aasharon90

Hi, my name is Sharon and Im in recovery. My drug of choice was alcohol. By the Grace of my HP and people like in these meetings i havent had a drink of alcohol since 8-11-90. For that I am truely grateful.

Is there someone who inspires u the most to stay clean and sober today? If so who is it?

This was a question that just came to mind and was curious of what ur thoughts were on this.

My inspiration to stay sober came from my Sponsor some 15 yrs ago.

She was that type of person who had a pleasant personality and was liked by many whether it be her family or friends. Her kindness and the giving of herself in many thoughtful ways inspired me to want to be just like her.

She had been sober a few yrs longer than i when i met her in rehab.. She was one who took me to one of my outside AA meetings back then.

I liked how she never told me what to do but listened to me and guided me to stay sober by her actions which spoke louder than words.

I patterened my sobriety after her because she had what i wanted more than anything. She had the willingness, courage and strength to stay sober one day at a time by following the 12 steps offered to us here in AA.

Who inspired you?

Thanks for letting me share.

splendra

The homeless guy who stands on the corner with a sing that says will work for food is very inspiring...

But I have to say it is being in touch with my body that helps me the very most. My body has always reated in a very unhealthy way to drugs and alcohol. I want to be healthy so it only makes sense to me that I would stay away from drugs and alcohol.

I am constantly exposed to drug and alcohol use in my work and family life. The question that always pops in my mind is do I really want the hangover that drinking or doing dope would give me. My liver takes a large percentage of the vote when it comes to drinking it always votes no to alcohol my heart keeps me away from crystal meth and my lungs keep me from smoking.

I allow myself the choice to do things or not. I don't tell myself I can't do anything dope and alcohol included. I have been clean for a very long time simply because I want to be and for not other reason.

I have had a few drinks and puffs of cigareetes over the years but I do not say I am not clean because of this. One drink or puff of smoke is my absolute limit if I do decide to do it.

I consider myself not clean if I would use anything and I don't care what it is to the point of my health failing or me not taking responsibility for any aspect of my life.

I have tended bar and not drank for years. I have had a few sips of champain on New Years Eve...I have made house calls in my work that it was quite obvious by the smell and the red eyes that the people were smoking pot and not smoked it even when they offered...which would end my job if I did that and was found out it is just not worth it to me to loose all I have worked for so I can be an idiot...

Timmm

I look into the eyes of my inspiration everyday when i look in the mirror,as it reflects the me I always wanted to be instead of the me I could have been had I continuead on the path I was on in January 1993.

My chidren ,My wife ,My family My friends,But most of all I have to be the one responsible for what I do and do Not do. So if i had to pick one person to inspire me the most to stay as clean as i am today I guess it would be the me Of 1993 ,As i do not ever want to look in the mirror and ever see that guy again!!!!!

aloneagainor

Definitely because of and for the ability to connect to the minds here at SR. This has been my primary source of discovery into the way the addict brain thinks/ processes/ behaves/ acts and reacts. Without such insight I'd surely still be stumbling blind. Turns out I LIKE being able to see clearly, to walk without tripping, to feel without wanting to immediately suppress. I like the idea of not living in constant fear and avoidance. And being able to give back what I can through sharing what I'm learning with others here through written word. With a mind distorted and confused under heavy drug use I can't think straight enough to write, much less construct coherent sentences. Writing remains still my primary connection to other minds, other spirits. I work towards recovery so to be able to maintain and develop connections outside my own head. Choosing not to be alone.

miss communicat

my dead father, who died at 42 drunk, homeless and beaten down. His memory inspires me to heal into sobriety.

aside fromthat, ALL sober addicts/alcoholics inspire me

hector

My inspiration was and is old-timers in the program. When I was newly sober that was anyone with one year or more. Than it became anyone with five, then ten, years or more. It still is anyone with ten years or more. Newcomers are inspiring too, and I like to see or read from anyone with a desire to stop. But the people I just defined as old-timers have an aura of peace and serenity that I hope I also have. Even when they're having a bad day, their solid sobriety is wonderful. They'll get through this and they know it. This doesn't apply to all old-timers; just like every other group it has its share of jerks. But most of them are a real inspiration.

Lollipop

My kids and my soon to be born grand daughter

GeorgiaPeach

I know this is not the same for me but my AH inspires me to be a better person in that I want to have a rich & full life and not waste any of it! I don't want to live in the past, I want to live in the present and lood forward to the future. I want to be in control of my actions and I want to be free and not worry about the things that I cannot change and try and work on the things that I can. He inspires me and hopefully if I do things right, I will inspire him to take that last step that he has been avoiding for so long and be free himself!

