Your #1 tip for sobriety from people with long term sobriety

No problem :slight_smile: I wouldve let that individual respond to ur post bur i noticed it was from march 2023. So was unsure if they would even see ur question.

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That’s actually a great question. “Clean house” means to deal with your own issues, clean up your own messes, “keep to your side of the” proverbial “street.” Evaluate what is positive and negative, or good and bad, in yourself and your everyday life and make adjustments in the direction of what’s best for you and others in your own perspective.

At least, there’s my description of it. Im sure there is more that could be said, and also someone else might summarize it in less words. I hope it helps, y’all.

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Bumping this thread for the newbies and relapsers!
Stay sober just for today :four_leaf_clover: :four_leaf_clover::four_leaf_clover:

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I just hit 2-1/2 years and something that helped me from the very beginning was learning to mentally kick the living shit out of any trigger that comes my way. I learned this in rehab. One counselor would play some of the worst shows and movies that I have ever seen in my life that dealt with all the many issues and poor lifestyle choices that addiction brings. These shows bothered me but for some of the more hardcore addicts, these shows were devastating. There would be all kinds of wild reactions but mostly crying and anger and all the nervous ticks that cravings bring. One time he was asked why he kept torturing us and his answer was “If you can’t learn ways to conquer your triggers in a safe place like rehab then you will never succeed in the real world.” Many may not agree with this counselor’s style but it was effective and it will stick with me forever. So I guess what I’m saying is that you can’t avoid and hide from triggers your whole life. Learn to identify them for what they are, a big annoyance and when it truly comes down to it, just an excuse to accept failure. Find your strength and courage and hold on to that shit for dear life because it will take you to some amazing places.

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Hey thanks for bumping the thread @erntedank I remember when i had a year and i saw this thread i thought imma post on my 2 yr soberversary :slight_smile: well life happens. Im now at 2.75yrs sober. Its amazing ive graduated from counting days to counting months to counting years. Its a blessing which i try to remain humble about because we are only guaranteed 1 day at a time and i must do something for my recovery everyday.

My advice which i learned here and has proved helpful is in early recovery dedicate what time you dedicated to your drug of choice to your recovery. Part 2 is to do something for your recovery everyday.

DO SOMETHING FOR YOUR RECOVERY EVERYDAY.

Ir keeps recovery at the forefront of my mind. If its hitting a meeting, praying, meditating, talking to another addict in recovery, listening to a podcast about recovery, or reading a book on it. Something. It reminds me to stay vigilant and centered.

We can recover

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Wonderful advice, and congratulations on your 2.75yrs. really happy for you :people_hugging:

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Thank you for bumping, it’s very helpful. I’m still reading :slight_smile:

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It’s been a while, bumping this thread for newcomers, relapsers and oldtimers and all in between :four_leaf_clover::sunflower:

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:raising_hands:t3: yes I agree !
Identifying triggers and speaking with trusted friend (or writing here) about how the trigger is made me feel was a HUGE help and a step to get over to stay sober!

I feel proud of myself when, after speaking about the trigger, realise that I have grown a bit more and stronger in sobriety :raising_hands:t3::heart_hands:t3::raising_hands:t3:

One of my tips is; I gave up the desire. I do not desire to drink alcohol to get messed up. I surrendered to a higher power and faith that the step program online meetings helped other people so they WOULD help me. (Before I always thought in the back of my head ‘it won’t help me because I’m different’; EGO!!!)

This helped with ‘cravings’ I just didn’t get any in early days and I don’t now.

176 days (nearly 6 months) and this time , everyday I get better at becoming more distant emotionally from alcohol, even though it can be in front of my eyes, on the table, in the supermarket, on the tv, at work…

I had to find a way to LIVE a joyful sober life without feeling FOMO, and giving up the desire, surrender , and faith and trust in higher life planes has worked thus far .

I trust in a god of my understanding and I put action in everyday to find a faith practise to keep on a sober life path. (I am learning Hindi on Duolingo, I like reading about Buddhism and Hinduism and Christianity; it helps for daily life struggles)

Life struggles I have everyday so I have to put in action for a new way of life, because for 30 years I’ve struggled with addictions, and they appear in different behaviours now Im sober. But hey Im sober and life will only present things that I am ready to go through or face. :right_facing_fist:t2::left_facing_fist:t2:

By exploring faith further, I have found NA doesn’t resonate with me now. However it was a safety net for all my spent (30) years in and out of addiction cycles. I still read the literature and have the steps and serenity prayer in my head and heart when faced with a dilemma. 12 steps will never leave me.

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I last posted to this thread in Dec 2022 at not even a year clean… and here I am at 3.5 years clean and sober. Feeling extremely blessed and grateful :folded_hands:

Theres many great tips for sobriety posted in here already, but if I had to write my #1 tip for recovery, it would have to be to work on recovery daily and not get complacent. Its so important to make sure to do something each and every day for ur recovery, keeping recovery in the forefront of ur mind. All we have is a daily reprieve from our addictions. Our addictions DO NOT take a day off, and therefore neither should we.

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I don’t think I’ve posted here yet. My number 1 advice is both as maddeningly hard and as maddeningly simple as avoid the first drink. Which is also excellent advice.
3 1/2 sober from alcohol here and my number 1 advice is to not go back. Put addiction in your past and make steps everyday to become someone who is free from addiction. You know what lies there if you go back on that path so keep your reasons for quitting in the front of your mind.
Find a way to live a life where you are curious about what happens next.

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This captures it perfectly - I love this :star_struck:

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Almost 1 1/2 years for me. Daily life certainly is 200% better than ever. Checking in here and staying connected is the answer. I always love to ease drop (I have pretty good hearing) . Reading here makes me feel privileged to be a part of all the conversations. Sometimes I even butt in. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Its been fun setting a budget for my sobriety, spend money doing fun things! If you spent 50 bucks a day on booze, or whatever, even spend a fraction of that on sobriety. It helps reinforce healthy habits, switchs the mindset. Its been very helpful for me!

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I love it too because you can never be done with this mindset. :pink_heart:

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For sure, what worked yesterday may not work today… sobriety is its own living, evolving part of yourself. Treat it well :slightly_smiling_face:

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Bumping this thread for the newcomers :four_leaf_clover:

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Sober for 4 years, 5 in June.

I :heart: my sober life, free of chaos and harm

That motivates me every day, and makes me great full, that’s enough to make me stay sober.

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7604 days today, coming up on 21 years in April.

#1 tip - Be willing to change. I had to accept that things might get uncomfortable, I had to have faith that the people in AA (substitute your own community there) knew how to stay sober, accept that I did not know how to stay sober on my own, and then to be willing to do what was suggested without questioning how I felt or if it was convenient. Just take the action, and be ready to be delighted at the consequence.

A good friend of mine used to describe his pain avoidance this way - “I didn’t want pain, I didn’t want discomfort, hell, I didn’t want to be inconvenienced!” When I became willing to set aside my efforts, and to set aside my (very poor) judgement of what was good for me, and to set aside my arguments about why AA would not work, I was able to just try it out. Sincere efforts, anticipating good results, are extraordinarily difficult and easy simultaneously.

In AA, they talk about “how it works” - H = honesty, O = open mindedness, W = Willingness. A basic recipe for success, for me.

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