LauraSFO1

Hi All- I've been sober 34 days now, and this is usually where I post and lurk. When do I get my diploma and graduate? Just kidding, of course. But it got me thinkging: at what point would I not be considered a newcomer to sobriety? Maybe that's up to every individual. Thoughts??:bounce

tanyapmc

I have been sober 11 1/2 months. I still feel like a newcomer. I will let you know when I feel like an "oldtimer" :rof:

LauraSFO1

Oh NO!! If oldtimer is my only option, I'll stay here forever!! Oldtimers can't dance like this

Rowan

Hi Laura,

Lots of peeps with varying periods of sobriety hang out here. You are welcome to explore other areas of the board and post there, too, though, if you like.
I've got 18 months c&s and I like being with the newbies. There is always something new to learn here.

I'm glad you're here!

awake121207

Hey Laura,

I am literally on my way out from this forum, but I couldn't help checking in one last time and saw your post.

I would recommend hanging out in the newcomers forum no matter what your status. They are good people! Experiences elsewhere in the forum have a great deal to do with my departure.

I wish you peace and sobriety in this new year

Dee74

hope you reconsider Awake...it's a public forum - people are bound to p*** you off - but the important thing is we're where we need to be to get the help we need, and to give that help back to others.

Sorry for your experiences elsewhere, whatever they might be, but as you say newcomers is a pretty good place to hang out.

Hope to see you around soon

D

tkdan

Hey Laura, you can be here getting help or helping others it is the best of both worlds. I hang here and on the alcoholism forum. 34 days that's awsome way to go.

Dee74

oh LOL and Laura ? danged if I know...I generally like the newbie forum...best mix of folks for me

D

jimhere

There is one drawback to becoming an old-timer that I know of.

You get older.

Seriously, I've been sober almost seventeen years-the 15th of this month to be specific. I guess in some people's eyes that might be an old timer. Sometimes I catch myself being impressed by it-not a good thing. In Buhddism there is what is called "beginner's mind." That means to be open to new experiences and to being teachable. In that sense I hope I am never an old-timer.

One of my favorite passages in the book Alcoholics Anonymous goes somewhat along these lines:

"The best years of our lives lie ahead of us..." That excites me. I've barely scratched the surface. I've got a lot to learn, a lot of mistakes yet to make, and a lot of room for improvement.
Jim

best

Stages of recovery...

New comer.
New comer that thinks they know it all.
New comer that is starting to learn.
Newcomer that has been around a while.
New comer that is starting to look like the furniture at meetings.
New comer that some start to call an old timer.
and then there is the New comer that comes to realize... as much as we learn, we still don't know as much as we need to learn.

No matter how long a person is in recovery, you can see by my list...

The new comer is the most important person at any meeting.

Together, no matter how much recovery we each have... we change lives and help one another.

barb dwyer

never.

dave47

Hi Laura, sober since September and this suits me as you have every angle covered with the variety of people.

Treasure2Find

If I stick to the basics I won’t have to go back to them. With saying that I don’t think this is one degree I’ll ever need…..

All Good Things,

SaTiT

I've been in recovery since 1992.
somethings are still relatively new to me.lol
well, i take it back...a lot of things are still new to me
and i imagine there stuff that i don't even know and i don't wanna know.lol
becuase it's all new to me when my thick skull opens up.
no..no...it's a spiritaul awakening.lol

but you know..I like it in my comfortzone, but when it was new
to me, it wasn't comfortable. Then i go through the learning
cruve of that. Then i get all comfie and cozy after the dust
settles. Then my HP has a bright idea of me getting uncomfortable
again.lol

COME CLOSER that's what me HP would say.
HOLLY SHIET...is what i would say.lol

Becuase the more things change the more they stay the same.
Meaning as my life change or as i grow in my recovery. I still
have to apply the same tools or principle as any newbie.

You can call it being humble..but you know, i had to get humiliate first
becuase when humble was new to me..i couldn't figure it out. :rof

They say.."don't pick up no matter what" that's not new to me.
It feels funkie and new everytime when i do that thou...experince life
new or different experince life has to offer me...some of which
I don't care for..becuase it new to me, ya see...

As like any human being i run back to my comfortzone when
i see beyound the horizon..which is not new...because I'm
new to that new begining. And i resist changes just like any newbie, newbie.
I go through mental and emotional withdraws.lol

indigo

I have some good sober time under my belt and I still pop in and visit newcomers, there is no limit and as best said we always have something new to learn.

Tazman53

Hmmmm I don't know, it is healthier I feel to stay a newcomer, I have heard many an old timer say in the rooms that they know they are walking in dangerous waters when they quit learning and think they know it all, I heard a guy with 33 years sober say that! As long as we know we do not have all the answers and remain teachable we are doing okay.

Another great thing I have heard in the rooms and I agree with is that newcomers are the life blood of AA, if it were not for the newcomer AA would die and all if not most of the old timers would get drunk!

expenguin

We all remain Newcomers no matter what......

We keep learning no matter how much time we have in the program.......I am still learning and love to be with the Newcomers........I have 22 yrs as of this Jan 1st and love learning new things each day.....

For those that say they don't learn anymore and have loads of years....they will find that each day we learn new things.......I like to listen to the newcomers as they have cool ideas to making recovery better .........

Yes....the Big Book will always be there for the Alcoholic who still suffers............No life is perfect........

I post in other areas and feel good about it......gives me something to look forward to besides doing recovery stuff off line.........I am here for me.....and to help others that need my advise.......and I look to others for advise .....

Have a good day and know we are all in the right place..........You can have lots of years and still be a newcomer.......No one is too old to be here..........."old timer" is just another name for those of us that have more than 5 years under our belt in this program..... BUt that doesn't make us smart.........we have just been hanging around looking for change each day of our life in recovery........We still look for more "new " things to think about to keep coming back..............

Little penguin

Astro

Hi Laura,

I'm in my third year, but I hope I'll always think of myself as a newcomer to sobriety so that I may never forget what it was like, that I appreciate each day as if it were the first in recovery. Sobriety is a precious gift to me, if I begin each day anew and with gratitude it keeps me focused and grounded.

I hope to always see you posting in the newcomers forum! :ghug3

Jersey Nonny

Says who!?! I'm 76 years of age/28 sober...Old enough to know better, young enough to learn! A perpetual Newcomer, thank you!

Jfanagle

I think you are NO LONGER A NEWCOMER when you KNOW IT ALL!

I have met several folks in the rooms that THINK they are no longer newcomers, but the truth be told we are for the most part ALL NEWCOMERS, some just have more time than others.

PS. Awake: if there are parts of the forum that don't appeal to you, why not stick around and help change those areas, we can always use everyone's unique viewpoints.

Jon