Princess82

I'm interested in how people stay sober on this forum. All ideas welcome!!!

justhadenough

welcome to SR

some use AA, some AVRT and other methods. don't pick up the first drink.lifestyle changes too

are you wanting to stop drinking? the newcomers board and class of july 2012 is a good place to start and chat with people in similar situations

CarolD

For my sucessful recovery from active alcoholism I use a variety of things

God....the Steps of AA....SR and remember to be grateful...

Thanks for asking ... Welcome back...

neferkamichael

The 1st thing I do when the urge to use comes into my brain is say NO. I also go to AA meetings and hang on SR. There is a lot more to more to living than being sober as I am only beginning to realize. I cannot deny that I am better off using, and now I could not justify going back to using.

Dee74

SR has been a major factor in my recovery

D

Sunny27

I just refuse to pick up that first drink.

I drank from 18 to now 39 and quit almost 7 months ago.

I looked at the last 20 or so years of my life and decided I want the next 20 to be different

So far so good. I had tried in the past, but I was never serious about it. This time I was deadly serious and that has made it all the easier.

I just say no. I know where drinking that first drink takes me (and always has so doing it again will be no different) and I refuse to go back to that way of life.

Sunny xx

MrsKing

As Sunny said, I refuse to pick up any alcohol.

I have convinced myself that I don't want alcohol ever again. I understand that this is the truth, and that when I am tempted, it is my addiction talking - knowing this has given me the power to say no and almost laugh at it when it comes around. "Not you again. Shush," I say to myself.

I remind myself why I quit in the first place. I don't like to think of all the bad things I've done due to drinking, but sometimes it is necessary, so that I don't ever romanticise alcohol again and that I am always aware of the destruction it causes.

The main thing that keeps me sober, though, is that my life is great now. I'm happy, I'm free, and I've got my soul back... I'm passionate again, ambitious again, anticipating great times ahead again... why, oh why, would I ever want to throw that away? I've come too far now to give in.

Sunny27

I totally hear you

Why would I go back to that!!!!

I have got myself back into college - at 39! A whole new career path. I would not have bothered if I was drinking.

I am not f*cking this up! I have a second chance!

That keeps me sober

freshstart57

There is no magic to this stuff. All of us who have stopped drinking have done so because we got sick and tired of it. Of course, we were addicts, and went through withdrawal symptoms, and had to learn new ways of doing a few things in our life, but folks have been doing that since alcohol was first made. 4000 years is one guess.

A wild animal will chew off its leg to escape a trap. All we have to do is put the bottle down and never pick it up again. It's pretty simple, if you can look at it that way. It can be easy or hard to do, but that part is up to you.

I convinced myself that I was trapped by my alcohol use, that it was literally taking my life away, and that I would do anything to never drink again. Nothing could ever make me drink again. I shut the door on drinking, and became free.

tomsteve

1st, the pain of getting drunk had to exceed the pain of reality, then i had to get desperate. it was get sober or kill myself. had a lot of my past haunting me and finally got it from my head to my heart that alcohol wasnt fixing it nor was it helping with the hopeless,helpless, useless,worthless feeling.i knew that just not drinking wasnt gonna fix me( take the alcohol away from a drunken horse thief and ya still got a horse thief). i was pretty screwed up. so i went to AA. working the steps taught me about me and helped me change me to get me sober( putting down the drink doesnt make a person sober). since then, practicing the principles of the program have kept me sober and i am no longer the man i used to be. been workin good for 7+ years now.

Retread59

I go to AA meetings and work that program. It's working for me. Others here are finding success with different methods. I think the main thing is finding the program that works for you, taking it seriously, and doing the work it asks of you.

ConeyIslandHigh

How do I stay sober?

I don't drink.

I never have (I am severely allergic).

It's never failed.

Princess82

Thanks, I'm not new to sobriety, I've been sober over a year, I'm just curious what other people do. What I do works, but I'm not happy.

MrsKing

I'm going back to college in September, too! It's so exciting. You're right... we have second chances. It's not worth throwing that away!

NatalieN

Princess, I did have 6 years sobriety at one time and it became so everyday I think I took it for granted and truly forgot how powerful addiction is. I stay sober by making a pledge to myself each morning to not put poison in my body, alcohol being the worst one by far. Changing the habits and activities that facilitated alcohol consumtion has been vital. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Meetings are not my main source of support, although I do attend an occassional AA meeting every couple of months or so to meet old friends and go to dinner. Reading life experiences here and in others secular sobriety forums and deciding daily not to drink no matter what are my main sources of support.

Would you care to share with us how you managed to stay sober for a year. That's a great accomplishment even if you aren't happy. Have you been continously unhappy throughout your year of sobriety or just lately?

CarolD

Princess..

Please check out this thread it might give you ideas on happiness

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...happiness.html

Sunny27

What are you studying, MrsKing?

I never thought I would be going back to college. Giving up drinking has changed my life. I have no intention of going back to the way I was

mfsteve1

I eat a meal whenever ever I get the urge to drink.

That kills the urge for me.

justhadenough

Me too-can't drink once I've eaten

Princess82

Thanks Natalie... I was one of those people that got struck sober after struggling for a long time.. I realized I bought into a lie, that alcohol was improving anything and I couldn't live with the lie. My desire to drink got removed that day. I do attend AA meetings. I have no desire to drink. I sometimes wish I did but I know that is just a lie. Nothing on this planet or nothing that could happen in the world justifies the damage alcohol does. So now I'm in the process of letting the damage heal and learn a new way of life. It's not fun, but here I am. I've been basically miserable since I got sober.