Becoming Sober (Page 28)

Heya all from someone who now resides in 2013!  The first 5+ hours have been okay.  I had a lovely mint lemon fruit juice last night.

Tallyho, I hope you got that chip.

Bigdave, folks on this thread recommend just looking at one day not an entire year.  Personally, I look at 10-15 minute chunks of time; my life is like that.

I hope you all go to bed sober tonight and wake up to a non hungover New Year's Day.

Happy New Year Annie and everyone else!

I had a lovely New Year's Eve with two of my kids.  We had a movie marathon and plenty of Diet Coke was flowing.  It was great waking up this morning feeling fresh and ready to tackle the new year.

Couldn't be better!  I was really looking forward to the holiday's this year.  I got my one year chip last night.  (My one year was on Christmas day).  I did attend a meeting that day and it was nice.  I'm going to go to a meeting every christmas day.  New years was good too.  I actually made it up until midnight.  Too much Iced tea...

Hey folks - just popping in to say "Hello all you wonderful sober peeps!" Congrats to those just starting this journey and enjoyed reading some really great posts about how to deal with life without picking up a mind altering substance. I've been sober quite some time but I've gained so much that I don't want to lose things like self respect, honesty, and a faith that EVERYTHING gets better as long as I hang on.

Happy New Year to all!

I hope the first week of 2013 has been flowing with milk, honey and diet Pepsi or whatever y'all drink.  I myself just restocked the ginger tea.

Sarah, I like what you said about things getting better if you just hang on. 

Ebshot, you said some months (or pages of this thread) ago that sobriety had not brought you any immediate improvement.  You brought me some realizations when you said that.  Something along  the lines of sober or not sober, the sucky parts of life still suck but that being said, how are things going for you now?

Triaya, you once said that you are grateful for more than the benefits but the disease itself.  I always wanted to hear more about this.

Five months-Well Done!

Managing the family and life's challenges solo-Very Well Done!

Very sorry to hear about your son, but very happy to read the rest of that.

Life will always be life. Getting sober does not exempt us from the things that make life what it is - the good or the bad - but in becoming sober we learn a better way of living every day.

The High's and Low's of Life, while being the times that we tend to remember most, are a very small number of our days/moments.  It is what we do with all of the average, mundane "Every Day's" in between that makes us who we are.  The better use we make of the tools at our disposal to deal with regular old daily life, the higher our Low's and the sweeter our High's will be.  

Wow, Ebshot.  That sounds super rough.  I am very impressed.  I am so sorry that you have to be the main domestique in the courage peleton.

I myself am dealing with cheating students which isn't so bad but the administration doesn't  want to back me up on handing out the consequences as stated by the school policy.  It appears that students with connections do not receive consequences for dishonest behavior.  I am such a coward when it comes to conflict that I will be drafting off of your courage here.

This country has had major protests about injustice.  I suppose I'm seeing a bit of it.  I probably can't win this fight for a bit of justice in my corner but I can refuse to be complicit.  This carries the possibility of resigning my fellowship.  Well, if this is what needs to happen, so be it.

Hey Folks,

Came across the following article and thought it was a good read.  Hope all are doing well.

http://www.thebolditalic.com/michelletea/stories/2729-telling-your-friends-you-re-sober

That's a pretty good read. Takes me back to my first year of sobriety and it reminds me that I didn't lose a single friend when I got sober.  I lost several drinking buddies, but not a single friend.  To this day, not one single person that I ever drank with has called me to just say Hi.  The few that have called, have done so because they wanted something from me.

Just a bump to see how everyone is doing.

I've been quite well of late.  One of my HomeGroup's celebrated their anniversary on Tuesday, and for the first time in 5 years I wasn't involved in making it happen at all, and I enjoyed that.  While it was a bit of a bummer to not help, it was actually quite nice to just let go and let others take care of things and have it go off without a hitch without having to do a thing.  In the end, I did do my part by doing dishes afterward, so I wasn't a total leech

Hope y'all are well, sober, and happy - for Today.

