At two hundred days
I want to say thanks to all the members of this site new or old. Your wisdom and experience has helped me beyond words. It's so nice to have people to interact with that really understand.
At two hundred days of sobriety today my life has changed in many ways. Most of it is internal. I am calmer, more confident, patient, understanding, and at peace. There's a lot more. I can't obviously list all the benefits but they are mental, physical, and spiritual. It's positively affected every area of my life.
There are lots of challenges though. Life is still life. This is really hard work. In some ways it's harder now than in the beginning. There are things in my life that were much easier to ignore when I was drinking which now need to be addressed. It's tough to have no escape hatch. Even the promise of a fake release from worries or stress was sometimes comforting in my drinking days. Now my comfort is in knowing that I can face my life without that crutch of alcohol. I actually can. You can too.
Looking back there's only a handful of things that have changed to allow me to stay sober this time. I found them all right here on SR. Accepting that I can't start drinking again in the future, ever. Not allowing myself to romanticize alcohol. Knowing that it's only the first drink I have to avoid. Realizing that a few drinks is not going to satisfy the addiction. Doing this for my own reasons, and not worrying about how anyone else feels about it. Having a plan.
I appreciate being able to share here. If you are new or struggling or maybe even for my future self... someone here said to set my belief that I could end my addiction at 100%, and I have found out that they were correct.