Thanks, Rosa. That means a lot. 
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No you haven’t.
Going to be honest here. You had some abstinence before sure, but you had no recovery.
And you had relapsed long before you got loaded Mike, you had been relapsing for months.
Abstinence ≠ Recovery
The sooner you understand this the easier your life will be. You will stop being so hard on yourself and you will stop comparing what your future could be with what it was. You DO NOT WANT what you had Mike, you need more.
I also had to come to terms with this.
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Hello everyone, on day 25 over here.
I got some great news today after my therapy session, I got a raise at work! About an hour after receiving the email about my raise, I got a phone call with a job offer that I had interviewed for a few weeks prior. I’m feeling very good, and like the universe finally giving me some abundance that I so desperately needed.
I hope that everyone has a great day! I am looking forward to celebrating this weekend with some nice sparkling waters and a nice dinner out 
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That is such an important thing to realize. They do not get better and stress never goes away with using!
In my case they only get worse and even the temporary relief from using fades over time until its a feeling of constant anxiety and thougbts around using to feel normal.
It is worth it to have sober control of your actions. Stay strong! I see you struggling and believe in you.
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I had 15 months and I was pretty proud of that. I worked hard for that. I was in a outpatient treatment that whole time, I never fucked up once then or relapsed before…idk kind of annoying to hear that was just abstinence and not recovery…
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Hey Mike I think Stella is trying to say it this kinda like this
Abstinence is just not using or drinking, if I threw you in prison for a year you are in abstinence but not recovering.
I was this way for my first year to be honest I wasn’t recovering i was abstinent. Yeah I didn’t drink or use. Yeah I was in IOP, doin meetings, etc, but I wasn’t puttin in a lot of work it was just the bare minimum. But I almost fell off, hard
When the bottom fell out of my false prophecy is when I started to recover
My second round of IOP work with my therapist, and taking to friends in recovery is when I started to recover. I like you struggle with depression and self esteem issues. Those are things we also have to put work in for if not we use again.
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@Mno … who better to talk to a new admit than someone who really has been there! And is succeeding with sobriety. But still has those moments. There is nothing like the experience of someone who really gets it. Personally, I don’t want to talk to an addictions counselor who isn’t recovering. I’m glad your first day was a positive one.
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Stay strong my friend. Good to hear you’re figuring out what you need to do. And I can very much relate because recently my routine has been thrown off. I’ve been sleeping a lot sometimes till 1230. You would think extra sleep would help but I always seem to wake up with even Worse anxiety and my nerves problem is worse if I get more sleep. It’s weird how easy it is to get off track with little routines and it snowballs. Sometimes for me personally sleep can be like a drug and can become addicting. Thank you for your post. You got this !!
Ps: I was thinking the same thing like am I just gonna start getting up early when I get a job? I think I’m going to make a commitment to get up early tomorrow and do something. Maybe go running or something
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Checking in
29 months tomorrow without planning my life around my next drink. Fucken aye!
We’re visiting family in Dallas. Just got back to the hotel after a nice day and evening out with my son and his wife. It felt oddly strange, getting home to the hotel, and NOT RUNNING to the hotel bar for after family cocktails and getting all liquored up. And it’s going to feel great in the morning not waking up with a hangover. I’m really getting use to this sober life. It’s pretty enjoyable.
Keep up the good fight.
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It doesn’t mean you weren’t trying hard. But it didn’t click on a deep enough level or you wouldn’t have relapsed. And maybe ‘click’ is the wrong word, makes it sound like it clicks once and then you are all fixed. Actually you have to keep making it click every day. You need to do more than try hard. You need to try smart. And hopefully you can learn that in rehab. We all care for you and want the best for you.
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@mactune Wow sounds like a rewarding day. It feels amazing to be recognized. Are you going to stay at your job or take the offer?
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Hey Donna.
Little late to the party, so I brought you some more cake. Huge congratulations on your 2 years of sobriety. Thanks for all your support on here.
I’m so happy for you.
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Great job Ilona.
Congratulations on your 9 months of sobriety and a new you to go with it. Great job.
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Good luck with your meniscus surgery. Is it a repair? I had that one done too. It’s really not so bad as far as surgeries go. I’ve definitely had some worse. Be sure to pack some memes away for when your laid up. And congrats on your, I guess it would be 672 days now. I’m a little late. I haven’t been checking in much lately either.
I’ll keep you in my prayers for a smooth recovery.
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Going to bed sober. Grateful for this 24 hours.
Thx friends 
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I haven’t formally accepted as I’m waiting to hear back about my proposed salary. Thankfully I had the opportunity to negotiate my salary, and am just awaiting approval from HR management. I’m in a lucky spot where the job offer I have is for my boss’ old position, so I can move up into this middle management position while she moves up to an overhead supervisory role.
Thank you very much, I am feeling very proud of myself and it feels like another good step down the right path! 
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Hey everyone. Checking in at the end of day one. Made it through the hard part of the day and am now getting ready for bed. Glad I made it through these first 24 hours again. Ready to start building the days back again. Wishing everyone the best.
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Congratulations on your Day 1
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Day 228 AF
Chill day at work today. Nothing much going on. Gonna go for a long walk in a bit. Gotta keep pushing.
Stay strong everyone! Proud of yall!
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Day 88
Sober and with cats. An hour before i was done with moving I stepped off the front step and sprained my ankle. Got xrayed today. Grateful its not broken. Im so tired. If its not one thing it is another! Going to take a melatonin and try to rest a lot tomorrow. Grateful for ice cream.
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