so differently. I do not view those memories (those which I actually remember) as wasteful, and I do not have any regrets about the way I have lived my life; however, I can say with absolute certainty than I am happier now. Yes, I had fun dancing and drinking, but I was MISERABLE the next day and I rushed through so many other parts of my day without even thinking about them. Now I really enjoy some of my daily activities that I previously viewed as monotonous. I loved preparing a new recipe for dinner tonight and I didn't even cringe at the thought of washing the dirty dishes afterward. Old me would have rushed through dinner so I could put my tired and achy body in bed as quickly as possible. Oh wait, there's football on, let me take back my last sentence...old me would have actually ordered Big John's and eaten pizza and wings in bed. (Harsh, but probably accurate.)

Another irony I encountered is that, while I actively work to improve my health and well-being, I concurrently become more aware of my mortality. I won't get all drab and dreary here, it just relates to my previous discovery. If we just go through the motions, our time seems to evaporate. If we are always counting the days to vacation or a special event, we may forget to enjoy the days leading up to that event. I'm a huge "countdown" person, and I'm not going to stop that, but I also have to remind myself that the days in between such events should be purposeful and joyful as well.  Each day comes with many of the same tasks and procedures for all of us, but there's always something new that we can choose to mix-up. If not, we can also take notice to when something that has been externally varied in our day. Trying a new recipe, biking a new way home from work, and going to a different class at the gym are all things I've done to spice up my daily routine. When I add something new in, I enjoy the day and the "processes" don't seem so tedious. External variations can be as little as noticing birds chirping or new flowers blooming. (Wow, now  I sound cheesy...and like my mother.) But really, I was coming around the corner the other day and noticed all the birds were chirping like mad. I found myself wondering if they were just happy that it was a beautiful day, or if they could sense a change in weather on its way, etc. After catching myself in this thought pattern, I giggled a little bit. It seemed silly, but at the same time it was nice to NOTICE and ponder something small. I'm trying to notice more of the small stuff without sweating it (haha). Whether it's our boss or parent or spouse, we always want people to notice the little things we do. And I'm sure the little birds wanted someone to hear them chirping, why else would they do it? So keep an eye out for little things, they may just make you smile.