spadge

I see so many peeps who are doing so good in their recovery. I also see peeps (including me) who are relapsing for one reason or another.

I was wondering what it is that keeps you going!!!

After relapsing at 25 days n now at 23 days, what is stopping me from drinking is:

my faith in God - prayer is a very powerful thing!
This forum - couldn't have done it without you guys.
Books on Alcoholism - read, read, read - knowledge is power if used effectively.

Soberwolf

Acceptance that I know litrelly know what awaits me if I start drinking again

What keeps me going ? pretty much everything from learning to conversation to helping to love

Steely

Wanting to never return to the idiocy and infantilism of drinking and all of the things that it has denied me......grow up I guess.

Dee74

I dig a huge hole - it took me about a year to climb out and feel the sun again, and then several more years to rebuild.

I'm too old to do all that again

D

mecanix

Rotten fruit juice / Alcohol just makes me feel sick and my body has always rejected it.
My brain was sold on it for a while but i think i've realised it's worthlessness .

least

My healthy happy dogs and cats keep me going. It is a pleasure to stay sober to care for them.

Cascabel

My family, my dog and my self-respect help keep me on track.

phlowing

I have been thinking about this lately. At first it was I didn't want to relapse again and tell people as I had that history. Now it's for myself and what I am starting to see finally it's a big world out there that's not accessible if I pick up. What I get/let go from meditation, my running/working out, and sense of self is keeping me from picking up. Great popst and good luck to you

Ariesagain

The cold knowledge that the heart condition that is slowly killing my mother has a strong hereditary component and alcohol use is one of the main contributors.

In the past, I knew in sort of an intellectual way that alcohol was affecting my health but I rationalized it was evened out by all the healthy things I did. I even had a couple of scares, but kept drinking, because wine is healthy, or so the beverage industry tells us. Now I can't lie to myself anymore.

I never, ever want to wake up in a hospital bed knowing I put myself there.

SoberLife90

Simply not wanting to go back to my old way of living.

FormerWineGirl

Exactly the three you mentioned is very powerful for me as well. I would also add that not wanting to go back to that dark place and having to start recovery over again is a huge motivator. The longer I am sober the more I realize I don't want to ever give up this peace and serenity.

Surrender2win

The ability to be so involved in the lives of my grandkids... I even hosted a slumber party last night for all three girls... so much fun. If I was still drinking, that never would have happened.

Zeroine

1. Grim determination and staying in reality. When I stay in reality, I know that if I drink my life will get worse, and I don't want my life to get worse.

2. Planning. I have Plans A, B, C and D for if I want to drink. If those fail I have Plans E, F and G. If those fail I have more. I'm really not messing around with this.

3. In my case, accepting how hard it is to be sober (and that may be for the long term - I have untreatable depression and all kinds of mental health issues that I used to use alcohol to mask).

4. Accepting my limitations and setting priorities. It's not realistic for me to stay sober, go to the gym as much as I'd like to, keep to my budget as well as I'd like to, keep up with friends as much as I'd like to, and do all kinds of worthwhile things. My first priority is to stay sober and if the rest don't happen that day, they don't happen.

5. Having said all the above, doing as much as I can to make my life better and hopefully get to a point of peace in all this.

Zeroine

Good thread, Spadge. Well done on getting back on the wagon.

bradly22

All the fun stuff that makes me happy is what keeps me going. Here is to another beatiful day.

nomis

I was watching an interview on Klean Radio the other day, and the interviewee said something along the lines:

What we find is that about only 2 out of ten people who come out of rehab make it a full year sober. However in the second year that statistic is flipped around and only 2 out of 10 people relapse in their second year.

So what's going on in those two years? What we see is that often the motivation to get into recover is some form of loss, the addict has, or is about to lose something very important to them. However, that motivation is fleeting. It's like fixing a hole in roof when it's raining. Once it stops raining, you forget about the hole.

What seems to work much better is positive motivation. In other words, especially in the second year, people start to get excited and really turned on by sobriety and all of the possibilities and opportunities that it affords them.


Well, makes sense to me, don't know where he got his stats from though.

Opivotal

Alcohol took my very soul... I never want to look in the mirror again, and see that empty shell looking back at me.

What keeps me going? Gratefulness, that i made it out alive.

Soberween

Having a sponsor (who has what I wanted) and knowing that I would have to report my relapse to her if I succumbed definitely helps to keep me sober. Of course, I had to want to be sober for myself, but accountability does not hurt.

ChloeRose63

I have found that I am no longer the same person as I was when I was drinking. I am calmer, more introspective, better focused on the real joys of life and living healthier. I don't ever want to go back to the crazy way that I was. In, fact, I don't think I can. I am too smart to be a fool to alcohol and what it does to me. I am a peace. I am thankful I am come so far by the Grace of God. Grateful, too, Opi, that I made it out alive.

sugarbear1

For me, sobriety is action. One action after the next.

and Refusing to go back to where I had been!