Congratulations JJfighter1! Congratulations on choosing life! My sobriety date is July 25, 2005 and I celebrate every day. Just remember . . You can celebrate every day, just celebrate in a healthy way! Early in my Recovery I was told something that I hold true to this day, always find time in each day to do something good for yourself. Treat yourself to something, it doesn't have to be anything that costs money or takes alot of time and energy. Take a bubble bath, enjoy a sunrise/sunset, if your life is chaotic, take even 15 minutes to find a quiet spot and just simply relax.
Boy, can I relate to the so called friends. When I first got clean and was trying to find some sobriety and serenity, every person that I called a friend was mad as hell at me. They, too, were all users. Most of them were the ones who held my hair so I didn't puke on it or flush it down the toilet, kept me from hitting the person next to me in the bar, took my keys, oh, yeah, they said that they cared. But they were mad that they were losing a party buddy. They didn't care about what I was doing to myself. They didn't want to loose my so called friendship. It wasn't a friendship at all, quite the opposite, we kept each other sick. Welcome to a new world! In Recovery you will find people who truly care about you and have your best interests at heart.Can you imagine calling someone we were using with at 3:00 am, just needing to talk? No way! They would slam the phone down on us so hard. I have been given soooo many phone numbers of people that I have called in the wee morning hours just because I needed to talk. Never did I have a phone hung up on me. Now, I am in the position in my Recovery that I give out my phone number to newcomers and it feels wonderful.
Give yourself this hug! Congratulations on another day! It's never too early to be happy about choosing life! And you will hear this many, many times but it's so very true, "Keep coming back!"