We all have crappy days philb, I have a lot of them myself, but I don't forget that I'm alive and breathing though. Usually the next day I'm in better spirits and ready to get the day started.
but for me it's important I remember I'm an alcoholic - cos, lets be honest, I forgot a lot of times....
I understand what you're saying and see your point. I feel, in my opinion, that the past is the past and it's behind me. I don't technically "forget" that I do not drink, but I've accepted that I do not drink alcohol. I don't see myself in a position for relapse, others might, but I don't. The passion for it is completely gone and without passion, I have absolutely no desire. The only time I ever think about my past alcoholism is when someone directly brings up the subject to me. Maybe that's good, maybe that's bad, but I maybe told 2-3 people in real life within the past year, about me not drinking. Today I had to mention it to my coordinator when I was telling her about egg nog because she asked if I added rum to mine.. lol.
to me accepting the label keeps it real...to not acknowledge the past means I may indeed become blase, over confident, and forget about it....I've done it before
I don't agree with labels because we label everything as society. We hand-out labels like candy -- "Oh, that guy is wearing tight pants, he must be gay!" -- I do completely understand your version of your own label though. Labeling yourself is different than labeling someone else, either one I always disagree with though, maybe I'm being rebellious lol. Acknowledging the past in certain cases, if it's helpful, can help someone, or it can hurt them. Having confidence in your own sobriety is one of the strongest points to keep moving forward, but as you said, over-confidence can hurt. I have confidence in my sobriety, but I know the line when I'm getting *too* confident about it. You don't have to forget about why you are sober, but I feel focusing on the subject with an in-depth precision analysis is harmful.
I'm really glad for you though Dee, you have over 5 years of sobriety and you're here on earth to tell about it. Just note that I'm not fully disagreeing with your post, I'm just trying to wedge what I believe into what you said - no harm meant. There are mornings that I can wake up and bounce right out of bed and to remember when it took me 10 minutes to drag myself out of bed is helpful at starting some days.
I'm thankful and proud of my sobriety, but it's nearly impossible to put into words on what my views are about it and how I'm feeling, so I just try to sum it up the best I can.