Hey, My name is Ava and Honestly I’m struggling 
What are your reasons you stay sober, what helps you with cravings, how do you even navigate the first week? Not sure if it’s allowed, but I need some support anything helps, to be honest- Thank you in advance
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Hello Ava, welcome to the community. Glad you found us, and if you need support, you will find it here. Just read around, you can get lost in just reading posts on here. As people on here come from all over the world, this community is active 24/7.
Everyone finds their own way to navigate through cravings, and everyone has their own unique story, but still we all have one thing in common: we aim to stay sober one day at a time. Don’t think about the first week. Think smaller: a day, an hour, a minute.
Hope to see you around and read more from you
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Yes for sure stay on here it’s good
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Welcome Ava🙂. My biggest reason for staying sober was that i decided i didn’t want to die.
Here are some links for you to check out, you may find some of the info helpful.
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Welcome Ava!
Sober now for almost 4 years. What helps me the most is to keep busy. Mentally and physically. NEVER letting my mind focus on the cravings. It WILL win… Happily it does get easier with time…Concentrate on that in your early recovery…Lean on us here for support. We understand all too well.
We do this TOGETHER!!
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I’m kind of shocked I already got responses- I appreciate you all already. I think this is also a good place for me to want to stay accountable as well. You all are here for the same reason no matter the vice and I think that’s great:heart_hands:
thank you all. Can’t wait to keep moving forward. I’m on 16 hours 
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Welcome to Talking Sober! 
Personally to me help to something create, not sure why, maybe because I’m creative person in general! But when I’m without energy to something create, I just sleep or go outside for a walk. As well helps to me when I’m talking someone about my feelings.
If anything, I’m here for you! You’re not alone. 
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Hi 
welcome to the family 
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Thank you Is anyone interested in art of any form? That’s something I’ve always been drawn to but I’ve been too busy doing the vices to actually create something decent and meaningful
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For me it has been identifying why I’m an addict in the 1st place. In my life it has taken many faces: alcohol, cigs, weed. But the underlying issues related to my mental health were always bringing me back. Feeling unworthiness or shame.
Also, having a relationship with God has been key for me (personally) didn’t have one before. Keeping busy as @GentleWarrior mentioned is good too.
Checking in here has made it stick this time around too. Accountability and reading all the different experiences makes you feel a little less alone. Keep coming back here everyday! It’s an amazing community.
16 hours is a great start! Soon you’ll have 16 days, months and years. One day at a time. Heck, 1 hour at a time somedays. Sending lots of love
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DO IT!!! Amazingly helpful to quiet the restless mind. Find a genre. I love cartoons, but only now have gotten into it. YouTube different tutorials.
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Welcome! Early days, I needed a schedule. I planned my days with no empty time, and started my day with sobriety activity, such as reading quit lit, watching a video, to really solidify my intent for the day. For cravings I would suck mint, smell lavender. I avoided events with alcohol for a while too.
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Fear was my first motivator because I was terrified that I would end up in jail AGAIN. That is what kickstarted my recovery. As time went on the fear of getting in trouble began to flee, I had to look to my fellows, my Higher Power and keeping myself busy/active with others of a like-minded goal to stay sober.
Sparkling beverages! Like sparkling water, soda and these amazing beverages called ICE. They are loaded with vitamins, sugar free and sparkly so they gave my body (some of) the nutrients it needed to begin its repair to the damage I’d been doing for years.
Gum also helps me because it keeps my mouth busy and so my brain can turn off the “feed me” switch to keep putting some kind of sensation in my mouth.
As far as navigating the first week, I’d suggest reaching out to friends and family. People you can trust with how your feeling and won’t judge you for needing support as you manage the obstacles and challenges ahead. Ask them to meet for a coffee and/or a walk. The walk is more important in my opinion because it moves the body, stretches the muscles and gets the heart working. Talk to a medical professional as soon as you can. They will have more resources to assist you in your journey.
There is always AA. The door is always open. The easiest step is walking inside, and that is when the real recovery begins. Get involved. Hear stories of others and the journeys they’ve lived. It’s not easy, but it’s worth more than your weight in gold.
Come back anytime and as often as you can. This site is incredible for support and suggestions on how we can all beat addiction. It all boils down to how bad we want to be free of addiction =)
See ya around!
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That’s exactly what we’re here for. Never be afraid to ask for help, it’s our strength not our weakness.
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Hey Ava, and welcome to the group. Congratulations on you successful achievement of sobriety, you definitely deserve it and we are all here to help one another achieve our goals. I take it one day at a time now, as before I was a badge seeker (one day, one week, one month, etc) which lead to my relapse at the 121 day mark. I have learned I can only be sober right now, not in the future. Future sobriety will come once I accomplish it right now (I don’t know if that makes sense lol). I like to kind of plan out my next day at night so I kind of know what I got going on the next day and identify my potential trigger points or dull moments where my mind might wander. And we all know a wandering/lost mind is bad juju for us all. I have also got back into “farming” to help ease my anxiety/depression with taking care of my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, okra, eggplant, and multiple seasonings. I hope this helps and we are always here if you ever need someone to talk to!
#IAmStrongerThanTheStruggle
#OneDayAtATime
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Idk if someone’s said this but there are art threads on here where you can post your art
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thank you! I didn’t even know that!
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Y’all- I just excused myself from an event where a bunch of people I use to party with and free booze was being provided…. Little step but a giant one to be honest. And i think it’s because I saw y’all’s responses on my phone when I was there :’) So thank you guys so far❤️
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A good sober network, and changing my environment really helped me. Have you done treatment before?
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I have not- I just mentioned to my PO that I wanted to get into a one on one counseling because being in person with groups I don’t think would help me. I need to do it on my own type thing, really dig deep into my mental health- but I also need a group to hold me accountable and realize that sober people DO exist.
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