JoeCree

Hi guys. There has been a lot of mention recently (more so in the sports world) that if you effectively practice anything for 10,000 hours you are ready to become professional.
The thinking behind this is that you have honed your craft.
For fun i was thinking that if Sobriety was a sport and you wanted to become a pro soberman then the same would hold true.
Of course once you become pro the work increases and you continue to improve, but i wonder if some vets could shed light on this completely unscientific hypothesis.
10,000 hours of sobriety (consecutive and not including sleep) is roughly equal to 2 1/2 years.
So my curiosity lies at this mark... in other words, at ~ the 2.5y mark has one earned the level of "professional"?

Soberwolf

congrats on 2.5 years I have roughly the same time but I wouldn't call myself a professional at sobriety as I still like learning new things

FreeOwl

I think sobriety is another term for 'dedicated to becoming our best'.

I think that's an ever-moving target.

In that regard, I believe we wake each day as 'beginners'.

But perhaps after 10,000 hours, we become 'professional beginners'.

JD

I was a professional drinker but don't think I'll ever be a professional non-drinker. Every day is a new day and another day not to drink.

JoeCree

Yes yes i understand that we wake each day and do it one day at a time, but there is something to be said about experience.
Waking on one day after 10,000 hours of experience is and should be easier than waking on day one with no experience.
A professional knows that the work doesnt end at hour 10,000 (ask any golfer about perfection). but using the golf analogy, a pro can shoot par but with further experience can shoot a 62. With maturity a golfer knows about course-management and avoiding stupid shots that can lead to a triple bogey.
A soberman after 2.5yrs will have learned how to avoid danger, keep par for the course, and work harder to always improve.
Im not trying to trivialize sobriety with this analogy but rather think of it from a different angle.

JoeCree

I would like to think at one point you could consider yourself a professional soberman. It is something to be proud of.

SoberLife90

Haha. I have 26 months and I feel very new, although I have learned a lot in the past few years. No matter how long we are in the program or how long we are sober we are no further from a drink than anyone else. Have a merry Christmas

Fly N Buy

This would be allowing the same over zealous ego that allowed me to be a "high functioning" alcoholic for many, many years to think - I've got this. Pride is not a word I use with my recovery Peace, hope and joy - yes.

Time allows us to be tempered in the fires of life, certainly. I highly respect all who change, but for
those who have more sober time than they had drunk time I like to hear their stories. They are the "heroes" to me, who have had to make sober mistakes, live through much pain of life and come through marred but still kicking - Warriors of the light!

Thanks for the topic

JoeCree

yes i agree with this. I would think that these very "heros" are in fact Professional Sobermen. (Of which many are in here forums). Taking away words like Pride, etc... Comes with the wiseones.

Lance40

Sobriety seems to be a word that is not well defined. I think for most of us with some time under our belt it initially meant not drinking. As the haze of active addiction starts to lift, sobriety tends toward learning to deal with the ups and downs of life and all the emotions that come with it. Often this phase has a focus on the issues that contributed to our drinking. As time moves along and a lot of the dysfunction has been dealt with, sobriety is about becoming all we can be and realizing our human potential.

I'm not really sure how to apply the term professional to that type of perspective. It's more about "onwards and upwards" with increasing experience, maturity and (hopefully) wisdom.

JoeCree

Hi lance, yeah i guess the word cant really be professional. I do like your analogy or interpretation about the word sobriety and what it means (ever changing).
Interesting read. Thx.

PurpleKnight

Great job on your Sober time Joe!!

The more I'm Sober the more I have definitely learnt, the difference between Day 1 to Month 1 to Year 1 and beyond, Sobriety seems to be quite the journey.

There's also the things that I now don't have to think about anymore, naturally I pass the liquor store on the way home, if I'm at a social event it's a non alcoholic drink, all these things got easier as time went on, the phrase building Sober muscles I guess applies, using what we've learned and applying it.

In time the more we revolutionise our lifestyle away from alcohol, a new Sober lifestyle, new habits, new routines, it all adds up to a permanent shift towards being a non drinker on a permanent basis.