Notch8

I don't care if you have one year, five years, or are pushing 10+ years, if you could give one piece of advice to someone who just survived the first week sober, what would it be?

nez

Immerse yourself in gratitude.

Hevyn

Please realize you'll go through many phases as you get used to your new normal. I look back & can't believe how empty, sad, & resentful I felt when I first quit. Joy, relief, & excitement for a brand new day finally took over. My advice is to be kind & patient with yourself - if you're anxious & feeling disoriented - it will pass.

fini

.

fini

sorry; thought i could name just one thing, but cannot

SoberLeigh

Believe that you absolutely CAN achieve permanent sobriety and recovery - because it is true.

Rockbottom1964

Not quite there yet, only 310 days; 56 to go to my first year.
Count your days - each and every one. The more you pile up, the harder it gets to throw them away and start over. One day at a time.

Dee74

There is always another better option than drinking. Be relentless in finding that better option.

D

awuh1

My one piece of advice to someone who just survived the first week sober? The worst of the physical withdrawals are probably over, but the psychological, social and spiritual journey has just begun. Buckle up. You're in for a hell of a ride.

sugarbear1

You are worth sobriety!

Notch8

Great replies. Honestly, not the ones I expected!

Derringer

"it's a marathon not a sprint"

You won't get to 'superstar of sobriety' in a matter of weeks or months and there are no shortcuts. I can't emphasize that enough. The only thing that will give us 5 years sobriety is 5 years sobriety.

.its usually a drawn out process to this point where we decide we want to quit.

We get better slowly, it just how it works.
In the same way.

Be patient.

Notch8

If its a marathon, is there a finish line? Does the struggle ever end?

silentrun

I think one of the things that helped me is that every time the urge to drink started I quickly called up my shame and pain and held that in the pit of my stomach until the urge passed. I didn't confront the urge, I didn't think it through, I just sat there with that feeling we all know too well. I never have allowed myself to remember the feeling of being intoxicated or the smell or the taste. Alcohol=Pain.

ciowa

Commit to a life of sobriety by following a path of recovery. The reason I would say this is because I had to let go of my drinking life before I could ever stop drinking. For me there wasn't no half in or half out and as long as i tried to juggle between the 2 I was destined to fail over and over again.

silentrun

Absolutely! You couldn't pay me enough to put alcohol in my body and risk going back to that place. Many/most of us have to get to work on unraveling negative thought patterns but the struggle to stay clean goes away. It took me about 6 months sober to get there. I still had the recovery road ahead of me then and plenty of uncomfortableness but I wasn't fighting the urge to use anymore.

Dee74

I don;t feel as if I'm struggling, so yes the struggling does end.
Some of it has to do with time and growth, but also building a happy sober life too.

D

Libby06

Whatever you have done to get one week sober, keep doing that every minute, every day. Yes, I promise it gets much easier. Hang in there.
Michelle

nez

For me it did.

Drinking used to be natural for me. It was an automatic reflex, like breathing, that took no thought on my part. I have reached a point of my recovery where sobriety is natural to me. It is an automatic reflex, like breathing, that takes no thought on my part.

I can think about it, but for the most part, I don't and I just let it happen. Occasionally red flags will pop up, like with breathing, that tell me I need to pay attention and possibly take corrective action, but for the most part it happens just fine without input from me.

JK130

Take a risk, and believe in yourself! You deserve all that life has to offer! Celebrate 7 days of sobriety, and now do 1 more. Then another and another. Small goals. I used the mantra (sometimes over and over in my head), "I don't drink alcohol any more" - in the grocery store, at events, and at other people's homes - anywhere or when I felt tempted. It wasn't fun for me, but the long days added up, and my hyperfocus on drinking/not drinking faded over months. Without working a plan, alcoholism gets worse, not better over time.

Does the struggle ever end? For me, with abstaining, the physical addiction subsided. I stopped doing stupid things. I felt better. I didn't black out, or itch out of my skin, or struggle with bathroom issues. I was able to act as a role model to my growing grandchildren. Sometimes, I slept.

I lost so, so much that I can never get back by being a drunk. My intense regret and sadness isn't forgotten, but the struggle gets better. The shame subsides. The anguish you're feeling in early recovery starts getting replaced with positivity. Just leading your everyday life sober is a reason for gratefulness. Gradually you'll feel better because you too will be a person who "doesn't drink alcohol any more ". You can do this! It's worth it!