Winning sobriety but losing everything else

Wednesday will be 30 days alcohol free for me. But I still feel so empty and alone. Ive ruined my marriage, my family wants nothing to do with me. Im alone. I try and look at the fact my kids still love me, and get excited to see me. But I still feel a huge void in my life. Not sure how to deal with the feeling of this. Any advice?

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My advice is to hang in there and keep going Frankie. One day at a time. Congrats on 30 days. That’s huge. Sobriety is the beginning to a better life. Sobriety is the basis to work from. You, like all of us, tried to fill our inner void with booze or any other addictive substance or behaviour. Ultimately all these addictions only make the void inside ourselves bigger and deeper. So we got quite a whole to climb out of. No one can do it alone. Together we got a good chance of making it, of building a new life, of finding love and luck and success. There’s a lot of support right here on this site but you might look at other possibilities too. AA, SMART, Buddhist, lots of peer to peer support groups that helped countless addicts like you and me to buld a better sober life for themselves. Success Frankie. I know you can do it.

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I was told “you walk 100 miles into the forest, you have to walk 100 miles to get out”
Just keep doing the next right thing. Stay on the path my brother. Enjoy those kids! Be here now. :facepunch:

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Thank you for the advice and support. Im not sure if they are doing any AA meeting around here. But ill look into it. Ive been drinking for close to 16 years. But got worse 3 years ago. And I enjoy every bit of time with my kids. Best part is they have so much more fun when I’m sober. Thank you again.

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Hugs, it sounds like u are working hard. Unfortunately, other things do not fix themselves instantly, and 30 days is a great achievement, but still very short for other people we have hurt. It is indeed a blessing that ur relationship with ur kids is ok. Just keep on plugging away. Forge new sober relationships.

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Counseling might help, either with your wife or on your own. Maybe a support group as well, as others have suggested. In the beginning it will seem like you’re losing everything, which is a reflection of the dramatic life change you’re experiencing by getting sober. Maybe in time, if you keep it up and put in the work, your family will be able to see that you’re committed to sobriety and changing for the better. Don’t give up :purple_heart:

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Congratulations on 30 days! :trophy:

I felt I had lost everything. My marriage, my home, my money, all my possessions, my connections, my dignity, at times my sanity. I was losing my health and lived on the street until lockdown threw me a lifeline. But the one thing I realise you and I haven’t lost is our future. We are free to begin to build it however we wish. One day at a time. I wish you all the best in your journey and look forward to hearing how you get on. :partly_sunny:

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Mate, I’m just going to reiterate what everyone else here has said.
Well done on 30 days.
It’s going to feel strange for a while. I’m two years and still feel I’ve got loads to do.
Relax, and try to enjoy your life. One day at a time.
Use this time to find you! And enjoy you!

Believe me, everyone else will benifit.

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This is a part of sobriety no one thinks about, dealing with your emotions sober. I’ve had to go to therapy to figure out what IS my coping methods besides drinking.

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Me too. My list of coping skills is SERIOSULY low. So i am in therapy trying as well, trying to find different ways to cope with anxiety and depression. How is it working out for you?

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Now that I have an idea on what I’m supposed to do, better. I’ve found out that crocheting is a great way to cope with anxiety, and I’ve started making money off of it lol.

I’m guessing all the anger and resentment coming from loved ones is a result of your drinking and not a result of your 30 days of sobriety. I also assume that your drinking problems developed over a number of years. If I’m wrong in my assumptions, please disregard everything that follows:

You’ve been sober for 30 days and this is a huge accomplishment. We addicts know how hard one day of sobriety is, let alone 30. We feel the challenges and the changes, “one day at a time”.

To those who aren’t addicts, it’s just 30 days. It’s no problem for them to stop at one or two drinks. Not drinking for a week or a month is no big deal.

Those who love and care for us suffer a great deal when we are active in our addiction. Resentment and anger are natural reactions. They’ve likely heard the promises of “I won’t get drunk today” only to have that promise broken. They’ve had holidays and special moments ruined by our “selfish” choice to drink. They begin to believe we love our DOC more than we love them. They’ve seen us relapse time and again, so they’ve learned to not get their hopes up.

Here’s the good news: relationships can be healed. Trust can be rebuilt. We can make them believe in us once more…if we stay sober.

Love is action, not feeling. We can make them feel loved once more by showing them that we cherish our relationships with them, more than our relationship with drugs and alcohol, and we do this by getting and staying sober. We do this by taking our health seriously. We do this by becoming mentally and spiritually better each and every day. Show them they matter by never drinking again.

Hey man, if there’s one thing I’m good at it’s fucking up relationships, especially drunk me,

The damage didn’t happen overnight it was years and years of empty promises, promises to change, promises of how it will never happen again and next week, it was hello Vietnam all over again, she put up with it for so long and gave up that I’ll never change,

And I refused to, I got sober and the first thing I said was there 30 days I did it, I can drink like a normal person, I can use like a normal person, what normal person plans their drug use?

The damage is reparable if both parties are willing to face some uncomfortable truths and counseling,

Look at it this way, if you have a good house, solid foundation good solid home, but it’s got a roof leak, do you tear it all down and start to build a new one, hell no, you fix the roof, you hammered shingles on this whole time, now it’s time for a full tear off and solid fix, it can be done

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