I need advice and support :/

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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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I feel you with the Jail thing :confused:

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Y’all i made it to day 3 :’)

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Welcome to this wonderful community.

My reason for working on my sobriety was that I had to admit that I was powerless over alcohol. It took a lot of me. And I had to admit that only being sober allows me to tackle the problems I face. Alcohol made everything worse. I didn’t want to live anymore. In fact it was: I didn’t want to live like this anymore.
With every craving that came, with every trigger coming and understanding I got stronger. I got re-enforced that going through life without alcohol is actually possible.

Congratulations on your three days :sunflower::tada::upside_down_face:

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Hi Ava! Welcome to this supportive and uplifting sober community :heart: I’m so glad you’re here and that you’ve asked for help. That is SO brave. You have much courage and strength within, and your post asking for help shows it :blush: I understand when you say “I’m struggling”, I struggle too. Changing our lives, learning, growing, becoming is not always easy, but it is worth it! You deserve to be sober and living a life full of joy. And you can. For me, to get sober, I had to do and change many aspects of my life. I leaned on the wonderful community here a lot and I read and read and read 1000s of posts. I read books, the Big Book (highly recommend Chapter 3!) and articles etc on sobriety and recovery and learned what I could about Alcohol Use Disorder. I watched videos on YouTube and listened to others who also share addiction struggles. I stopped going to bars and places where the main event was drinking and instead found other activities to do - sport, exercise, games with friends, photography, long walks, movies, comedy, jigsaw puzzles, mindful colouring, taking my niece and nephew to the park, beach or pool for a swim. These are all now my reasons for staying sober. Ive built a wonderful sober life, and it is truly joyful and fulfilling. The life I had drinking was not. When I get in that mindset of glamorising drinking again, I play the tape all the way through and remind myself of the truth. Alcohol ruins things. It makes me feel anxious, sad, depressed, embarrassed. I don’t want that. So, I remind myself what “just 1” will actually lead to - misery for me. If cravings get real bad - reach out. We’re here :blush: you can do it, you just gotta believe in yourself first. I believe in you :heart:

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Well done making it to day 3 :sunflower:
One day at a time. Read around here, there’s information and sharings on all parts of life and addiction in abundance.
What helps me with every situation in my life is HALT. Maybe check out this thread (others too on the topic, use search function) and add it to your sober toolbox. H.ungry A.ngry L.onely T.ired

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Yes! I’m doing art my whole life and it so much helps me! :sparkling_heart:
If you want, we can together do art!

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Welcome,little late sorry, @levinedavid88 . To answer your question YES . I did 28 days at a residential rehab facility. It saved my life and set my intention to lead a drug free life and more. TS is a very important spoke on my wheel of sobriety i look forward to hearing more from you.

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yes!! that would be so fun!

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how do I add things to sober toolbox?

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read quit lit, practice, meditate, go to meetings, find out what helps you to stay sober

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Happy Sober Sunday @ambsweetie !
How are you?
Hope this helps! I’m right here with you.

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I stay sober because I know alcohol can take everything away from me- my dignity, self worth, family, career, health, life, EVERYTHING. And- I am powerless over it. I am powerless over something that can take away everything. I am sober because I want my family. I want my job. I want my health. I want to live until I am a sober, slightly mean (nah, just too honest) old lady on my daughter’s ranch where I have a rocking chair on a porch and a pet alpaca. As for how I stay sober, I use this forum a lot. I wake up early every morning and work on my art and myself and do too much laundry. And I spend a lot of time combing my brain to find my own voice that is separate from my addict voice. The addict voice tells me I can have just one, that I deserve it, that nothing bad will happen, that I can be normal.

Welcome tp this great forum. I look forward to reading more of your posts and learning about more of your sober successes. :heart::heart::heart:

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Thank you for all that advice- I appreciate it and I relate to that feeling of wanting the dream life. This place has kept me accountable when I didn’t think I’d have a group that wasn’t a public meeting or going to appointments. I live in a very small town and I really didn’t want everyone knowing (people where I live LOVE to talk even when they aren’t suppose to)

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I am doing a lot better than my first day to be honest. I’m on day 5 now :sneezing_face::sparkles: Didn’t think I’d ever willingly be this far into not doing anything.
I did smoke some cbd but I really don’t consider that as a substitute to weed (main vice) I have having a lot of anxiety and said it was a privilege and I can’t abuse that just because I told myself it’s alright. I try other things to combat anxiety first but that day I went with cbd- Do you think that’s worth resetting my time? I asked my sober boyfriend who is also an addict (pills/alcohol- he has been sober for 5 years so he is a good supporter but it’s hard for him and I to have him completely involved)

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he said it wasn’t worth resetting the time but i’m unsure tbh

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Same. Population 3300! I Get It :100: :people_hugging:

Also, you can set different timmers for different substances. A lot of people do.

Day 5? Awesome! What are you doing that’s helping? Keep going! You got this! We are right here with you!:heart:

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Well my sober boyfriend took me to an arcade and we had some red bulls
walks
Coffee with friends or alone.
I’m definitely not smoking cbd unless I need immediate anxiety relief but I’ve only done it that once so far. I think of it more as a medicine than a substance to have fun and get elevated with.

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