Feeling more hopeful
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Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 359
Feeling more hopeful
Okay I'm feeling better I got out twice recently went to a movie and got to go skiing again. I'm really starting to connect with fellow aa meetings goers. I realize this whole do I want to stay sober was a result of my illnesses making me re think soberity. I do want to stay sober I was just craving as a result of addiction talking to me. I don't want to wake up shaking and I certainly don't look forward to ever experiencing the terrible way drinking had started to make me sick. It's also difficult to reconcile with myself that the good days,the old days will never happen again. What comes forth can never be experiencing henceforth again. I enjoy having a working mind,I appreciate having a hopeful outlook on life at least compared yesterday.
David
David
Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,785
David that’s fantastic! You’ve got a heart that’s second to none! And that’s huge in life! I remember a counselor at my fourth treatment center at Maplegrove in May of 1992 brought me in his office! I was really messed up! I told him I tried AA and it doesn’t work for me! I tried everything and I keep on going back to drinking after a short stint at sobriety! I was hopeless!
He said if that’s all you ever did was stay sober from here on out for the rest of your life, you’d be a success! I said success? How would that make me a success? What about a good job, a good house, a family, money, a good car, good clothes, friends, a sane mind……you know, all those things that make you ok as a person?
He said well you can have those things too! But even if you didn’t get those things that would still make you a success if you stayed sober the rest of your life from here on out! He handed me a book called “Staying Sober; A guide to relapse prevention planning” by Terrence Gorski and merlene Miller!
And you know what? I bought into it! I told him I’m tired of living this way! I can’t go on like this! I’m going to give it a try again! I want to be a success! I read that book whole heartedly while in there and at home after I got out of there! I went back to AA meetings and this time got a sponsor and re-applied the steps! I now have 29 years of continuous sobriety! And many of those former things I said that defines success I also got along with sobriety as a result of staying sober! I never thought that was possible!
David you are a success! You’re developing the skills on how to stay sober! You can do this! You’ve got a big heart like I do! And that can overcome anything!
He said if that’s all you ever did was stay sober from here on out for the rest of your life, you’d be a success! I said success? How would that make me a success? What about a good job, a good house, a family, money, a good car, good clothes, friends, a sane mind……you know, all those things that make you ok as a person?
He said well you can have those things too! But even if you didn’t get those things that would still make you a success if you stayed sober the rest of your life from here on out! He handed me a book called “Staying Sober; A guide to relapse prevention planning” by Terrence Gorski and merlene Miller!
And you know what? I bought into it! I told him I’m tired of living this way! I can’t go on like this! I’m going to give it a try again! I want to be a success! I read that book whole heartedly while in there and at home after I got out of there! I went back to AA meetings and this time got a sponsor and re-applied the steps! I now have 29 years of continuous sobriety! And many of those former things I said that defines success I also got along with sobriety as a result of staying sober! I never thought that was possible!
David you are a success! You’re developing the skills on how to stay sober! You can do this! You’ve got a big heart like I do! And that can overcome anything!
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Dublin, Ireland.
Posts: 739
David, you sound in a good place.
The "good old days", I remember fondly.
But I have to remember the days of crippling anxiety, physical illness and all the collateral damage my drinking brought about.
So I seriously prefer the sober days.
I never thought I would experience happiness like I have at times without drinking.
The "good old days", I remember fondly.
But I have to remember the days of crippling anxiety, physical illness and all the collateral damage my drinking brought about.
So I seriously prefer the sober days.
I never thought I would experience happiness like I have at times without drinking.
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