9 Months Today!
SoberOutlook
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 3,089
9 Months Today!
Today, I feel like an almost entirely new person vs. who I was 9 months ago. I feel like I am myself, perhaps more than ever before in my life. I am learning more and more each day who my genuine self is. I am comfortable in my own skin. I can live and be in the moment, without remorse for the past, or fear of the future. I trust, in others, in myself, and in God. I have a peaceful relationship with my family, which allows us to grow together. I've started to make new friends on new footings, without the anchor of addiction and abuse clouding our past. I'm able to help people in a genuine way, for their gain, not mine. But, when I do, I gain anyway by the experience. My life has come closer to a God-pleasing life, and I realize new blessings in it each day. My actions no longer separate me from God, but draw me closer to Him.
I primarily use AA for my recovery, but I also use the practical and cognitive techniques found in AVRT, REBT, and other programs. There is good in any program that supports sobriety. I now realize that sobriety is a daily maintenance, like taking your vitamins, or your meds. Recovery needs to be part of my daily routine. I won't graduate from this school. That is one major difference in my thinking from the dozens of other times I've tried to remain sober.
Another major difference in what I do is SoberRecovery. For 30 years, I've tried to seek sobriety time and again, but found myself alone in my recovery, or unable to find the happiness I have today. SR allows me to articulate my feelings and growth, and to share my experiences and those who also post here. It is truly anonymous, so I share with complete abandon. And that has been a true asset in my recovery. I've told many people about this benefit, as I think it's a perfect complement to a face-to-face recovery plan.
Am I still tempted to drink? Sure. But not for any lengths of time. I have a toolkit of appropriate reactions and responses to those temptations, and I am thankful that I've used them every time over the last 9 months.
I've only been this sober, this long, one or two times since I started using drugs and alcohol regularly in my mid to late teens, some 35 years ago. And this is how I want to finish out my life. This I know.
So, thanks to you fine folks at SR, my friends at AA, and, above all, to God for restoring my life to order.
I primarily use AA for my recovery, but I also use the practical and cognitive techniques found in AVRT, REBT, and other programs. There is good in any program that supports sobriety. I now realize that sobriety is a daily maintenance, like taking your vitamins, or your meds. Recovery needs to be part of my daily routine. I won't graduate from this school. That is one major difference in my thinking from the dozens of other times I've tried to remain sober.
Another major difference in what I do is SoberRecovery. For 30 years, I've tried to seek sobriety time and again, but found myself alone in my recovery, or unable to find the happiness I have today. SR allows me to articulate my feelings and growth, and to share my experiences and those who also post here. It is truly anonymous, so I share with complete abandon. And that has been a true asset in my recovery. I've told many people about this benefit, as I think it's a perfect complement to a face-to-face recovery plan.
Am I still tempted to drink? Sure. But not for any lengths of time. I have a toolkit of appropriate reactions and responses to those temptations, and I am thankful that I've used them every time over the last 9 months.
I've only been this sober, this long, one or two times since I started using drugs and alcohol regularly in my mid to late teens, some 35 years ago. And this is how I want to finish out my life. This I know.
So, thanks to you fine folks at SR, my friends at AA, and, above all, to God for restoring my life to order.
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,526
Such a good post, Lofty. Congratulations on reaching 9 months sober!! No one but us can understand what an accomplishment that is. We are proud of you and know you can keep getting better every day. 
Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 2,826
YAY LOFTY!
I think SR is SR because of people like you...sharing, learning, trying, achieving, succeeding.... with hard honest daily work.
So glad you posted this, so beautifully expressed. I bet many here will find encouragement and courage in your words.
I think SR is SR because of people like you...sharing, learning, trying, achieving, succeeding.... with hard honest daily work.
So glad you posted this, so beautifully expressed. I bet many here will find encouragement and courage in your words.
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