What's the best thing you've ever done?

[Richey Edwards]

We already have a "worst thing you have ever done" thread. However, the past is not a big stick to beat yourself up with. Every experience you have ever had has made you who you are. Let's focus on the positive things we have done in our lives.

 

I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that the best thing I have ever done was stop drinking alcohol. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with alcohol - I am just someone who is incapable of drinking alcohol socially or in moderation. I am an alcoholic and could never stop whenever I started. I had plenty of "black-outs" and "brown-outs".

Eventually I hated what I had become. I was a pathetic and bitter person. I had a dead-end job that I hated and complained about constantly, but had no drive or ambition to do anything about it except numb myself with alcohol. My behaviours had caused relationships to end, friendships to end, and immeasurable pain, disappointment and worry to people who cared about me. I was someone who could not be trusted to behave responsibly and found myself not invited to events because of that. 

The event that served as the catalyst for change occurred in February 2017. I was wandering the streets after being ejected from a venue for being wasted, and ended up falling asleep in a bus shelter. Absolutely anything could have happened to me. I could have died in a variety of ways. 

There is a point that people reach which is talked about in the recovery community - the point were you realise that you cannot do this anymore. This was mine.

Anyway, I attended some local AA meetings but after a while decided that their programme was not for me and basically went my own way.

Gradually good things started happening to me. I got a new job. People started wanting to spend time with me. I passed my driving test at the first attempt. I FINALLY got accepted into university after applying thinking "why not?". I am now one year of study away from doing what I always wanted to do when I was younger.

Has my life magically become perfect just because I stopped drinking alcohol? No, it hasn't. I still have bad days and adversity to face. However, I am better equipped to deal with life and have become someone people are proud of, and that I am proud of.

Anyway, this has been a long-winded way of telling you the best thing I have done is stopping drinking. I will shut up now. If you read this far then thank you for reading. 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Richey Edwards

[TxRover]

I would say first, good job!

For the best thing, despite being an immature and selfish teen, at 16, I managed to overcome all that and, at the cost of sinking a personal project that meant a lot to me and had effectively taken parts of three years, lie and cheat my way out of school during the day and ended up saving a friend from a drug overdose. Not proud of what I did to be there, and it would have been easier (and smarter) to call authorities, but still.

[coprolite]

Played songs that I wrote on stage with my mates in a band. Played theirs too, which was nice but not quite the buzz. There was an ok crowd on occasion. but not necessarily to see us. Great feeling.

[Tony Ferrino]

2 hours ago, Richey Edwards said:

We already have a "worst thing you have ever done" thread. However, the past is not a big stick to beat yourself up with. Every experience you have ever had has made you who you are. Let's focus on the positive things we have done in our lives.

 

I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that the best thing I have ever done was stop drinking alcohol. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with alcohol - I am just someone who is incapable of drinking alcohol socially or in moderation. I am an alcoholic and could never stop whenever I started. I had plenty of "black-outs" and "brown-outs".

Eventually I hated what I had become. I was a pathetic and bitter person. I had a dead-end job that I hated and complained about constantly, but had no drive or ambition to do anything about it except numb myself with alcohol. My behaviours had caused relationships to end, friendships to end, and immeasurable pain, disappointment and worry to people who cared about me. I was someone who could not be trusted to behave responsibly and found myself not invited to events because of that. 

The event that served as the catalyst for change occurred in February 2017. I was wandering the streets after being ejected from a venue for being wasted, and ended up falling asleep in a bus shelter. Absolutely anything could have happened to me. I could have died in a variety of ways. 

There is a point that people reach which is talked about in the recovery community - the point were you realise that you cannot do this anymore. This was mine.

Anyway, I attended some local AA meetings but after a while decided that their programme was not for me and basically went my own way.

Gradually good things started happening to me. I got a new job. People started wanting to spend time with me. I passed my driving test at the first attempt. I FINALLY got accepted into university after applying thinking "why not?". I am now one year of study away from doing what I always wanted to do when I was younger.

