Hi everyone! I'm coming up to 90 days sober (87!!) and am beginning to get used to my sobriety and gaining some tentative confidence. I have learned a lot from all of those around me on SR. I think sobriety teaches different people different lessons at different times and I've become interested in what this road can teach us.

In this thread I'd like to invite each of you to simply write how long you've been sober and what the most important thing(s) that you've learned so far is/are.

Hope you'll be interested and n taking part ;)

Ok. I will start.

49 months sober from alcohol. ( Still smoke cigarettes and drink too much coffee. )

The single most important lesson I have learned is I have value simply being me.

2 years sober

The most important things for me is

1. I cant drink safely or responsibly

2. Reaching out for help & advice

3. Sobriety tools learned by working on my sobriety

203 days

1. There are two types of anxiety: the one my genetics creates and the one alcohol creates chemically. Combined together, they are the engines that fuel my spiral into alcoholism.

2. I can manage my biological anxiety through lifestyle changes: exercise, good eating habits, who a hang out with, where I go, how I reward myself, how I deal with the bad things in life.

3. Never underestimate the power of reaching out for help.

6 years sober.

1. There is nothing to figure out (disease vs behavior problem or other some such argument). It doesn't matter.
2. Get a sobriety plan and follow the plan. EVERY. DAY. They ALL work IF FOLLOWED.
3. The problem is me.
4. I will continue to glean the gifts of sobriety if I do the daily work required. In other words: follow the directions that I laid out for myself in the beginning and they will work for me until the day I die. (never deviate from the PLAN)

almost 22 months sober

I have learned to value myself, my whole self: mind, body and spirit. I have learned to accept abuse is self abuse and by becoming sober, I have learned to put a stop to self abuse.

About 2.5 years sober

Most important thing? Accepting that I am alcoholic and being honest with myself about it.

Year 9.
Alcohol is paint, does nothing and takes all.

I will be five years without a drink in September.

I've learned that I don't need alcohol. For anything. Not for fun, not for relaxation, not for stress release, not to celebrate, not to hide the fear and shame and guilt of my drinking and drugging years. I don't need alcohol to fit in, to cope with life, to deal with emotions.

I can live life sober.

Coming up on 5 years sober, 25+ without weed and other street drugs. Life is much, much better in every single way without drugs, including especially without alcohol. :)

2 years two months - the most important thing I've learnt is that mornings are actually the best part of the day!! :)

Thanks for the thread amp!
403 days / 1.10 years or 13.22 months - but who's counting ;)

Daily I am pulled more and more away from myself. My thoughts and prayers have become more about others and their needs - what I may be able to do to help someone else. Release (ing) from the bondage of self.

This truly is remarkable coming from a highly self-centered alcoholic like me. Really it's miraculous, discovering true empathy and love. This is solely by grace alone. Don't know why, but there it is.........

I was told after we hit 90 days it's no longer considered relapse but a choice! Happy for your upcoming three months - that too is truly a miracle!!!

Great thread, thanks.

15 plus years.
When I find myself to self absorbed either based on my success or failures in life; it is time to do more for someone else. Never forget to say, "I am sorry" when I am wrong and "I don't know when I don't." Both phrases I never used when drinking.

Lastly remind myself that it isn't all about me.

The most important thing for me is the sure and certain knowledge this is the way I should live my life :)

D

2+ years

Things aren't usually what they seem to be.

Four years less five weeks.

I deserve to be free of addiction so I have chosen to never drink. That requirement is both necessary AND sufficient.

7-1/2 years sober after drinking for 30.

I numbed myself for most of my life - I didn't grow, change, or mature. What I thought was helping with shyness was actually keeping me frozen in time. Learning to face whatever life hands me, with eyes wide open, was a wonderful gift. I never needed it the way I thought I did. It was never my friend or comforter.

It will be 2 yrs in a week or so, and that I could

Congratulations, AMP! You're accumulating some serious sober time. And your confidence will deepen.

In one month, I'll mark two years of sobriety. What have I learned? Lots! I'll try to keep it to a few brief thoughts:

- Trust that it gets easier and it gets better. There's nothing good in a bottle for me; there's a bountiful world for me in sobriety.

- This journey requires more than simply not drinking. This is an opportunity for amazing growth, though it means we must engage in self-exploration -- a process that is painful, joyous and everything in between. I'm not the same person I used to be. Thank God.

- Being sober doesn't mean you're in a state of non-stop happiness. It does, though, open the door to greater peacefulness. And that makes happiness all the sweeter when I feel it; when I don't, that's all right. My life today is a far cry from the empty, soulless existence -- and that's all it was -- when I was an alcoholic.

V.

Over two years here. The most important thing was for me to realize that not everyone wanted me to be sober.