How do YOU define Success In Recovery?
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by Johnny152 
How do YOU define Success In Recovery?
B) Getting alcohol out of my life - Recovery
C) Getting alcohol out of my mind - Spiritual Awakening
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,095
I think that as long as we still crave or are bothered with the thoughts of alcoholism we are not truly successful.
I am now 54 days sober after 25 years of daily drinking and my days are still consumed with thoughts of drinking and staying sober.
The urge to have a beer after work everyday is rough as is wanting to let loose on the weekends, get wasted and forget life and it's problems.
I guess as long as it is still a struggle we are not successful.
I suppose I can compare it to when I quit cigarette smoking 20+ years ago; the first few years after I quit I thought about smoking often. Today it never crosses my mind.
Sure, alcoholism is 100 times harder to kick that tobacco in my opinion but this is just an example.
Time will tell but I may never be 100% happy with sobriety.
I am now 54 days sober after 25 years of daily drinking and my days are still consumed with thoughts of drinking and staying sober.
The urge to have a beer after work everyday is rough as is wanting to let loose on the weekends, get wasted and forget life and it's problems.
I guess as long as it is still a struggle we are not successful.
I suppose I can compare it to when I quit cigarette smoking 20+ years ago; the first few years after I quit I thought about smoking often. Today it never crosses my mind.
Sure, alcoholism is 100 times harder to kick that tobacco in my opinion but this is just an example.
Time will tell but I may never be 100% happy with sobriety.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 350
Originally Posted by doniker
I think that as long as we still crave or are bothered with the thoughts of alcoholism we are not truly successful.
I am now 54 days sober after 25 years of daily drinking and my days are still consumed with thoughts of drinking and staying sober.
The urge to have a beer after work everyday is rough as is wanting to let loose on the weekends, get wasted and forget life and it's problems.
I guess as long as it is still a struggle we are not successful.
I suppose I can compare it to when I quit cigarette smoking 20+ years ago; the first few years after I quit I thought about smoking often. Today it never crosses my mind.
Sure, alcoholism is 100 times harder to kick that tobacco in my opinion but this is just an example.
Time will tell but I may never be 100% happy with sobriety.
I am now 54 days sober after 25 years of daily drinking and my days are still consumed with thoughts of drinking and staying sober.
The urge to have a beer after work everyday is rough as is wanting to let loose on the weekends, get wasted and forget life and it's problems.
I guess as long as it is still a struggle we are not successful.
I suppose I can compare it to when I quit cigarette smoking 20+ years ago; the first few years after I quit I thought about smoking often. Today it never crosses my mind.
Sure, alcoholism is 100 times harder to kick that tobacco in my opinion but this is just an example.
Time will tell but I may never be 100% happy with sobriety.
In time, the cravings to slow down in frequency and diminish in intensity.
Stage two is more about the living life on life's terms without drinking - like learning how to have fun sober.
It gets better and so do we.
Keep on keepin' on.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,095
Originally Posted by Johnny152
keep some hard candies in your pocket - the sugar helps trick the body into thinking we've taken a drink and can calm things down.
I also drink one can of Coke per day - before I got sober I hadn't touched any sodas or diet sodas in years - it was bad for my health!!
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 544
Originally Posted by Johnny152
How do YOU define Success In Recovery?
Today, eleven months later, I adhere to the Chuck Pagano philosophy which is "Take care of cents, and the dollars will follow." Examples would be intentionally singing positivity into my soul each and every day, setting all my clocks 10 minutes fast, making my bed after I wake up and not getting back in it until I go to bed, sending thank you cards, getting up in the middle of the night and washing dishes, doing laundry, taking out the trash, reading a book instead of watching television and basically doing away with any and all "sloppy thinking." All of this has a way of sharpening your mind which is your greatest resource.
These days I bicycle not just to the gym and back, but also more and more frequently to the grocery store, the bank, Home Depot, my son's school and anyplace else within a 5 mile radius of my home. I've learned not only how to carry everything in my backpack, but incorporate the additional weight into my workout routine. Yesterday I was paying my bills and discovered that if I had just sent everything in two days earlier, I would have saved an additional 10 dollars.
Add this all up on top of a stone cold sober body and mind and over time, a "multiplier effect" begins to take shape in that you begin to find yourself not only physically and mentally stronger, but financially with more money than you know what to do with. Thus, for the first time in my life i am giving serious consideration to using some of my excess capital to buy extra groceries and then donate that food to Gleaner's food bank. It's a place here in Indianapolis where people that are really struggling can get their food for free. Thus, throwing positive Karma back into the universe.
This is how I define success.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Mid-Atlantic USA
Posts: 2,441
Not drinking, then not desiring a drink, then enjoying a rich, rewarding life without alcohol.
IMO all recovery methods should lead to the same destination. Which method we use and how we get there is our choice.
IMO all recovery methods should lead to the same destination. Which method we use and how we get there is our choice.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Vashon WA
Posts: 1,035
Today I feel like a success. I have almost two years without a drink. Day after day without a hangover and I noticed that I don't need any crutches like candy or soda anymore. I don't get cravings. I've lost weight and gained money. I feel like I have been released from arrested development. My life is definitely on a better path.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Ohio
Posts: 3,785
When I can honestly feel and live all of the AA promises. This is my goal. That is what I pray for and that is what I work towards.
Some of them have already come true for me while others are still beyond my grasp but as long as I keep trying then I feel I will get there.
Some of them have already come true for me while others are still beyond my grasp but as long as I keep trying then I feel I will get there.
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