30 Days Sober
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 288
30 Days Sober
Hello everyone –
Today marks 30 days into sobriety for me. Thank you all for sharing your struggles and successes along this common journey we share. I must express that reading and posting here has helped me put my alcoholism and recovery in the proper perspective. Thank you for that. Many people in these forums have voiced many of the same obstacles and feelings I'm facing -- brain fog, confusion, nightmares, boredom, triggers, emotional fluctuations . . . to name a few. The good news is some of these seem to be lifting. But I have no illusions of being out of the woods yet. I'm learning more and more how recovery is an ongoing process that we have to work at each day.
Some things that have really helped: meditation, writing, reading recovery literature and a good fiction book (All The Light We Cannot See), support from my wife and those here at SR, therapy, cardio exercise, sleep (despite the nightmares), being kind to myself, being kind to others, and staying humble.
In another month I'll be facing another challenge. I'm 34 and will be 35 at the end of February. Alcohol would be a no brainer before in this situation, so that's expected from friends and family. It also doesn't help that my birthday falls on a Saturday this year. This next month I have to strengthen my sobriety and maybe come up with something else to do for my birthday ahead of time. But, for now, it’s one day at a time.
Thanks for reading and for being a part of my recovery.
Today marks 30 days into sobriety for me. Thank you all for sharing your struggles and successes along this common journey we share. I must express that reading and posting here has helped me put my alcoholism and recovery in the proper perspective. Thank you for that. Many people in these forums have voiced many of the same obstacles and feelings I'm facing -- brain fog, confusion, nightmares, boredom, triggers, emotional fluctuations . . . to name a few. The good news is some of these seem to be lifting. But I have no illusions of being out of the woods yet. I'm learning more and more how recovery is an ongoing process that we have to work at each day.
Some things that have really helped: meditation, writing, reading recovery literature and a good fiction book (All The Light We Cannot See), support from my wife and those here at SR, therapy, cardio exercise, sleep (despite the nightmares), being kind to myself, being kind to others, and staying humble.
In another month I'll be facing another challenge. I'm 34 and will be 35 at the end of February. Alcohol would be a no brainer before in this situation, so that's expected from friends and family. It also doesn't help that my birthday falls on a Saturday this year. This next month I have to strengthen my sobriety and maybe come up with something else to do for my birthday ahead of time. But, for now, it’s one day at a time.
Thanks for reading and for being a part of my recovery.
Canine Welfare Advocate
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 10,962
Congrats on a month sober!
It's your birthday. So it's your decision what you do. You can stipulate that it will be alcohol free, you can decide you just want to spend it with the wife, or you can succumb to peer pressure and make your recovery secondary to the "feelings" of others and include alcohol in the celebration.
You decide.
Originally Posted by RattleAndHum 
I'm 34 and will be 35 at the end of February. Alcohol would be a no brainer before in this situation, so that's expected from friends and family. It also doesn't help that my birthday falls on a Saturday this year.
You decide.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 9,029
Well done on 30 days. That's terrific and it's great that you listed what you are doing that works.
As Carl said, it's YOUR birthday. You decide what to do. I turned 50 and celebrated sober. A nice dinner out with my family. No alcohol. And it wasn't missed, either. I was sober for 40 too. It's just another day. Your call.
As Carl said, it's YOUR birthday. You decide what to do. I turned 50 and celebrated sober. A nice dinner out with my family. No alcohol. And it wasn't missed, either. I was sober for 40 too. It's just another day. Your call.
Blue Belt
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Soberville, USA
Posts: 4,174
Rattle,
Hang in there. Easy does it. It gets better every day.
Back in Oct, I celebrated my 51st birthday sober. First one since I was 18.
My bday was a trigger. Just like every special occasion, including every Friday night, has been since 9 May 2015.
Today, I feel like a new person. I lost 20 pounds and have not been sick since I quit boozing. I look 10 years younger...they tell me. I am in the best shape of my life. I work out 4 to 5 days a week. I sleep purely. My resting pulse rate has been as low as 57 bpm. My bp is 120/80. My anxiety is now an annoyance and is fading each moment.
