Hey all, been a bit since I have posted. Wanted to give a bit of an update. Reached 1 year of sobriety on January 10th. What a year it has been.
Things I have learned-
If you put in the work, you will see results.
How to accept life better on life’s terms.
Coping skills.
Healthy communication with others.
Setting boundaries.
Taking rest when needed.
Trusting and having faith in a higher power of my understanding.
Dealing with Fears and how to manage them.
Life and sobriety is progress not perfection.
Having patients and tolerance for situations and others.
Dealing with resentments.
How to pause before reacting ( still a work in progress).
Understanding that in life people go through ups and downs and how to handle them.
Reaching out for help when needed.
Able to handle situations that used to baffle me.
The people who give a shit if you don’t drink anymore really aren’t your friends.
How meaningless and stupid hanging out with a bunch of drinkers is, no meaningful conversations, nothing interesting to engage in, (just my opinion).
Most people who aren’t addicts don’t seem to recognize how challenging it is to get and actually stay sober.
Probably the two most important things for me
-
Everything is going to be ok. (faith)
-
(Just Don’t Fucking Drink) no matter what.
Things that helped me along the way-
AA.
Higher power of my understanding.
fellowship in AA.
Getting a good support system of sober friends to talk to/ go to meetings with.
Meetings.
Sharing in meetings and going on commitments.
sponsor.
Working the steps.
Support from family/ girlfriend.
Sobriety Podcasts.
Books-Big book of Alcoholics Anonymous,
Daily reflection,Stools and bottles, 24 hours a day, Little red book, The power of Now.
Talking Sober Community.
Staying away from people and places where drinking was involved, (especially for the first 6 months). Unless there was a legitimate reason to be there.
Guarding my sobriety at all costs.
Letting go and Letting God.
Staying out of my head.
Things that did not help me in my journey-
Being too tired/ busy for meetings and reaching out to other alcoholics.
Focusing on being happy.
Trying to stay out of my head.
Overworking myself to the point of getting run down/ burnt out/ Sick.
Going to events where drinking was involved to try to still be social.
Resentments.
Dwelling on the past- guilt, shame, regret.
Trying to be right.
Trying to run my own show.
Holding onto things I need to let go of.
Irrational fears.
Things I have gained staying sober-
Being able to look myself in the mirror again.
Peace of mind.
Contentment( work in progress)
Friends.
Better relationship with family and girlfriend.
Trust and honesty with myself and others.
No more wasting money and hangovers.
Able to make rational decisions.
Being able to make decisions out of inspiration not just desperation.
And many more I can’t think of right now and also more to come.
I am extremely grateful for my sobriety, this journey, all the support I have had throughout, and for this community. There are a lot of great people on here who have helped me along the way and they don’t even know it. Thank you all for being here and fighting the good fight. Remember no matter what. Just Don’t Fucking Drink! 
Here is a link to one of my old posts when I was about 4 months sober and felt like I was banging my head against a wall. I hope looking at that post compared to this one gives you all, especially the newcomer, hope that it can get better if you put the work in.
With Love,
Matthew, (27 year old Electrician from New Hampshire).