Has my life magically become perfect just because I stopped drinking alcohol? No, it hasn't. I still have bad days and adversity to face. However, I am better equipped to deal with life and have become someone people are proud of, and that I am proud of.

Anyway, this has been a long-winded way of telling you the best thing I have done is stopping drinking. I will shut up now. If you read this far then thank you for reading. 

Best probably at the moment reading your posts and knowing I need to sort my own life out. It's great stuff and a wake up to some if not all of us.

Keep posting in your weird tone because you're a good person and we're all a bit fucked up anyway.

Love x. Genuine.x

 

[Hedgecutter]

Changing subjects whilst already at university despite negativity from family at the time, as it kicked off a chain of events that's given me over 20 years of enjoyable work (doubling as a hobby) with travel and wages  that I probably wouldn't have had otherwise. I also certainly wouldn't have met my long-term other half (who was in the year below me) had I not made that change.  

Other contender: Going for an outdoor pish that inadvertently led to the discovery of a large, previously unknown and attractive cave system that I got to explore as the first person to be in there.  I rate this one highly as it gave a close friend who lived a few miles from the site a chance to visit it a few months before being diagnosed with late stage terminal cancer.  He had been searching for something like it in the area for over 30 years, and was extremely grateful that it gave him the opportunity and a 'proper sporting cave' on his patch before his end.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Hedgecutter

[BillyAnchor]

Accepting a dog from a rescue shelter (rough collie) that had had a terrible start to life. Neglected, about half the weight he should be at age 4ish and very anxious and scared of his own shadow. 8 years later he has come so far, still a bit awkward but a great pet. Sadly he is showing pretty rapid decline and it is hard to see him making it through the year, he is a big dog and legs are going. Going to be tough when he does.

[Rugster]

Found £50 sticking out an ATM. Lifted it and hung about for 5 minutes. A guy came running over to the machine in a blind panic asking the next person if they’d seen it. Genuinely looked like he had lost all his savings. Walked over and gave it to him. He about burst into tears and tried to give me £20 for handing it back to him. Genuinely seemed to have made his day so was pretty chuffed with myself for that. 

[Richey Edwards]

49 minutes ago, BillyAnchor said:

Accepting a dog from a rescue shelter (rough collie) that had had a terrible start to life. Neglected, about half the weight he should be at age 4ish and very anxious and scared of his own shadow. 8 years later he has come so far, still a bit awkward but a great pet. Sadly he is showing pretty rapid decline and it is hard to see him making it through the year, he is a big dog and legs are going. Going to be tough when he does.

If it's any consolation when he does go, you saved him from a miserable life and gave him the love and care that he deserves. 

[Jacksgranda]

9 hours ago, Richey Edwards said:

We already have a "worst thing you have ever done" thread. However, the past is not a big stick to beat yourself up with. Every experience you have ever had has made you who you are. Let's focus on the positive things we have done in our lives.

 

I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that the best thing I have ever done was stop drinking alcohol. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with alcohol - I am just someone who is incapable of drinking alcohol socially or in moderation. I am an alcoholic and could never stop whenever I started. I had plenty of "black-outs" and "brown-outs".

Eventually I hated what I had become. I was a pathetic and bitter person. I had a dead-end job that I hated and complained about constantly, but had no drive or ambition to do anything about it except numb myself with alcohol. My behaviours had caused relationships to end, friendships to end, and immeasurable pain, disappointment and worry to people who cared about me. I was someone who could not be trusted to behave responsibly and found myself not invited to events because of that. 

The event that served as the catalyst for change occurred in February 2017. I was wandering the streets after being ejected from a venue for being wasted, and ended up falling asleep in a bus shelter. Absolutely anything could have happened to me. I could have died in a variety of ways. 

There is a point that people reach which is talked about in the recovery community - the point were you realise that you cannot do this anymore. This was mine.