Do you have control issues Gregg?

Coming up on another one myself. I like this time of year.

What, an alcoholic with control issues?  That's unheard of

Actually, in the past years I was one of two that everyone looked to to handle everything for the anniversaries.  One of those "well, nobody else has done it, and you did it last, so you keep doing it" things.  You want to hand off responsibilities, but few are ever willing to take on all of the burden, so you kinda just end up doing it for a few years..... like that one guy that everyone knows that has made coffee at the same meeting for 15 years, lol.

The work of the many is usually done by the few. Service can be rough... but sometimes, you just have to step aside. We just play musical chairs in my area.

Oh hey y'all ... with all this talk of anniversaries

It's my 10th sober birthday today!!! I am so excited. I am so excited that I went out and celebrated with the greatest gift of all--an ordinary day where I comported myself like a decent human being and enjoyed health and peace. Because let me tell you--not ONE day when I was drinking did any of that happen.

Went to a meeting, talked to a new guy, talked to an old guy, reached out to other sober or struggling folks, swim workout bike workout run workout, prayer and gratitude, and a little introspection at the end of the day. And here I am!

Annie asked awhile back about how it is I could be grateful to have this malady, alcoholism.

Perceiving it through the looking-glass of recovery ... the places my body and soul went have given me great compassion for all fellow sufferers, whether it be from alcoholism or the human difficulties we all encounter, within and without ourselves.

The illness, and the continuing journey of recovery, have made me HUMBLE OH SO HUMBLE YEP HUMBLEST OF 'EM ALL THAT'S MEEEEEEE ... oh, wait.

In recovery, I have received grace from God and fellow recoverers to live according to principles I always wanted to, but could not for being crippled by the drink and my self-absorption. The Twelve Steps (and we have Traditions and Concepts too as they relate to the structure of AA groups and the worldwide fellowship) are not a cliche to me. They have set me free.

I consider my life far richer for having gone through the dark well of active alcoholism and now having and using tools to live well, really well, a critical part of which is walking with others who are reaching out for the same. I have meaning and purpose perhaps beyond which I would have, had I not been given the gift of this illness and especially the key to its remission for myself and others.

All of this for some effed-up young lady who 10 years ago woke up on her balcony in bright midday, half-clad (nope not gonna tell you which half), horribly hungover in body and spirit, wondering how the hell she got there. Apparently I'd thrown a housewarming party with every intention NOT to drink (I'd already been trying to get sober for 5 years), and, being a lecturer at a university, intelligently had invited some underage students ...

The way my alcoholism had gone, believe it or not, this was one of the higher points. But most importantly, it was the LAST point and I will do everything I have to today, and each day, just one day at a time (which is now awesome stuff that almost always I want to do anyway!!! be joyous! be good! have and practice meaning! gratitude! prayer! reflection! taking good care!!! YIPPEE) ... in order for that to STAY the LAST point.

So much love to you all, wherever you are and whomever you may be with in your own journeys regarding alcoholism.

I may be the world's smartest idiot but it didn't occur to me that was double digits until you said so it's just seemed like a really long time that's nevertheless flown by to me! Schpanks!

Oh, and AYA are actually my initials.

Too many smilies. It's a happy b-day indeed, what can I say.

Awww, you guys are the best! {MELON PRESSES} for all! Hm. I think that makes it a {MELON PILE}.

Anyway, it's funny ... I remember my 10th childhood birthday very well. I was already a well-established drinker (it's very very bad when you look 17 and you're 10 and you're already going out on the town), and I was really depressed that I'd reached this double-digit milestone without having accomplished (I felt) a single damn worthy thing in my life.

I can chuckle now, and look back on that with love and compassion. For me, and whoever's felt that way at any age for whatever reason.

Hilde dear! Yes, and congratulations to you, too ... life is truly INCOMPARABLY better, overall. It's not that it isn't worth comparing ... it's that it can't be compared. Two different universes operating on two completely different standards!