DAY 1. Need encouragement

I have tried it and honestly didn’t get much out of it. Maybe it’s the particular group I went to. I don’t know… but it didn’t help me.

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So for me it wasnt so much about the god thing at first it was the support and knowing them at everyone in there has and is going through the same battle as you. That you are not alone. For me I dispised the god aspect and felt the same way going in a meeting. Go in with a open heart and mind. Everyone in there has been on day one and will guide you on battle sobriety. Try out all groups around you and you will find the one!

Hi @Boymom

I’m copying this thread that has some really great info in it . Click on the blue text, and keep posting :point_down:

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Welcome to the forum. Many of have had many Day Ones. The important thing is you’re here. Read a lot and post ofen.

Glad you’re here!

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Did you go too aa for awhile?

Welcome to the forum there’s a lot of great people with a lot of great advice.

Here’s a great link with lots of great stuff.
New for 2020? Start here!

Also, check in daily on this link
Checking in daily to help maintain focus #6

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i first went to AA years ago and never returned because the meeting was so dry and sad…needless to say i kept drinking…until 8 days ago when i went to a new group and it was so amazing it was really a game changer!!! finding the best support group for you is ESSENTIAL!!! we’re here for you in forums but get out and meet people at a meeting that will be very inspiring, keep searching for the right one! you will be happy you did :slight_smile:

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Any and every recovery program will tell you to get to meetings, get a sponsor, and do the steps. You have yo put in the work. You can pray all you want, but dont expect results without action. Until you are ready to change for yourself, until you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, or until you’ve hit bottom, your chances are slim.
I heard this at a meeting, “AA is the best group that no one wants to join”. That’s true, no one wants to admit defeat. I never got anything out if meetings the various times in the past I tried to get clean, but this time around for me i look forward to them. There is one major difference between then and now, and that is that I went back with an open mind. If you enter the doors with a poor attitude, doubt, close mindedness, or bitterness, you probably wont get the messages you need because that’s what I used to do. I would always find an excuse to not go to meetings. “I dont like that guy… the people are boring… it’s sad or depressing… I dont want to get up early…” All bullshit excuses i told myself. Once I realized that everyone in that room, old, young, male, female, black, white, etc etc, they were all just like me. All the same problems, all the same bad habits and messed up thinking, we are all the same. Its now a place where I fit in and everyone gets me, a feeling I’ve never felt before. Never have I felt so understood and safe among strangers.
It’s all about action. As it was put to me, in the most basic form, “get off your ass, go to the meetings, shut up, listen, and follow in the footsteps of those who have done it. And if someone offers to help you, take it! You’re an alcoholic, you’ll never ask for help on your own, so take the help that falls in your lap.”
Thats just from my experience in my early recovery. harIt’s hard, it gets harder before it gets better. But all the work you put in is worth it and gets easier the more you do it. I wish you the best of luck.

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You can do this! Being sober is hard but we’re all in this together and I believe in you!

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You were smart and honest to start again. Great first move.

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Thank you so much

What “ilovemyself” said! Every meeting is SO different than others! I wouldnt base my impression of AA on one meeting. Try out several and try different types (Big book, speaker meetings, 12/12, etc.) venues and target populations. AA is not for everyone but it does help a lot. It would be a shame if you got rid of a potential tool in your tool box if was based on just not finding a good fit! Good luck!

Keeping it together is great but you’re more likely a long term plan may be needed especially if u keep relapsing,also doing it to keep your marriage together great starting point but I my experience ppl that are doing for other reason that being on a life deaths scenario or really doing BC they have to n not that they really want to will end up relapsing time and time again,maybe get yourself into meeting or smart recovery or loads of other programs going emerse yourself in recovery.wish you the best.keep coming back.xxrhis community is a breeding ground for soberity.

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Hi and welcome 🙋
You already have got a lot of tips but you need a plan. Make one of your own ore use mine if you like. I’ll share you my sober plan. I live by it and it helps me a lot, maybe it helps you too.

  • No alcohol in my house
  • Refrigerator filled with nice food and alc. free drinks
  • Telling my spouse about my sober plan
  • Avoid alcohol related activities and friends (at least in the beginning)
  • Having a day counter
  • Avoid wine/beer section in the supermarket and avoid liquor store
  • Taking a strong vitamine B complex
  • Taking melatonin to help me sleep
  • Be gentle to myself, like go to bed early, taking a long bath, etc.
  • Doing relaxing activaties like meditate, yoga, walking, etc.
  • When I have cravings: I don’t pick up that first one but I walk, run, work out, eat chocolat, watch Netflix, clean, study, whatever.
  • Ask for help when I need it.
  • Be here every day to read and check in sober.

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@Boymom well done on taking that first step. Im with you all the way along with everyone else here. What a fabulous, supportive group of people here. I read lots of posts last night and it was heart warming to feel the love and support and understanding. I recommend you do the same for the advice and tips.
Im on day 2 and doing it mostly for myself but my marriage too. Im not a good partner when I drink.
Best of luck on your journey.

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I been there before I think I’ve had so many day 1 before I finally reached 2 months , and that was just after rehab. Now I don’t even feel the urge to drink , I mean the thought crosses my mind but more of just a quick picture. What keeps me sober is realizing how far I have come , how many people had my back and now are so proud , when I had the urge to drink I would imagine myself on the floor on my knees …a bottle in one hand a shot glass in the other , and I would just imagine being surrounded by loved ones just looking at me in dissapointment. I know you can make this day 1 your last day one. Remember what you are doing this for , and remember that drinking only leads to unhappiness , regret, self pity ,etc . Imagine the person you’ll become once break your addiction and how proud you’ll be of yourself. Stay strong and remember is not impossible we just need to do the work and have faith.

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This isnt a criticism in any way, shape or form but looking through your previous posts this had been a recurring pattern for the last six months, you get back up after drinking for which I applaud you and you post with all the optimism in the world yet eventually end up back at square one.
This would suggest that someone is lacking in your effort to get in to recovery, what more can you do? Have you tried any meetings be it AA,NA or smart, online or in person meetings? They may just be the thing that changed things for you completely. I know that until I started putting in as much effort to my recovery as I did in to my drug taking them I was unable to break the cycle and what a depressing cycle mine was, it was recovery is death I hope that it doesn’t get that bad for you.
Again this reply is not designed to mock or ridicule you, more to make you think, think about what your can do to not drink. :+1::+1::slightly_smiling_face::slightly_smiling_face:

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If you keep doing the same thing youl have plenty of 1 days .maybe time for a mind set , and for me meetings made it easier and if you stick around meetings get a sponsor and make new sober friends get a good foundation and network , desire and effort is required its like anything in this life if you want to stay sober loss weight or any other thing you wish to do so words of encouragement try a meeting they work im the proof of that wish you well

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Great to hear!! It works when we want it to work. When we are desperate enough to MAKE it work.
I’m glad you tried a different meeting. We see way too many people say that they went to a meeting and decided it wasn’t for them… after one meeting?!! Lol.

Anyways, great job. Keep coming back.

And to the original poster, all I can suggest is what worked for me. And that is AA meetings. I didn’t agree with everything and I didn’t like everything about them. But I hated myself when drinking. And the people there knew how to stop drinking. So I had to find a way to make it work.

And work it did. Now I have been sober for a bit and I can actually help newcomers like yourself get sober too. It’s pretty soecial.
Maybe give meetings another shot

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