Anyway, I attended some local AA meetings but after a while decided that their programme was not for me and basically went my own way.

Gradually good things started happening to me. I got a new job. People started wanting to spend time with me. I passed my driving test at the first attempt. I FINALLY got accepted into university after applying thinking "why not?". I am now one year of study away from doing what I always wanted to do when I was younger.

Has my life magically become perfect just because I stopped drinking alcohol? No, it hasn't. I still have bad days and adversity to face. However, I am better equipped to deal with life and have become someone people are proud of, and that I am proud of.

Anyway, this has been a long-winded way of telling you the best thing I have done is stopping drinking. I will shut up now. If you read this far then thank you for reading. 

Great stuff.

I haven't had an alcoholic drink for a very, very long time, so, like you, that is probably the best thing I've done.

That has allowed me to do what I consider the (second) best thing I've ever done, which was, in conjunction with my wife, obviously, foster a wee boy from 3 months to 3 years who went on to be successfully adopted.

[Central Belt Caley]

10 hours ago, Richey Edwards said:

I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that the best thing I have ever done was stop drinking alcohol. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with alcohol - I am just someone who is incapable of drinking alcohol socially or in moderation. I am an alcoholic and could never stop whenever I started. I had plenty of "black-outs" and "brown-outs".

Well done, I bet that was difficult at times to go through. Glad to hear you’re doing well. 
 

Probably staying at uni when I was dead set on leaving was a big one for me. I had the leavers form all downloaded and ready to chuck it. My dad managed to convince me to look into changing course and stuck it out and got my 2:1, 3 years later. Now working in a decent job earning good money and have a cracking work-life balance. 

 

[Richey Edwards]

2 minutes ago, Central Belt Caley said:

Well done, I bet that was difficult at times to go through. Glad to hear you’re doing well. 

It gets easier the longer you do it. Some people seem to find the fact that someone doesn't drink to be deeply offensive though.

[RuMoore]

Got a nuke on MW2. 

[Hedgecutter]

2 hours ago, Rugster said:

Found £50 sticking out an ATM. Lifted it and hung about for 5 minutes. A guy came running over to the machine in a blind panic asking the next person if they’d seen it. Genuinely looked like he had lost all his savings. Walked over and gave it to him. He about burst into tears and tried to give me £20 for handing it back to him. Genuinely seemed to have made his day so was pretty chuffed with myself for that. 

I handed in some Polish guy's wallet that I found at the edge of a road , who had obviously been paid in cash (easily upwards of £500 in there). Obviously there were credit cards, driver's licence etc etc in there too, so a bit of a scunner for him one would have thought.

I later got a phone call from the Police L&F saying that he'd collected it and left me some reward money. £200 he gave me!  Didn't expect anything tbh.

[OmegaSpeedyPro]

Avoided the covid vaccine . 

[welshbairn]

Probably looking after my parents when they got too old to look after themselves, was getting a bit depressed that I was struggling to think of anything tbh..

[paranoid android]

4 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Probably looking after my parents when they got too old to look after themselves, was getting a bit depressed that I was struggling to think of anything tbh..

I'm looking after my auld Ma these days - best thing I've ever done by miles.

I really should stop drinking anaw. 

[Jacksgranda]

10 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Probably looking after my parents when they got too old to look after themselves, was getting a bit depressed that I was struggling to think of anything tbh..

That's a great thing to have done, wb.

[Cosmic Joe]

Probably bringing up (together with my wife) our two, now adult, children to be caring and compassionate human beings. 

[SweeperDee]

I’ve saved a friends life, almost feels brash even bringing it up, but it’s definitely the best/biggest achievement I’ve done or ever will do.

Edited June 17, 2023 by SweeperDee

[Ebanda's Handyman Services]

One of the things I'm most proud of is being part of a small group of supporters who converted an area of Stark's Park into a bar that still makes the club a good bit of money (Around 10x the amount we raised in our old location) and is now well used by the community.