Originally Posted by
Callas 
Don’t know really. At 9 months I am still battling with just not drinking.
Callas, my friend - that's totally OK! Honestly, I considered myself a newcomer for much longer than others I think - and certainly didn't have "all" my footing by 9 mo. If you are not drinking, you are winning every day.
One thing that you bring up and seem to focus on a lot, Briansy - thinking we should be "ok" or "steady" or "all better" at x time. It just doesn't work in a linear process, IMO and experience. Even each DAY itself isn't a straight shot from making up the bed to turning back the covers.
Again, like several of us have been saying, step one is ALWAYS about not drinking. Period. And gradually for me, while drinking was off the table day one or I knew I'd die in short order, what it is about before the not drinking is NOW for me about what drinking was meant to accomplish: ESCAPISM.
Life itself is just plain better sober. That can mean diff things on diff days and yeah, some of them are just "thank God I didn't drink today." More often, they are so much more than that step one.
There's not a shortcut or fast track to a good sober life. Looking at it as if there is a target date or no need to learn the basics and new habits is a fool's errand. It either leads to sobriety which might just be unhappy abstinence, or drinking.
Like I always say, setting myself up for success rather than failure has also never been the wrong idea.