100% this was my experience 19 years, 5 months and 11 days ago. I used the same plan as you, stepping into what made me uncomfortable and keeping things simple, taking and using suggestions that I had discarded in the past.
Hope is not a strategy, but it is a motivation. There is hope that following a plan like yours will get you to where you want to be, sober, joyous and free.
Reading it again gave me goosebumps, reminds me of the fact that I need to stay vigilant and the steps are a continuous effort. A book I just finished ended with:
“*so tell me, is it worth to pain to get to live twice in one life? Are you glad you’ve chosen the path of awareness? *”
In short the book was about seeing and feeling family relationships as they are.
My sobriety is built on brutal honesty. I spun so many webs of lies i couldnt keep up. So i told my family that the day i start lying again is the day i more than likely relapsed. I also think about my youngest son i gave up for adoption and getting updates and pics of him. I dont want him to decide he wants to know me one day and stillbe in the same place in life as i was when i had him
Hello. I’m Tara, at 1:30am I’ll be 24 hrs clean from meth. I’m a wreck. My emotions are everywhere. I’m so tired. I’m lonely. Lost. Feel like a failure. Please help
10.5 months since I relapsed. Before that I had 4 years of sobriety. However, a lot of the time both times was by luck, not hard work.
As proven by losing my 4 years, luck runs out. I was reminded by a loved one of this yesterday. It sunk in.
Another thing we spoke about is how addiction desires to end the addict. That seems to be its ultimate goal. So I see it have a choice: stay committed or allow the addiction to eventually end me and make my life miserable along the way.
I’d prefer to take my recovery seriously and stay committed. This same loves one sent this App to me, and I’ve been scanning through it since I received it. I can see how ST can be a useful tool for addicts. I nearly always have my phone on me or close by. That makes using this app very convenient.
So, my plan:
I have to get back to step work. That’s the core and the foundation for me and my sobriety.
Meditation - my meditation practice over the past 9 years has proven to be a lifesaver for me, and is probably a big reason I’ve been able to maintain any length of sobriety without working the steps.
Checking in- using this app to check in on my sobriety and try to give back regularly.
Daily meditations book- read the daily recovery meditation in a book I’ve had for years.
Time management - schedule time for working on my recovery daily. I’ve found that if I don’t literally set time aside, by putting it in my calendar or on a “to do” list then I just won’t ever get around to it.
I also need to go back and look at and work on my character defects.
My addiction has nearly finished me more than once, but I know I’m worth putting in the effort to actively maintain my sobriety.
Just want to say thank you for writing this. It was the first post I read when I came to Talking Sober around day 21. I’ve re-read it probably 50 times, maybe more. Especially during those first 90 days. It contains so much wisdom and was key to my success. I’m 6 months sober and going strong.
Thank you. I just found out my husband started sleeping with prostitutes because I was drinking. I knew he didn’t like it but I had reduced drinking and not drinking on weekdays. I feel so hurt. I have always supported him even when he was a drunk.
This is An amazing to do list I need to get into this because I think about wanting to check in with my sobriety, but I feel like just because it’s in my head and I know I’m doing it every day doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m doing the actual work so this is really great thank you so much for this