Good morning all. I am new here. I’ve had a his app for a few days, and just got registered. Proud to say I have 15 days under my belt this morning. I went o bed at 8 last night and slept til 6am without moving a muscle. That’s 10 hours! I feel great, and confident, and healthy. I have more energy, and my thinking processes feel much more fluid and lubricated. I’m trying to surround myself with positive people who know about alcoholism. Hope to be a long time member. I appreciate you all.
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Welcome Shawn. I’m proud of you for deciding to become sober and obtaining 15 days. That’s hella awesome.
I highly recommend checking in daily to keep focus in the checking daily to maintain focus thread.
I also recommend finding some activities to fill time like, running, cycling, working out, meditation/mindfulness, crafts, drawing, reading etc.
Mindfulness is also great of letting go of past shame and guilt since it teaches you to let your thoughts pass without giving them any attention.
This is a weird suggestion, but I recommend giving your addiction a name. Sobriety became easier for me once I named my addiction Brutus. It is no longer an enemy hiding in the shadows now, but now I know my enemy and now I can fight it better.
I also recommend reading on this forum a lot on this forum and asking questions if you have any.
You can make sobriety a lot easier. It’s really hard to think about staying sober for the rest of my life. If I think, do I want to stay sober for the rest of my life? I think hell no. But I can and want to stay sober for today. The next day, I also think I can stay sober for today. and so on.
Don’t think about not using for life but think about not using today. Do that every day, and it gets way easier. If you are very deep in the shit, you can even think, I’ll stay sober the next 5 minutes.
Don’t listen to your mind, your mind will not stop being a dick, it will be a dick less and less, but it will never fully stop being a dick.
If you have cravings, just play the tape. By that I mean, pretend that you abuse again, then try foreseeing the future. Will it be all butterflies and roses, because you feel so awesome when relapsing, or will it be shame, self-disgust and disappointment you feel.
When your mind tells you that you can use once, that’s bullshit, the biggest bullshit ever. Your addiction just tries to find a way to get satisfied.
I also recommend following the twelve step-program with a sponsor.
I hope this helps you get even more days.
Good luck, you’ve got this. 
(My opinion on this has changed by now)PS: May I recommend not asking for congratulations? It makes you seem like you’re begging for attention and I’m sure that’s not how you want to be seen. And don’t woory about not getting congratulations, we all know how significant sobriety is in this community and we all are very proud and happy for you
Wow, that’s some great sleep! Congratulations on your 15 days!!! 
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I’m sorry if I offended you. I am a single father, and live alone in a small studio. So, yes I do like a little attention, congratulations, and kind words. Thanks for your input.
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Thank you Stella! I do feel fantastic!
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I am not offended in anyway, and did not mean to offend in anyway. I’m sorry if that happened. Reading that you are a single father makes me even happier, because that means you want to be there for your children, good job
Strong work my brother x2! We Smitty types are just a "special bunch ". Have a great day.
Congrats Smitty, 15 days is great 
Hey 
. Congratulations on the 2 weeks! That’s a great start and some hard work. I can’t believe how well I sleep now too. It’s amazing. And not waking up with a hangover in the middle of the night? How awesome is that? I use to be a big hangover guy. The bad headache kind. Kept drinking. Kept getting hangovers. Sounds kind of stupid. So many things I love in sobriety but mornings are the best now after good nights sleep.
Keep up the great work.
I drink a lot of sparkling soda water now. I mean a lot!!
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That’s so true. I was a headache, dizzy kind of person when I was hungover, and it was an everyday thing. I also enjoy sparkling water now! Interesting. Last time I was sober I enjoyed those aloe vera drinks, but I’m definitely on a no carb, no sugar, no artificial flavors kick right now. It’s my new adictive drink lol.
Wohoo, congrats to 15 days. And welcome to this forum. People here are just amazing, and I’m sure you’ll get a lot of cheer along the way if you stay here. I’m pretty new too, I’ve been here about a month. I felt a bit lost in the beginning, but I just wrote in threads I found interesting and now I don’t know how I’ll do without all the amazing people here.
The daily checking in, checking out is really helpful. And if you feel the need to you can always check-in more than once a day. I do pretty often, there’s always someone around.
I wish you the best of luck in your sobriety journey.
