So I began my sobriety journey and relapsed on my birthday. I was only 11 days in but the crash that came with it (big blow up with my family) and starting this journey over again has got me feeling like how do I get through this
- I just want to say thank you guys for all the knowledge, encouragement, support, and guidance, it’s giving me ability to seek help from my sponsor and keep going and working these steps/ I appreciate you guys and I’m thankful I can reread your comments here at anytime. I am 24 hrs sober, can’t fix things with family and friends today but I can work on myself and keep trying so That’s what I will do. Cheers to another 24 sober
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@Andriyuh let’s start again. sorry to know what happened on your birthday. Learn from it and don’t give up on your recovery
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I hate to say this, but an old timer I met when I went to AA meetings used to say he always wanted to hear about the relapse stories, because it never let him forget where he came from. I believe in my heart that I will never touch a drink again, but none of us, except God, knows what tomorrow holds
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Welcome to the forum @Andriyuh I am sorry to hear about your stumble, but it sounds like you got right back on track. 
That’s what we do. We never quit quitting alcohol. My advice is to do the work, you can’t just white knuckle it. NO ONE quits alcohol with just sheer willpower.
You will have to figure out what works for you. In the beginning I read books about quitting and listened to sober podcasts and attended online meetings. You have to do the work every day and as you do you will get stronger. And as you get stronger it gets easier to say NO, even when life throws you a curve ball.
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The beginning is really tough and that’s just the honest truth. If you haven’t tried an in person AA meeting I highly suggest it so you can get phone numbers of other sober people who want to help. The program itself has helped an insane amount of people including myself, but if nothing else if you have those phone numbers you have someone to call before you pick up that drink who can talk you through it. I had to to do that many times in early sobriety. The thoughts are much more intense at first, but if you stick to a program that works for you and put your sobriety first you’ll get through it and the thoughts will become weaker and less frequent. Learning healthy coping mechanisms is big too. There are tons so see what works for you. Try them all and practice them. And watch out for celebratory things too. Those are sometimes the sneakiest ones because our guard is down and the brain might tell you a drink is ok. It just is never worth it. For now just give yourself some grace and take it a step at a time
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Yip meetings will help you wish you well
Relapses happen, I myself am working out of a big one. I’ll be going to a meeting tomorrow after I get through this rough first day physically. The thing I’ve learned is to forgive yourself I have to constantly tell myself it’s okay to not be okay and that I’m not the only one! You’re not the first person with a problem and you won’t be the last! But we win this battle together! I’ve been overwhelmed by the folks who were waiting with open arms to welcome me back here! Welcome, keep up the good fight, one day at a time!
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