I fell off the wagon. Again

[Yoda-Stevie]

I was 51 when I quit drinking. I wasn’t an angry or happy drunk. I was a solo drunk. I just wanted to be left alone. Drinking wasn’t interfering with my life. Life was interfering with my drinking. Very selfish on my part, as I have a wife and daughter who needed me, and others who depended on me.

I lived on this app for my first 90 days or so. I checked it hourly, posted, commented or replied several times a day. That interaction with people, strangers who actually understood what I was going through and could offer genuine empathy was critical to my success.

Then I started taking martial arts classes. This was a game-changer for me. I was a 52 year old whitebelt determined to earn my blackbelt. I made friends. I got in great shape. I started feeling positive about myself again.

Others have suggested taking action to end self-isolation, and I agree 100%. Be active here, even when you don’t feel like it. Attend meetings, even when you’d rather stay home. Take a class on something that’s always interested you, like learning a new language, or painting…or my favorite martial arts.

But most of all, build some relationships. Real ones. Someone who you don’t want to disappoint, but doesn’t depend on you. Start there.

[DJUK]

Im approaching 60 days dry , attending group and generally doing better, thankyou for asking.

[Jamesy]

Glad to see that you’ve got 60 days under your belt and seem to be doing better than your first post. You got this

[SinceIAwoke]

That’s a great report, and a relief to hear. I hope your confidence in your sobriety continues to grow.

[DJUK]

Thsnkyou for giving a shit. Means a lot.

[tailee17]

Many of us give a shit and if we can help all the better. How are you?

[SinceIAwoke]

I’ve been remiss following up. How is it going so far?

[Lile01]

I feel exactly the same way… I’m 21, but we’re all here for you! Just please keep reaching out, PM me, if you need a shoulder to lean on.

Adding a pic of my baby (although, he’s 13!) Badger. Hopefully it cheers you up a bit

[DJUK]

Im at 78 days sober. Thanks for asking, nice that folk care.

[DJUK]

I love dogs so it sure did! Thanks for your support, im not getting notifications for sime reason i cant work out, hence my lack of reply earlier

[SinceIAwoke]

What is it that you are doing that is working well for you? What is helping your sobriety?

[DJUK]

Partly the warning i got from medical folk about hiw horrific a death from drink can be, and partly my mental damage caused by years of litr after litre of vodka. I want to be around for myself as i enter my later years, if thst makes sense. Its hard, as the demons i drank to keep quiet, now have a free ticket to torment me, but im not letting the bastards win this time.

[Von100]

I’m happy for you, 78 days way to go!!!

[SinceIAwoke]

Any counseling or groups or reading? Any spiritual practices? Any exercise, nutrition, medication? Those are the positive steps we take to grow our sobriety rather than to solidify our fear of drunkenness.

Fear of getting locked up in jail kept me sober a short while, but long enough for me to start on medication, and to start individual alcohol counseling, and to attend and start implementing the program of AA. Those are the steps that alllowed me to stack up days, weeks, months and years.

[DJUK]

Thankyou. Couldn’t of done it without support, a lot of which was from this app.

[Dirk]

@DJUK

im not getting notifications for sime reason i cant work out

Hi @DJUK, you will only get notifications if:

1. People like one of your posts, by giving it a
2. People respond directly to your post, like I am doing now
3. People mention you, like I did above when I typed ‘@DJUK’
4. You set controls at the bottom of a thread to ‘Watching’, please see picture below for an example.

Hope that helps!

[DJUK]

It does. Thanks for the help

[tailee17]

How are you doing?