If you could attribute your success to one thing.....
 

what would that be?

If you looked at all the tools/plan that you've put together and you were asked what one thing you could attribute to your success what would that be? Remember, it can only be one.

I pondered this question and realized that, for me, it was actually somewhat easy when I weighed everything. It was complete and absolute honesty with myself.

I realize that I'm still in infancy in sobriety, coming up on 6 months in 10 more days. This is what made me think of this. Why is it that I've had repeated short term and 3 longer term attempts that failed? This is the longest that I have been sober. Not only sober but ecstatic that I am and not looking back. All my prior attempts failed when I wasn't honest.

I could say that I drank because I was stressed, because I lost a job, because I was unhappy, or because the sun rose 10 minutes earlier than I thought it would. However, this time there is no excuse. If I get an urge to drink there may be triggers but let's be real. I drank because I wanted to drink. No reasoning, no tool, no plan could have squelched my excuses. It was just that I simply wanted to drink.

This time there is no excuse. I can say I want to drink any day of the week but will I? No, because I'm being honest about it and not allowing any excuse to come between me and my sobriety. No matter how much I want to drink my sobriety is more important.

That is the one big difference this time, what's yours?

I actually agree with you - above and beyond everything else being honest with myself is the cornerstone of my sobriety.

accepting that i am an alcoholic. i resisted that for years as i knew that once i admitted it, the party would be permanently over.

i have no secrets now. i don't tell lies. i'm just me, and there's no shame in that.

Beatitudes. The kind that preceded Jesus.

:Meditate:

SR Chat

Hi Ladyblue. I didn't have a plan. Still don't. I was scared witless(still am witless no fear of anything anymore) of what I saw my life would become if I didn't change direction ASAP. So fear. I really don't think fear alone would have kept me sober long enough to get to the acceptance stage. The people on SR has been invaluable to my recovery. They supported me, point the next way, and kept me accountable. The only thing I would change is that I would have joined a "class of thread" on here.
Final answer: SR

self preservation

I thought I was using alcohol to ease the pain of things that were not right in my life, but then I realized that the alcohol was the biggest factor of why things were wrong. This is what did it for me.

This for me too. Until I accepted that I was an alcoholic, I was still under the illusion that I could moderate my drinking and that somehow, someway it would be different.

Yup, admitting I was an alcoholic is it. But it wasn't just admitting it to myself instead it was admitting it to others. This is one cat that needs to get out of the bag....

SR was the tool that helped me realize that the excuses I was making were just that--excuses--and that I wasn't alone. I've learned so many tools and tricks here. The support available on SR has also been invaluable.

When I now think of alcohol I think of it as a drug which I was addicted to and something that caused a lot of problems in my life. I don't want to go back to addiction and more problems.

no loopholes. I wasn't going to drink or use no matter what. No fine print.

I owe my sobriety to God. I asked, no, I begged to have this burden taken from me. When I finally got out of the way, God answered my prayers. I've been sober almost five years.

I was in a lot of denial, even in early sobriety, so it certainly wasn't honesty.

Willingness was the key that opened the door for me. I was willing to do anything I was told when I finally "got done" drinking and using. Willingness to follow directions saved my azz and gave me a life beyond my imagination.

This is true for me as well.
I used to take all the tests that would tell you if you were an alcoholic and I was always able to fit the answers to prove that I was not. I was never really honest when I took them.
I always justified my drinking because I was never truly honest with myself.
If I ever think that I can have 'just one', all I have to say is:
'Really?'
'You really think you can have just one?'
And I can honestly say, 'No.'
:)

knowing beyond any doubt that i'm an alcoholic.

acceptance that drinking will for me always inevitably lead to a place I never want to go again

Surrendering to the fact that I'm an addict. :egypt:

I give up! I am sick of living my life this way! I am an ALCOHOLIC. HELP. The Ft. Knox of denial was crushed....I'll never forget that RELIEF of accepting the truth.