Almost 5 years
 

Days away from 5 years sober and it seems like a non event.
I want to say that's a good thing.
I remember 5 months being a big deal partially because it was a struggle to get there. I haven't struggled to avoid drinking in a long time now and beer commercials don't bug me like they used to do.
I like life a lot better now sober but .... I'm not sure how to put into words...am I supposed to be happier or something?
I could say that it's just another one day at a time day and not a milestone but I never really bought into one day at a time thing like some people do. I just said, I'm done and I'm going to make this work. Not that it was easy, especially at the 90 day mark or so.

Anyway, I said that I want to say that's a good thing. It is. It's a wonderful thing compared to drunkenness.
Maybe 5 years being a non event is a gift horse that doesn't need to show me the condition of its teeth.
Yep, I'm going with that.
Thanks for reading along with my self analysis.
Happy sobriety to you all!

Congratulations! The happiness thing is difficult to gauge because you don't know what your life would have been like if you had kept drinking. I'm betting that it would have been much less happy.

:scoregood

:tyouThanks for posting that. I am almost at 5 months and it has been struggle. Glad to know it keeps easing up. 5 years will be a milestone for me because I figure it would kill me by then if I didn't quit.

GroundhogDay, you are absolutely correct in that its hard to gauge and that it would be worse, probably a lot worse. Groundhog Day is a great movie btw.

silentrun, congrats on making it over the 90 day hump. I was part of the first "Class of" group and we lost a bunch of people around 3 months. I still go to the Class of July 2008 thread now and then. There's just a couple regulars if you can even call us that for as little as we post and there's an old friend or 2 that will drop by randomly. Glad to hear you're close to 5 months. It gets better and better but enjoy the journey even during the struggles.

Big congrats and hugs on five years sober! (I'm coming up on four this winter:))


:scoregood

I find that life is better its just when drinking amazing things were big and bold and brash .
Now amazing things are often subtle though can be big and brash also.
I can't really remember things like hangovers that physically and emotionally destroy , or arguments bad behaviour the fear of blackouts the depression and the financial mess but I know they were there . Perhaps at 5 years you can't either so a level life seems not spectacular but I would guess if you could compare then you might say something different.
Congratulations.
John.

Congrats! Five years is HUGE:)

/salute

Least, good to see that another Class of July 2008 is doing well. Closing in on 4 years this winter is great. BTW, fellow dog lover, we just had stitches taken out of our 5 month old lab and after two weeks of trying to keep her calm (yeah right!) she is a free running little girl again and loving it.
Spinach, you are so right.

Congrats on the 5 years. Well done. As for happiness, well are you unhappy now?

FeenixxRising,
No, I am happy
I was happy by the time I finished with my opening comment. I think I just had to think it out in writing on my screen...which is one of the best things about SR.

My old sponsor used to say For the first five years you are a newcomer , after ten you might know something ! Ha Ha , Great Work on Those Five Years , after time it becomes quality not quantity....

Joined, I'd love to ask when it became a non-event for you? I have to say I aspire to what you have. In four and a half years I would like to be pleasantly surprised that the milestone is coming up, every so often logging into SR if I need it, and otherwise just out there living and not thinking about it too much. I've met people like that and I just find myself wondering how long it'll take till sobriety is more often (not always, of course) a given in my life than an active struggle.

fantail, like most things it wasn't an on/off switch kind of thing
it's gradual and full of nuance
Even if I were to pick an example like - not caring that I'm out to dinner where other might have a drink or two - I don't know that I could put a time period on it for you.
I was able to handle that pretty much right away but it did still bother me...then it didn't...then every once it in a while I'd still get that nagging feeling of "how can they have a drink or maybe too and just not even think of drinking more?"
The important thing is that our struggles took a long time of abuse to get as bad as they got and although they don't just go away, thankfully they do go away faster than it took to get them.
Think of when you have a headache (not a killer hangover headache but a "regular" one)
at some point it's bad enough to take something for it
then typically you can't point to which minute where it went away...you just realize at some point "hey, my head feels better"
hope that helps, congrats on being 4 months and counting! you made it over the big 90 day hump

When I hit my 2 year mark, I had the same feeling. Almost a non-event in a way. I was thinking leading up to the date, I would have all these feelings of excitement , and really wanted to show my appreciation for the people that have helped me along the way. But the day came and went just like that. I chalked it up to the length of time itself and being so far along from my sober date. Doesn't mean I don't cherish each day being sober. And that's just it, take each day, one day at a time.

Thanks for your share!

"In four and a half years I would like to be pleasantly surprised that the milestone is coming up, every so often logging into SR if I need it, and otherwise just out there living and not thinking about it too much. I've met people like that and I just find myself wondering how long it'll take till sobriety is more often (not always, of course) a given in my life than an active struggle."


It's difficult for us to know when we reach that indefinable "milestone," and even more difficult to recognize this in others.

In my experience, by the time I've recognized a positive change in my life, it's already been going on for some time.

That is a superb analogy. This really helps me to understand how this process can evolve over time. Thanks for posting it!

Yes, good one. You nailed it.