SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information - 2 years

Picked up my 2-year chip yesterday, after being absent from AA for more than a year due to…life. We talked about bitterness, which most of us found was a great reason to drink when we were “wet” drunks.

When I joined SR, I read a lot of the Stories of Recovery. 1 year seemed like fantasy fiction to me. Then, with all the help I got here, I became this brick-layer. I did what veterans here told me. Made a plan. Got up and showed up. AA, friends, family. Starting small, just getting over the dread of going to bed sober (sleep was hard to come by those first couple of weeks). Eating better, cooking more (to fill the 50+ hours I used to spend drinking each week). Making amends and getting in touch with my humility.

Day by day turned to week by week, and all of a sudden 2 years. I’ve cried and grieved and laughed and celebrated, loved, lost and moved on - all sober. No bitterness, lots of accountability. I owned it all. Friendships saved, health gained, family ties mended.

When I first came here, I was so filled with shame and anger, it was overwhelming. The easy option was to drown everything in a bottle - one day at a time. Now, drinking is the furthest thing from my mind, I’ve set the price of relapse too high. I came here, lonely and scared, thinking I had nothing more to lose. Then I spent 2 years building - laying brick on top of brick - until I had this huge castle of, well, life. The trust and appreciation from people around me - no matter what, I will not jeopardize that again.

I rarely come on these forums anymore, but every time I read an entry I think “just like me!”.

I hope you all find your support group, whether here or IRL. AA and SR pulled me out of my abyss. It can be done. :)