GP

Luckyv2

My name is Vic and I am an addict. I haven't had to take a drug since May 25, 2006 and for that I am extremely grateful, to NA/AA, Higher Power whom I choose to call God, the fellowship of the recovery board, SR, etc. Whom has inspired me the most, OMG I would hate to really answer that because it comes from so many areas, so many people, and so many avenues. To point at just one, wouldn't be very nice, since everything plays it's own roll.

Who inspires me most reminds me of a keyboard. Here we all are on the keyboard and when one key is left out, then it can not function. I would not like to single one out and then the rest fall apart. So everyone, everything, good, bad, indifferent, odd, the begger on the street, everyone, every situation all brings inspiration for me to Stay clean. Thanks for allowing me the privilege of sharing today.

Love Vic

Slowbriety

"everything has changed but nothing has changed" that little saying, which i have heard for a while now, sums it up for me. When i was drinking and doing drugs i was always looking for that HIGH, you know, like the first time you got drunk or used any kind of drug. The only thing was i could not get back to that point after that first dose or drunk that i pulled. well, not a whole helluva lot has changed. what inspires me to keep going is that high. that high of the first time i felt happy, that my mind was just blank and my brain was just shut off, that FEELING not just saying it but feeling grateful, the feeling the first time after i worked with another alki. so, everything has changed but nothing has changed. im just chasing after a new high and one that i can have and cought over and over again. The cool thing about it is that its free, it lasts longer, and is better than any drug or drink i have ever had in my life. And in my journey i can help people along the way, that is the coolest part of it all. anyways this is just for me.

GeorgiaPeach

Thought this needed a bump.

GP

Luckyv2

I am so glad that it is a bump to raise the Post instead of in my arm
I agree some threads need to stay on top....

Love Vic

Sugasnaps

Awesome posts everyone.

So many factors inspired me to get sober. The one that leaps to mind first is my my own desire to stop wallowing in misery and despair. So cliche sounding but the truth none-the-less. My relationship with my husband, though not at jeapordy *yet* at the time was a huge factor to my desire to get sober. I took a good look at myself and knew that there was only so long before that look of concern in his eyes would turn into a look of disgust. I could not bear to be a witness to that because that is the look I gave myself every time I gazed into the mirror. I thank God that I did not let things go that far before I saw the truth.

Coming to SR was my next step and when I got here so many people inspired me to want to continue to get sober. I didn't make it the first time I tried but I kept coming back and kept "giving it a go" "once and for all - again". Chip was a huge inspiration to me when I first logged in here. His was the very first post to respond to me that struck me deeply. His words were simple but at the time something I needed to hear more than anything in the world... he told me "You are not alone". I found comfort in that and in the fact that many have gone before me and found sobriety.

I'm grateful for everyone here. I so hope many new people find the courage to want a better life for themselves cuz living in addiction is pure hell.

Love Suga

Phinneas

Trish, our very own SR angel inspires me to be clean and sober today.

(...)

Kellye C

My kids - remembering the stuff I put them through while drinking and the time I cheated them from.

My mom - my one person intervention 2 years ago that got me into the rooms of AA

My home group - the oldtimers who I've grown to love, the newcomers who remind me how horrible things still are out there and all the friends I've made and come to love like another family

Hugs,
Kellye

PaperDolls

My inspirations are:
One - myself. I'm a much better person sober.
Second would be my relationship with my girlfriend. It is so much better now and we have never been closer.
Third would be watching alcohol almost kill my mother. When I really thought about it hard -- I could see myself ending up like she almost did. Living from place to place, mooching off of people, working odd jobs......all to get the alcohol.

nogard

God, Me and every other addict in recovery and still using, both are powerful examples for me.

Kevin

2dayzmuse

My inspiration comes within myself. I know what my potential is, and I can look back and remember what I had become. I don't want to go back to that life of misery and feeling without worth and full of shame. Hearing stories of those still suffering reminds me of where I could be if I make the wrong choice. My memories of my past inspires me to stay sober today. My life is much more fulfilling and happier today. I choose sober living.

GeorgiaPeach

Just another "BUMP"!

Arura

One of my insperational woman is Dr Maya Angaluo. WoW.

Amazing woman...a poet,surviver,hero, of mine.

Still I Rise is one of my all time favirtie poems about socialy preshuers.

She rocks,