I used to have a resting pulse of around 85 bpm. My legs tingled while in bed. I got winded walking up 2 flights of stairs. My feet would swell up. My skin was greasy. My eyes were blood shot all the time...etc etc...
Why would anyone that has known the harmful effects of alcohol and recovered to this level ever drink again?
It is crazy to even consider but, I think about drinking every day. That is my next goal. To have days where I don't consider booze at all, even when I see it on TV or wherever.
I will never drink again. Alcohol is poison. Don't believe the hype.
Hang in there. Easy does it. It gets better every day.
Back in Oct, I celebrated my 51st birthday sober. First one since I was 18.
My bday was a trigger. Just like every special occasion, including every Friday night, has been since 9 May 2015.
Today, I feel like a new person. I lost 20 pounds and have not been sick since I quit boozing. I look 10 years younger...they tell me. I am in the best shape of my life. I work out 4 to 5 days a week. I sleep purely. My resting pulse rate has been as low as 57 bpm. My bp is 120/80. My anxiety is now an annoyance and is fading each moment.
I used to have a resting pulse of around 85 bpm. My legs tingled while in bed. I got winded walking up 2 flights of stairs. My feet would swell up. My skin was greasy. My eyes were blood shot all the time...etc etc...
Why would anyone that has known the harmful effects of alcohol and recovered to this level ever drink again?
It is crazy to even consider but, I think about drinking every day. That is my next goal. To have days where I don't consider booze at all, even when I see it on TV or wherever.
I will never drink again. Alcohol is poison. Don't believe the hype.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 288
Originally Posted by D122y
Rattle,
Hang in there. Easy does it. It gets better every day.
Back in Oct, I celebrated my 51st birthday sober. First one since I was 18.
My bday was a trigger. Just like every special occasion, including every Friday night, has been since 9 May 2015.
Today, I feel like a new person. I lost 20 pounds and have not been sick since I quit boozing. I look 10 years younger...they tell me. I am in the best shape of my life. I work out 4 to 5 days a week. I sleep purely. My resting pulse rate has been as low as 57 bpm. My bp is 120/80. My anxiety is now an annoyance and is fading each moment.
I used to have a resting pulse of around 85 bpm. My legs tingled while in bed. I got winded walking up 2 flights of stairs. My feet would swell up. My skin was greasy. My eyes were blood shot all the time...etc etc...
Why would anyone that has known the harmful effects of alcohol and recovered to this level ever drink again?
It is crazy to even consider but, I think about drinking every day. That is my next goal. To have days where I don't consider booze at all, even when I see it on TV or wherever.
I will never drink again. Alcohol is poison. Don't believe the hype.
Hang in there. Easy does it. It gets better every day.
Back in Oct, I celebrated my 51st birthday sober. First one since I was 18.
My bday was a trigger. Just like every special occasion, including every Friday night, has been since 9 May 2015.
Today, I feel like a new person. I lost 20 pounds and have not been sick since I quit boozing. I look 10 years younger...they tell me. I am in the best shape of my life. I work out 4 to 5 days a week. I sleep purely. My resting pulse rate has been as low as 57 bpm. My bp is 120/80. My anxiety is now an annoyance and is fading each moment.
I used to have a resting pulse of around 85 bpm. My legs tingled while in bed. I got winded walking up 2 flights of stairs. My feet would swell up. My skin was greasy. My eyes were blood shot all the time...etc etc...
Why would anyone that has known the harmful effects of alcohol and recovered to this level ever drink again?
It is crazy to even consider but, I think about drinking every day. That is my next goal. To have days where I don't consider booze at all, even when I see it on TV or wherever.
I will never drink again. Alcohol is poison. Don't believe the hype.
Scottie, excellent idea. Thanks for that.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 15
Congrats! 30 days is no easy feat, for me after that the days have seemed to come quickly. It was one after the other and now on 39 I haven't even really counter in 4 or 5. Seems like a silly revelation but when you compound it... Re Birthday - I have resisted making any big pronouncements or declarations about my decision to not drink. That may have been easier for me since I was high functioning but for me it easier to play it off as me embracing a healthier lifestyle and/or training for an event. Frankly, the less amount of time I deal with conversations about why or why not, the better. It bores me.
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