What have you gained from your sobriety.
I’d like to know everything from a healthy body to a healthy relationship.
Hello all, I’m Zach. If youre still reading, thanks. This part is for me. I’m a few days and 14 months sober.
I look at my sober time in 2/3 pieces. Im 32 years old and my 6 months sober was my first 6 sober months since I was 16.
Then you have my second part, my full year. I did it. I completed a full 366 days. (The leap year screwed with me because I could NOT accept 365 days when it didn’t match with MY date 8/23/23.
Then the 3 part. The NOW. The wtf. The “where the F are we” stage. I need help guys.
My first year was about relearning all the things I could only do w alcohol involved now sober. The day to day. I began intense psychotherapy and started the journey of unearthing the reasons why I was so fucked up. Learning about myself.
My second year this labour of self knowledge got a lot more intensive as staying sober became easier and required less maintainance work. I built a relationship w myself again, learned about both my struggles and my wishes and began to formulate them to myself. Then I began working for what I want while work on self and stability and maintaining a good day to day continued. This continues on to this day and I assume that’s what life is, keeping up w ourselves emotionally and striving to build a good life for ourselves and the beings we love.
Life is constant change. To figure out where the fuck you are and how the fuck you got there and what the fuck it all means and perhaps where you’d like to go is your specific path and responsibility in recovery. The time alone doesn’t say much, it’s what you make of it. Feeling lost and confused is a reliable and frequent passing point in these changes, it’s part of it. Things become clearer, then we change and things are murky again. And so forth. Question is whether you’re laying some tracks for yourself that will provide stability and guidance through the hazy or painful times.
What did I gain? “Life” and everything in it, for I surely would have died a slow, sad death had I continued drinking.
Sobriety saved my marriage. Sobriety is where I found the positive self-image I’d misplaced when I was drinking. Sobriety gave me the clarity and desire to find a new passion, set goals, achieve those goals, and set new ones. This lead to a new vocation, and the freedom of self-employment. Amongst all this, I found true peace and joy.
And to think all I had to do to make this a possibility was to choose to be sober! My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner…
I got up this Sunday morning at 8AM to play sports in the bright autumn sun and it was the best! No way in the world would I ever have done that hungover, not a chance. I would have cancelled the minute the alarm went off, disappointing not only my fellow players but more importantly myself.
I got sober in 2019 so my first year was a leap year too
My first 3 years of sobriety came with a lot of challenges, but everyone told me to stick around and wait for the miracle, so I did. Finally, in year 4, I felt that peace and serenity that everyone talked about in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The biggest change for me is self respect and confidence. I had none at the start of my journey. The only constant these days is change, but I learned to roll with the punches and that’s only because of my hard work in recovery. Acceptance is key for me. I have no control over others actions but I can control my reactions.
