NEOMARXIST

Staying sober is totally worth it. When you question the point of staying sober then make sure to ask yourself why you decided to get sober in the first place. There must have been a pretty good reason and using the logic that people who ain't alcoholics probably don't post on recovery sites for alcoholics or attend meetings for alcoholics, then everything points to being an alcoholic, and drinking for an alcoholic has no happy endings.

It's very easy to overcomplicate things but the short of it is that if you make sure that you stay sober 'just for today' then you ain't going too far wrong. At least that gives you the ability to try to sort your head out and not take anymore backwards steps. Get as much help as you can get and make sure that you tell on yourself before you pick up. Think the reality of the drinking through. It can't have been that good or you wouldn't be trying to leave the booze behind.

Recovery truly is a totally positive thing and is so worth it. Growth is often preceeded by pain but it's necessary in order to heal.

Keep sober just for today!! That's the only day we've got anyway...

Peace

mama36

No pain no gain I guess hey? Thanks for those really enlightening words.

D.

least

I agree completely! THanks for always sharing your insight. And you're right about the wonderful part about being sober. My life is so much better than it used to be and it's all from giving up the alcohol.

Murray4x5

Plus if we're lucky enough to have a tomorrow, it'll be hangover and guilt free!!!!!!

Murray

coffeenut

I think Fub has something about 'only positivity' in his tag line, and that really says it all, doesn't it?

It's so easy to fall into the negativity trap. But, if you can catch yourself and turn it around (fake it if you must), anything really does turn out better. Especially sobriety. You can moan about not being able to drink, or you can celebrate being sober. Sometimes it really is as simple as resetting your head.

artsoul

Thanks, NEO! A great message!!

Anna

I agree with you completely, Neo.

Pain is often the catalyst that pushes us to recover.

alexvt

I couldn't have said it better myself. Really like this post. Thanks for sharing NeoM.

BurningChrome

Sigh... Sometimes seeing the truth, especially how Neo just laid it out _is_ painful! Give up alcohol? My best buddy?! But when seen in the bright light of day and the truth, it's not my best friend, but a lying son of a bitch that will stab me in the back at every opportunity! Take away every good thing that I have, and then some.

Thank you Neo, your words will be going around in my head all day today!

...Mike

NEOMARXIST

I have always tried to view my alcoholism positively. Incidentally this is something which I have struggled to do in certain other areas of my life and had/have to reallly work on as part of my recovery, but I'm an alcoholic afterall right? ha-ha. As my recovery progresses 'one day at a time' then I can work at perceiving my glass as half-full as opposed to half-empty, sometimes even overflowing! ha-ha.

I only truly accepted myself as an alcoholic when I finally reached the stage on 8th July 09 where I was beaten and done with booze and drugs. Before that I didn't mind calling myself any other derogatory name but an alcoholic. Why? Well I guess that once you truly know you're an alcoholic then you sort of know it's the end of the line with your perceived salvation in a bottle or can. The only way to continue is to deliberately lie to yourself each day, and this only serves to make the whole thing even more desperate and depressing.

I used to occupy my time with trying to analyse why I was like I was with alcohol but I knew my recovery was really working well when I totally accepted myself as an alcoholic regardless of any external factors. People often ask me why? I simply say that regardless of anything I would have always been an alcoholic and totally unable to control my drinking. Drinking would have always been my downfall regardless of my life path.

I am ever grateful for this acceptance and it's great to not hold any regrets about the past anymore and to be able to live 'one day at a time' in anticipation of good things happening in the future, but just being chilled out to let them reveal themselves, all in good time.

Peace

NEOMARXIST

Another beautiful thing about recovery must be for the others/loved ones that you are around. When I was deep in my own little depressed world then I would be so wrapped up in my own head and consumed by my own depressing thoughts that this undoubtedly must have rubbed off on everybody I came into contact with. It ain't a great look, especially when you're off your face on booze and drugs.

Now I really enjoy saying thank you and actually truly meaning it. Not going through the motions but actually genuinely meaning it. I always say that I make ammends to my close family everyday that I'm clean and sober. It's great having the joys of recovery rub off on those you love.

Peace

ItWillBeWorthIt

I so agree with this Neo. I view my recovery from alcoholism positively and I am not going to have any regrets. Recovery has been an eye opening experience and truly rewarding. My goal is achieved each and every day that I don't pick up a drink.... the future is in my hands!!!!!!!

Thanks for your post Neo.

coming_clean

high five!

I did my powernap and i´m feeling awsome. After a week allready.
Sobriety is all there is left. And that is just plain fine with me.

oak

I love this statement! Thanks! Very helpful.

I loved everything else that you wrote too. Thanks for the whole thread.

BurningChrome

sorry, mis-post, should have been in its own thread!

zbear23

I tried to get sober in the first place to save a marriage, family and job. It worked for a while, then it didn't. Finally, I had to get sober simply to be sober. No other reason, no other agenda....just that "spiritual awakening" AA offers. That has worked for several years now. I regard my alcoholism as a delivery system for a spiritual awakening. without it, I suspect I'd never have had reason to undertake the work required for moving out of the fear of ego and into the love offered by spirit. The pain pushed me here, so I'll give alcohol some credit.

But reasonableness and rationality never intervened in my relapses. It was too easy to convince myself that I had been "needlessly alarmed," that after years of not drinking, surely a glass of wine with dinner would be ok. My powerlessness was all about the insanity...the obsession to pick up a drink, and insanity does not respond well to reason. One of the best descriptions of my drinking pattern was....I drank without my own permission. My thinking was really undependable. My brain was not functiioning properly and needed time to heal. So my solution was a commitment to a rigorous daily discipline....daily sober/spiritual tasks that I did whether or not I wanted to. And I engaged my supports...especially my sponsor....to keep myself accountable...to not allow my own insanity to make exceptions (ah...I'm just too tired to make a meeting tonight...I'll go to an extra one on the weekend.) Stuff like that. I'm convinced that it was my own practice of exceptionalism that prevented my from practicing AA principles in ALL my affairs. Principles do not allow exeptions...that's why they're principles.

Bottom line...I used the Steps and their principles to monitor my behavior, did a daily 10th step, didn't "rate" my sobriety. I simply made the commitment to practice those principles no matter what. IMO, that is just about as simple as can be. Just "doing the next right thing," based on what the principles of AA have suggested. It has never failed me. And one of the most important "right things," was learning to forgive myself when I fell short.

It wasn't about the drinking. It was all about the thinking. In order to move out of the problem....I simply focused on the solution. Sort of like turning on the light instead of trying to shovel the darkness out of the room. I discovered that I could not practice my character defects so long as I was practicing those principles: they are mutually exclusive. Love and fear cannot exist in the same time/space, and for me, recovery is all about love. THAT was my awakening.

But it took years before I felt confident to rely on my own thinking, and I'm still a proponent of practicing reality testing by sharing my thoughts and feelings with others.

blessings
zenbear

Jamison

Always get something good from your posts.

Thanks.

Cottonwoodchris

Wow, what a fantastic topic. I seem to find quite a few of them here at SR. Thanks!

Itsmytime

Love this thread

This time I am thinking really positive and what a difference it has been. Instead of thinking what I (think) am giving up, I am thinking of what I am gaining. No more hangovers, no more anxiety, no more shame and embarrassment. Lots of joy, love for myself and peace.

Thank you..