435 days…. Acknowledging the lies I told myself daily… I can’t get sober, I can’t enjoy life without alcohol…… LIES
2 days after 1111 days of sobriety. Nothing the addict voice in your head tells you is rational, truthful, or good for you. If you’re only just a little bit thinking about relapsing, that’s the addict voice. Tell that voice to shut the fuck up.
Taking personal responsibility for your addiction and not blaming it on anyone but yourself.
Jumping on late here. But great thread and loving reading all the responses!
Hard to pick one tip, but I think something that has been important to me would be to understand what your substance of choice really gives you.
In other words, play the tape forward. For me as a binge drinker, the idea of having ‘just one, it’ll be fun…’ Or will it more likely be a night that starts fun and then descends into blackouts, spending money you don’t have, saying and doing things that make you ashamed, mystery bruises, risky situations, then the following hangover and feeling terrible and eating loads of shit and going out again for hair of the dog… Rinse and repeat.
@sassyrocks has an excellent list which I should have bookmarked, but don’t. It really resonated with and inspired me when I was starting my sober journey.
4.5 years.
Don’t do it alone. It can be more lonely in sobriety than when you was drinking or using. Having like minded people around you makes it lot easier at the start, especially considering you will naturally gravitate towards like minded people anyway the longer you are sober.
My list, which @siand mentioned…helped me immensely in early days…I would read it over when I thought, ‘just one’…
23 years clean and sober
Just for today I am listening
Thank you
Love this whole thread! ESP “hurt now or hurt forever”
Great thread! Gold mine for wisdom for the recovering addict!
2854 days clean now! I am an active member of AA, and also participate in NA, as both felowwships are big in my life and local community. My #1 tool that I use every day is simple: Trust God, clean house, help others. There is a lot to it, but I live by those six words one day at a time. Thanks y’all! ODAAT YOLO
Love this
See it for what it is, a toxic partner/friend that is slowly killing you and robbing you of your life.
When you get that mindest you won’t want to even think on it
47.5 days. Day by day refusing to loose sight of a better life where I don’t lose my home or kids. Making sure I shake out any sneaky thoughts. I do not want to restart my counter.
Bumping this thread especially for the newbies and relapsers.
Never stop working on your recovery
I’ve been sober since I got up this morning. It’s been that way for a long time.
#1 tip - Faith without works is dead and faith is essential for recovery.
When I believe that everything is gonna be alright without knowing how things will turn out and I take actions rooted in that belief, I stay sober. If I do not take actions daily, I begin the dangerous retrogression of thought and attitude. If I have not faith, I am overwhelmed by anxiety and depression because of my inability to satisfactorily control my inner and outer environment.
Protect it like it’s one of your children
6 months left and i cant write on this thread lol!
I was a heavy drinker for 20 years, many many stories of bad things happening. The only thing that worked was praying for Jesus to remove my urge to drink. After this I went from being a drunk, womanizer who listens to dark goth and metal music to reading the entire bible. I figured out I needed to pray to break generational curses as both my grandfathers died of alcoholism. I did this. I was still having thoughts some days that were depressed, anxious or suicidal. I prayed for Jesus to remove any spirit causing these thoughts and he did.
I agree with SinceIAwoke. I try to help people regularly in person or online. I am very careful about anything, I mean ANYTHING I let into my life. If it isn’t positive it isn’t part of my life. When I got into the faith I started getting hit on by very good looking women that wanted to drink. Life is spiritual and nothing is a coincidence is what I have concluded. Prayer doesn’t just keep me sober it removes any fear, any depression etc and allows me to feel joy and cheer I never had before.