Independence day -- Sobriety day
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Southern UK
Posts: 21
Independence day -- Sobriety day
Hi all,
I am not sure about the wisdom of suggesting people to get sober "tomorrow". I always found that life changes can be only done "today". Nevertheless, some people deal best with changes when planning ahead (and I am one of them). Yes, it will be my new sobriety date and I hope it can be for others too.
For full disclosure, I got sober on 6-6-10 and then had 10 months of sobriety. Since then it has been a strange mixture of not drinking and then drinking. Call it rationalization (and perhaps you are right), but I have found that when on vacation I can more easily drink less per day than when I am at home and working. I don't mean to suggest that I don't have a problem with alcohol. But I am reminded of the rumored statistic that 80% of the US soldiers, who regularly using heroin while in Vietnam, just stopped using when coming back to the US.
I have known for some years now that my work situation is inherently unhealthy. Why am I still doing that I am doing? Well, it is pretty good money. And because of my mental health situation, I can't come up with much of an alternative. There is a strong component in me saying I should take a 6-12 months' sabbatical. My intuition say it would transform my life (for the better), but is also scary. The money is nice, but the fear is "what would it be like not working", and people usually recommend me to keep working ("addicts should have a job" line). There are other issues of loyalties to team members I have recently recruited. They weigh on my mind, but I know they are a bit of a nonsense.
Regardless of my situation, and I didn't really want to use this post about except to explain why I was suggesting a sobriety date considering my past, having July 4th completely clean sends a very powerful message to yourself.
If is of course the US Independence Day. And what a nice day to draw your line in the sand to be independent of your drug of choice. It doesn't remove the need to do your recovery work (believe me I know now), but what a date would that be to lose? Perhaps it is the geek in me, but I do believe that it is so easy to postpone sobriety till "tomorrow". And therefore, dates can play a special part and make your sobriety even more painful to lose.
So, tomorrow is Independence Day. It will be the day where no drop will cross my lips starting from midnight. It will be pure and whole. If you start today, you are a better man/woman than me. But if you are close to deciding to stop, Independence Day is a wonderful opportunity to make a fresh start on a day with a special meaning. I am sure we all want to be independent of our DOCs after all.
Make of it what you will. I hope it benefits someone.
Take care,
LFNM
I am not sure about the wisdom of suggesting people to get sober "tomorrow". I always found that life changes can be only done "today". Nevertheless, some people deal best with changes when planning ahead (and I am one of them). Yes, it will be my new sobriety date and I hope it can be for others too.
For full disclosure, I got sober on 6-6-10 and then had 10 months of sobriety. Since then it has been a strange mixture of not drinking and then drinking. Call it rationalization (and perhaps you are right), but I have found that when on vacation I can more easily drink less per day than when I am at home and working. I don't mean to suggest that I don't have a problem with alcohol. But I am reminded of the rumored statistic that 80% of the US soldiers, who regularly using heroin while in Vietnam, just stopped using when coming back to the US.
I have known for some years now that my work situation is inherently unhealthy. Why am I still doing that I am doing? Well, it is pretty good money. And because of my mental health situation, I can't come up with much of an alternative. There is a strong component in me saying I should take a 6-12 months' sabbatical. My intuition say it would transform my life (for the better), but is also scary. The money is nice, but the fear is "what would it be like not working", and people usually recommend me to keep working ("addicts should have a job" line). There are other issues of loyalties to team members I have recently recruited. They weigh on my mind, but I know they are a bit of a nonsense.
Regardless of my situation, and I didn't really want to use this post about except to explain why I was suggesting a sobriety date considering my past, having July 4th completely clean sends a very powerful message to yourself.
If is of course the US Independence Day. And what a nice day to draw your line in the sand to be independent of your drug of choice. It doesn't remove the need to do your recovery work (believe me I know now), but what a date would that be to lose? Perhaps it is the geek in me, but I do believe that it is so easy to postpone sobriety till "tomorrow". And therefore, dates can play a special part and make your sobriety even more painful to lose.
So, tomorrow is Independence Day. It will be the day where no drop will cross my lips starting from midnight. It will be pure and whole. If you start today, you are a better man/woman than me. But if you are close to deciding to stop, Independence Day is a wonderful opportunity to make a fresh start on a day with a special meaning. I am sure we all want to be independent of our DOCs after all.
Make of it what you will. I hope it benefits someone.
Take care,
LFNM
member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,433
Recovery represents freedom to me. Freedom = Independence = no longer a prisoner of the bottle.
Good luck with your choice
We're here for you.
(waitaminit, you're in the UK... why didn't you choose the Jubilee instead, lol. Don't pressure yourself too much, the whole date thing is tricky)
Good luck with your choice
We're here for you.(waitaminit, you're in the UK... why didn't you choose the Jubilee instead, lol. Don't pressure yourself too much, the whole date thing is tricky)
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
