I have also heard the sayings like "those who don't appreciate clean/sober time probably don't have much". This may be true in some cases but doesn't a 12 Step Fellowship also teach the idea of not judging others? Maybe some one who speaks about clean/sober being way too emphasized has a point. After all, AA as fellowship has addresses this issue a few times themselves. The idea that anniversaries were a reason for one to think they had graduated or beat the disease was a clear problem in some early groups. AA had kicked around the idea to set up some specific formats as to how groups handled anniversaries. Some groups contacted professionals to seek solutions to this relapse/slip problem that their members were experiencing. Dr. Tiebout who was very prominent in early AA as a board member and one who would help define some of the terms we so often hear today (surrender, ego, etc) was very clear in all his writings that the focus needs to be staying sober today. He wrote several papers on how damaging ego is to the alcoholic. We all know this to be true yet so many want to focus more on clean time than where they are in life. I would say for many of these people it is because the ego is more wrapped in a date than how far the journey has taken them towards real recovery. In all honesty, what difference does a date mean other than to the individual who wants to recognize their own accomplishments. We hear the sayings, "compare yourself to yourself" ... yet sometimes it is very difficult to do that when people openly idolize a person based on their sober/clean time. I for one could care less about my clean date. It doesn't matter. We are taught to respect everyone equally yet we take big steps in separating members. Is it not possible for a second year professional athlete to be better than an athlete who has years of experience? Would that statement not be true of any profession? So why is so sacred for the addict/alcoholic to boast of their clean time and make others feel less than for not having as much? Why do some put others down publicly for a belief that if genuine would seem to demonstrate a removal of ego and a readiness to welcome all members as equals? I could care less about your clean time and how much of it you "think" you have. I have today clean when I want to think about it because it is not just about the substance as we also state, it is about the behaviors right? And I have a long way to go before abstaining from the behaviors that will bring me back to the substance. What I care about is what you are doing today to stay clean/sober. Your date is your choice and if recognizing one date over another is going to help you get another day clean, than so be it. If that one date is about your ego or image that you are looking to project to others, than you might want to take a deeper look at yourself.