My counselor always used to tell me “people, places, and things”. I never took her seriously and swore I could figure sobriety out in environment where everyone around me was still using. I was wrong. I spent over 10 years in the depths of addiction with few bouts of sobriety here and there, but never any substantial amount of time.
I just moved in with my boyfriend in a new town 210 miles away from my hometown, the place it all started. I’m in a small town of 303 people, in the middle of nowhere. But I’ve been sober since the day I got here 45 days ago. That’s the longest I’ve been sober since the day I started using 12 years ago.
The thing is, I’m stuck in our apartment 4-6 days a week because we only have one vehicle and he’s got classes and work everyday. So he’s gone 20 hours a day Monday thru Thursday and sleeps all day Friday. And none of this bothers me, however I’m beginning to feel trapped simply because I don’t get to go out and do much of anything. I don’t have anyone else here except my boyfriend because I left my family and friends back home. I’m starting to get lonely and have been dying to find an NA meeting but it turns out that I’m at least an hour away from the closest town that has any.
So here I am, with my first post in hopes that I may find others who are currently going thru or have gone thru similar situations. Or just anyone else looking for a stronger support network.
Welcome to Talking Sober SweetStiches. And congrats on your 45 days of sobriety, that’s fantastic lady! Just keep going one day at a time, you’ll never be stopped. For me personally, this here place has been my main source of peer support in the 7+ years that I’ve been sober now. I tried meetings, in person and online (have you tried those, there’s plenty around), but they were not my thing. I found my sober tribe right here, made some real friends too. Hope this place can be something meaningful to you too friend. We’re in this together. And we need each other. Glad to have you aboard, hope to see more of you!
I’ve been to meetings in person back home and I enjoyed going. I got all the books and read them every day. I’ve never tried online meetings. I was told about them only once before so I don’t know how or where to find any. I’d love to be able to make new friends. The few friends I left behind in my hometown, I have to love from a distance for a while. Not that they would ever put my sobriety at risk, but the temptation to use again would still be high for me.
Online meetings might be a good thing to try.
Meeting Directory – Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting Directory – Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous
Living abroad it is my only way to get to meetings, especially more specific ones. This is AA but I’m sure there are NA too.
But being alone in the house is not ideal in recovery or not. Could you try getting some part-time work or volunteering? Could you do some study online with Coursera or something? Certainly there are people online on here all the time that you can talk to.
Welcome SweetStiches.
Nice to read you. Congrats on your 45 days. This is a great sober community. A wonderful place to get a give support to help you stay clean and sober. I got sober here without meetings. I do go to meetings now. I feel they are important. IMO we are no substitute for an irl meeting. But for on line support? You found a magical place with a bunch of wonderful people doing our best to not pic up. Have a good read around. Join in when you’re comfortable.
Here are 2 great threads.
Hope to see you around. If you got any questions just ask. There’s always someone around willing to help.
