That escalated quickly 
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I just canāt help myself.
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Hey guys,
Iāve not been around for ages and of course lost access to the lounge, and with that access to my personal thread. So with my big ego and in my self centered thinking, what better excuse to hijack someone elseās thread 
My favourite thread on this community, that is! Thatās a truth 
Without this community I wouldnāt be where I am today.
Truth
Without this thread, I wouldnāt be where I am today.
Truth
Without @Englishd talking no BS I wouldnāt be where I am today.
Truth
Thanks to everyone here, I am 3 years sober today. Butā¦ and here is the big butā¦ at some point this online community wasnāt enough anymore. I found my way into the AA Fellowship, partly through the tough love and straight up talking from fellows on here. Thatās where I spend most of my time recently, with up to six meetings a week and step work with my sponsor.
And one very very special thank you to @Englishd
I get something out of everything you post, no matter how blunt it may be 
I probably wouldnāt have found my way into the rooms without you.
Donāt you ever change! 
Big Squid hugs all around
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Congratulations!
Three years is huge. Keep squidding
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Happy happy happy soberversary 
I raise my milk with honey cup and celebrate with you 
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Huge congrats Squid! Up and up!
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Woo hoo! Congratulations on 3 years!
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It all means Squiddly Squat without sobriety. So happy for you!
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Congratulations on your 3 years!! That is fantastic!! I am glad you found a community IRL that feels like a great fit for you!!
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Congratulations on your 3 years!!
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A very huge congratulations! 3 years is awesome.,
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Happy Birthday/Soberversary!!
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I was trying to remember all the events I had to skip in order to protect my sobriety my first year and I honestly canāt recall one. I guess they werenāt that important after all.
Or, maybe, my attendance at them was the part that wasnāt important.
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Yes I have posted that is #1 priority first year. 2nd year is keep first priority and learn to deal with life sober.
As always thanks for words of wisdom.
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I was listening to a meeting yesterday and someone introduced themselves as a serial relapser. I was WTF? Thereās a title to guarantee never getting sober. I cant help itā¦ Iām a serial relapser.
I thought I had heard it allā¦
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I wonder if by saying that. They are actually genuinely unaware but at the same time subconciously giving themselves permission to pick up as that phrase is somewhat a rationalization/ excuse to why they cant get sober.
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There was a guy here, 40 years sober, who still introduced himself as āa drunkā. I admired him greatly, and was further impressed when he began to introduce himself as an alcoholic. When I asked him about it, he said that using the word alcoholic emphasized recovery for him, and ādrunkā emphasized powerlessness.
For quite a few years now, Iāve been introducing myself by my full name and as a ārecovered alcoholicā. The use of the full name came from a visit back to Ohio, where this is common practice and reinforces that anonymity should be at the level of media, not at the group level. And there has been, around here, off and on for years, some debate as to whether ārecoveredā should be used or not - my take is that it was used in the foreword to the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, and I am included in that count of people who have ārecovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and bodyā.
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If felt like a subconscious excuse when I listened to him share. He was still early in recovery. Its an odd introduction.
I was talking about myself here and I was writing, āthe last time I relapsedā was something I was saying frequently. It started to feel like I was subconsciously giving myself permission to keep doing it. I started to call it my final relapse. I still like to call it that. When I say it it makes me feel strong.
Even though I know that Iām just a drink away from being a drunk and my strength relies on more action. Calling it my final relapse is cool but i know It could easily switch to āmaybe I can make it work this time.ā
Iām scared of relapse. I keep the fear alive. For me the inability to re-commit was my biggest problems. maybe I was a serial cant committer 
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i like the recovered alcoholic intro. And the ārealā alcoholic empasises my favorite chapter of the big book. I like that too.
I appreciate you Dan. Everythings going to be alright still sticks with me.
edited to add:
I heard someone talking about the last names being anonymous outside the program with in a zoom meeting yesterday too. I hear a lot of new to me thing in those Zoom meetings. I like that too. Ive been listening to a lot of book studies lately. I like them a lot.
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Thatās very similar to my decision to refer to my sobriety as āpermanentā, it changed my thinking about it.
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