Originally Posted by
gaffo 
I find this thread to be both fascinating and useful but I can't help but think that we sometimes make this more complicated than it needs to be. Isn't the object simply to not drink? I have been sober for only five months so what do I know about a lifetime of sobriety? I just drive myself crazy when I think too much about why/where/how I drink/don't drink. None of it matters one bit if I just don't drink, right? I'm not trying to be disrespectful, everyone must walk their own path, but sometimes recovery seems like more self inflicted torture than is necessary. I guess mental health and sobriety are truly a "chicken or the egg" type of deal and that there is no way to separate life issues and sobriety.
Fascinating and useful. Yeah.
Not drinking is absolutely the first thing to be done in any given day. And it could be said is the last thing to be done too when we have closure for that same day no matter what happened or didn't happen. You are sooo right.
Dont be driven crazy by others talking shop talk though, okay? Recovery and / or being recovered is not a singular phenomena in and of itself. Individual experiences trump and supercede any definition of generic recovery.
Your journey is no less or more important then mine or anyone elses, and I sense that you would agree with me. You don't mean or desire to be disrespectful and so you're open minded to understanding we all walk our own walk and I hope you can see we can still walk together even if we don't all have the same experiences.
Chicken and the egg is an amusing paradox. It is also an essential lesson in understanding that there is always always secrets yet to be revealed in life as we go about are daily affairs.
Thanks for your sincere share, gaffo. Good going on being five months.