Curiosity Question
 

I'm just curious.....When did others start to feel like they were no longer a newcomer to recovery? I have 273 days.

It may sound like a cute answer...but I still feel like a newcomer in a lot of ways...
if I'm lucky, I learn something new every day :)

D

I agree - I think it's best for me to keep feeling like a newcomer. At least in terms of not feeling like I have it made. I felt less tense about the whole thing at around 3 mos. though, & it continues to feel better every day.

Strictly speaking, I don't count time, but when the physical cravings passed, and they stopped feeling like lighting storms in my head, at around three months or so, I stopped viewing "recovery" as novel. I never cared for how much "TIME" people had. I do take something from everyone, "newcomer" or otherwise.

A good question I guess. I'm less than 6 months in and I don't feel like a total newbie, because drinking isn't on my mind 24/7 like it was the first month or so.

On the other hand, I learn more every day about recovery, about myself and about how little I know, which is a continually humbling process.

I guess it was after I did the 5th step, I was a few months sober. Then I moved from CA to Colorado at 13 yrs sober and I felt like the new kid on the block again.

I am day day 80 or so. I am a Newbie you are an old hand !!

Early in recovery, I always looked to those with a little bit more sobriety than myself; I think guys with two days -to-one year sobriety are in an excellent position to encourage the newcomer, rather than someone with 20 years sobriety (I was always (wrongly) suspect of these long time sober people; like they were there to laugh at me or something).

I read a story where an incident at an A.A. meeting happened like this:

Drunk No 1: "Hi I'm 17 days sober and my life is falling apart!"
Drunk No 2: "Hi I'm 18 days sober and life's getting better. Keep commin' back!"

I really really liked that.

I was around three months sober when I started feeling really human again. It was when I started to practice gratitude every day.:)

Thanks to everyone for the input.