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Brilliant job keep it up
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I’m right around there myself!! It’s been a bit bumpy but I agree I feel pretty good! Congrats on your day 15!
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Congrats! 15 days is awesome! Keep it up man!
Hey look, I’ve read through the comments and I have another view on asking for people to say ‘congrats’. Sure it might seem like you’re trying to get attention to some people, but honestly I know what it’s like to make a post that may seem routine to some but that really caused me some pain and stress to put myself out there and make and then no one really says anything. For some reason, people seem to think I’m so well put together (both online and offline) that I don’t need positive feed back. And frankly, that does hurt at times, but it’s something I’m getting better at with the people in my life, though not as much with strangers. So, I admire that you can come out and say exactly what you need.
For some people, saying they have a certain number of days is easy, but for others it takes everything to say something because it feels like you’re vulnerable, especially in a new space. In reality, it’s very healthy to be able to say what you need. If you are struggling with something, and you really need positive feed back for your accomplishment, then it’s healthy to say, ‘Hey, I’ve done this thing, and I really need some positive words.’ It’s far more healthy than to need something, not say it, not get it, and then feel sad, depressed, or even resentful because you didn’t get what you needed or hoped to get.
I respect @anon89207786 and their opinion very much; they’re an awesome piece of this community, but on this point I disagree. If you need positive feed back to help you on your journey, and you have the self confidence to ask for it, then do it. How you look to people is far less important than your sobriety.
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I agree with you. In my mind everything is very black and white. I had not realised that for some people it is a big step to share their days and ask for compliments, I had not put myself in someone else’s position.
So thank you for clarifying and your feedback. I will try working on putting myself in someone else’s position and try recognising exceptions
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You’re welcome and thank you for understanding my thought process on the matter, and being open to what I was saying. We’re all so very different and it’s easy to forget that other people don’t work like us. I definitely get that. The idea that not everyone had the same way of processing the world was a huge revelation to me when I was a young adult! 
You are an absolute gem in this community. I love how involved and supportive you are of people. Don’t ever change that!
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I’m with you here. I’m trying to engage in the forum and post pretty much. But every post makes me nervous because I’m going personal. I’ve also erased posts because I just can’t, and don’t feel comfortable exposing myself like that.
I really enjoy talking to @anon89207786 as well, and I at least think that I’m trying to respect everyones opinions.
But if you know what you need, and if it helps you on the path forward I absolutely think that this should be the place to ask for it. None of us might really have our shit together (If we did, we probably wouldn’t be here) but we do have the spirit to lift each other up. And cheering words, a virtual hug or just some acknowledgement that we’re here and trying to do the right thing. Is something that we all need sometimes. Because it ain’t an easy thing we’re trying to accomplish.
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I really appreciate that, that actually put tears to my eyes 
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I would agree, from what I’ve seen, that you do definitely try to respect everyone else’s opinion while making sure you are heard as well. That’s something that is in short supply in the world right now because it seems that so many feel like if someone has a different opinion or approach then they’re wrong, and if they’re wrong then they shouldn’t be heard. I don’t feel like @anon89207786 was wrong at all, I simply have a different opinion and one that comes from my own experiences in life. And the two of you may have different experiences in life that gives you a different view on things than me. Doesn’t mean any of us are wrong, just that we have different ways of looking at things. In the end, I think being able to respectfully come together with those different views makes us stronger people–and makes for a stronger community–in the end.
In all honesty, I’ve erased posts that I’ve typed up as well. To say, “I have this many days”, or to say, “I screwed up,” is hard enough, but to risk putting myself out there in such a vulnerable way is hard enough. Not getting any feedback is crushing, because I feel unimportant and like I was a fool to put myself out there. I’m a person who needs feedback, and it took me years to even get to the point where I could admit that I needed feedback, as if it made me stronger to not need that. So it’s no small thing when I say that I admire that @Smitty1988 can ask for positive feedback. I don’t know how to ask for positive feedback just like I don’t know how to ask for help. As if the very act of doing so means that I’m being weak because I can’t handle it on my own. It’s a pretty unhealthy way of viewing things, but hey, like you said, if we all had our shit together we wouldn’t be here! I see you around a lot, trying to show support and encouragement, and I think you are an awesome addition to the community. It’s people like you and @anon89207786 and so many others that make this place what it is.
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