Greeting TS Peeps (New and Old),
Where to begin? I don’t like looking in the past to long, because that has no bearing on who I am now.
Let’s just say my life was crumbling around me, and my alcohol consumption was at a point, where even addicts/alcoholics wondered how I was alive. Many days I would wake-up with shame and guilt, and ponder why I was even on this earth.
Everything I did good or bad, led me back to alcohol. I wish my transformation happened overnight, but that wasn’t in my cards. It was full of personal victories one week, and relapses the next. I honestly can’t say, if AA would had been a catalyst to help me achieve sobriety sooner. My journey was full of detours, backtracking and self evaluation/inventory.
Here are some of the things, that come to mind as I look back that helped me move forward.
- sorting out my emotional baggage. ( Just let go of the bad things. You can’t change people, circumstances or the past. learn to accept it or make it better with your attitude) Lose the resentment!!!
- you can only control how you react to a situation, not the situations. (Drinking is a loss of more control)
- Exercise (Even when you feel tired)
- Don’t worry about what other people; friends and family think, even loved ones. Do what’s best for you in sobriety.
- Never make or accept ultimatums from family members. Your an addict, and family members will hold this over your head if you fail. Making your disappointment in yourself 100x worse
- Goals! Build those sober muscles and tools. Set small goals. I’m not drinking today, this weekend or this month.
- Learn about your addiction. Read; This forum was invaluable. Books, articles, YouTube. Enrich yourself with knowledge.
There’s probably a lot that I missed, I evolved as a person during my journey. Sometimes, I tried something and it didn’t provide any benefits to my personal recovery.
The number 1 thing, never give up! Always try!
You always have a surrogate family here.
