Who is the biggest, most important influencer in your life of recovery?

[j0llycat_IB]

Please post your responses below and we will compile a few for our October "Voices of Recovery" newsletter!

[least]

My dogs and cats. I need to be sober to take good care of them and they are my constant reward for staying sober.

[Ann]

For me it is several members here who,over time, have become close personal friends on and off the site. They are the kind of friends I can share safely with and who have walked with me through some really rough times and stuck by me good days and bad.

[Anaya]

Gosh - I'd have to say folks here at SR!

And I must mention that my husband has stepped up and been very supportive lately.

Yes, indeed - quality of life can definitely improve when seeking recovery.

ODAT. Best wishes to all here at SR.

[stephendu]

Myself.

[PurpleKnight]

My influences are twofold:

-I grew up in a childhood tainted by my dad's alcoholism, from the age of 4yrs old I knew something was up, alcohol was destroying my parent's marriage eventually leading to divorce, and you'd think that the penny would have dropped then, but it wasn't until I had to watch my dad die of his alcoholism, going to visit him on my days off work in hospital, trying to salvage something of a father/son relationship, but time was running out, and eventually it did, the frustration, the anger, the sadness, all rolled into one would be enough for anyone to think about their own life, the reality that a person must take responsibility for their own life, no one can make someone stop drinking, was evident, and for those looking in on another person’s addiction it can be a very lonely place.

-Upon darkening the door of SR I started to tap into the incredible place that this is, the knowledge, the wisdom, the experience, I have learnt soo many things from both veterans and newcomers, the bringing together of many people from many different parts of the world has created a place of acceptance, understanding, a refuge, a place where there is always someone to listen and respond, a place those in recovery can reach out for support, ask questions and lean on each other when we just need that little something extra in our day to day lives.

For me a mixture of where I’ve come from and the incredible resource of SR has inspired me to be a better person, live to my potential, resign alcohol to the past, and write a new happier chapter to my life!!

[nutztdieliebe]

My purpose.
If anyone put that before, yoho. And nightmares. But I do relate to others...

[MIRecovery]

I always have and always will be influenced by the people who have what I want

[Soberwolf]

Anyone & everyone who has been a part of my recovery

[MAKsStruggle]

When I see my reflection and realize what I've become it has the strongest influence on my decisions and motivation for change.

[SamiSam]

My 21 year old daughter, Kayla Megan-Marie, who passed away on 02/26/14 with her 24 year old boyfriend, Derek, in a hotel of a heroin overdose-murder-suicide. There is no bigger influencer besides God in my life or recovery today than her, my memories of her, and how & why she died. I miss her so much that my breath is taken away every second of every day from the pain of her death.

[MAKsStruggle]

Originally Posted by SamiSam

My 21 year old daughter, Kayla Megan-Marie, who passed away on 02/26/14 with her 24 year old boyfriend, Derek, in a hotel of a heroin overdose-murder-suicide. There is no bigger influencer besides God in my life or recovery today than her, my memories of her, and how & why she died. I miss her so much that my breath is taken away every second of every day from the pain of her death.

Wow! Heavy. I can't imagine. Thanks for sharing.

[j0llycat_IB]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the responses so far! As we're inching closer to our newsletter, I just want to invite any other responses that anyone else may have. If there's a particular person who's made an especially significant impact in your recovery, please share and we would love to compile it into the slideshow!

[Aellyce]

I made a lengthy post on this on another thread where I went far beyond recovery in terms of the influences. Like for a few others here, SR has been my main recovery resource as well and I will always be very grateful for finding this forum and the decision to participate very actively in sobriety. In particular and beyond the public board, I developed a few very meaningful and beneficial private connections here and while they tended to have a certain lifespan in a specific period, each of them served me (and I think also the other person) very well. I became conscious of the real extent of the impact of these interactions often with a delay in retrospect and with a bit of distance, which is not surprising to me as things are usually easier to see in full when we are not currently very immersed in them and take time to process. For me, some of these went far beyond recovery from alcoholism and I've learned some very important things about myself and about relationships via them.

Other than SR and the interactions here, I will say it's my current therapist. I was seeing another person during my first sober year and it was also helpful in a few ways, but nothing even close to what I am experiencing with the current one. It's seriously one of the best things I've ever done to myself and also most interesting.

[j0llycat_IB]

Thank you to everyone who participated in this Community Poll. We will be sending out our October newsletter Tuesday of next week with a link to your responses. So happy we get to share this with our subscribers! Hope you enjoy the finished product as well.

Have a great weekend!

[Krysta123]

My daughter .. I made a lot of mistakes when I was using and I hope she can forgive me,or at least not remember them.
I still hold so much guilt over choosing meth over her for 6 months I thank the lord I came back to my sences and am almost 3 months sober.

[Sioux]

The reflection in the mirror.

[Thumpalumpacus]

My ex-, whose love and patience brought me to a place where I could see myself objectively.

I saw an addict.

[tufty13]

My father.

He was a hopeless father, hopeless husband and a hopeless drunk who died from cirrhosis of the liver at the tender age of 65 having never sobered up for more than a week or two in his entire adult life.

He was also an exceptionally kind, clever and gentle man who never gossiped or spoke I'll of anyone (Margaret Thatcher excepted) and never knowingly wronged anyone in his life.

I want the second bit without the first bit; hence the start of my journey.

[alcoholfighter]

Myself so far.