Weasel1966

Mine was conquering drunk Sunday syndrome. People like free fall and mecanix remember me suffering every Monday because I had to drink Sunday.

Even with the bar I abused right across the street. I rested on my front porch. Getting ready to grill some burgers... And I won 20 bucks on a scratch off from the grocery store and not the liquor store.

Now don't get me wrong. This took time, effort, and reprogramming. But here I am enjoying my hard work.

So how would you describe a big win for you? Time to toot your own horn! Share some tips for those struggling today!

Dee74

My first big win was my first day one back in April 07, I think Ken
It's the prize that keeps on giving

D

Mizzuno

I've been thinking about this. My big win was 100 days ago when I drank my last drink and have not even thought about drinking since. This was not the case previously. So, one day at a time I am moving away from that horrid existence.

trikyriky

For me , the day I googled crack addict and up came Sober Recovery. I joined January 2013 and the road to recovery began.

DarkDays

About 18 months before I got sober I came across this site whilst searching google on stopping drinking during a death like hangover, it planted the seed that I needed to stop forever. I got there in the end, and am never going back , yep I am free forever.

mecanix

On the morning of the 3rd sept 2011 . I realized i'd be willing to do anything, to go to any lengths to get this thing to stop . To realize the egotistical demands of self could be surrenderd and a deeper level of contentment achieved was a revelation .

I suppose you could call it being powerless over life.

Reality didn't conform to my ideas , i was a nice person who worked hard , why did bad things happen and no love come into my life or why did it leave ?

Depression and then alcohol abuse were how i maintained my thinking, my core self, in the face of a reality which didn't conform to it .
They allowed the "slippage" where i could be right and deny reality in my little bubble .

I think that realization was the turning point for me ,

Bestwishes, M

tootsl1

Easy, summoning up the courage to tell hubby I was an alcoholic, and finding he wasn't going to run to the divorce courts but was going to walk this path at my side.

Rennet

When I got through night 4, to day 5 for the first time. I think this was late last year. For some reason that had always been my breaking point. And I thought recovery was a lot harder than it actually is because all I had known of it was the acute withdrawal period.. little did I know it starts getting much easier after day 5.

MIRecovery

Thinking that AA might be the solution that had eluded me for more than 20 years. I wasn't sure but there was a bunch of people just like me that'd been sober for a long time. I thought if they could do it maybe I can to

heathersweeds

The one that sticks out the most for me is in a shopping trip. In 2009-10 I got 2 DUI's so I lost my license for almost 3 years. A cab in my area is not bad at all, 5 dollars to anywhere in town. I was having a very hard day as far as cravings. I went to the grocery store, in a cab, where there is a liquore store joined to the building. The whole time I shopped for my family, I thought how no one would know if I got a bottle, it's right next door, no one would see. I knew I couldn't drink, so I started praying fast and hard. After check out, I stopped at the counter to get a pack of cigarettes and I met an interesting older woman that talked to me about about her mental issues for at least 20 minutes. BUT....guess what I was distracted from untill I got in my cab, and was on my way home.....booze!!! I will never forget that woman and she won't ever know how much she helped me. I believe my HP sent an angel

Jsober

I was a weekend binge type- so getting through the first few Friday nights was tough. A win for me was enjoying the weekend without a thought of alcohol. What a change!

Fallow

That is a tough question now that I have thought about it for 10 minutes lol. I guess there have been a lot of wins in this period of time. Especially since I first started lurking at SR one hung over day years ago.

Overall just getting through drama has really catapulted me I think. There's always plenty drama to be had in my relationship and I suspected at times that she was subconsciously testing me. There were times I was pretty close to cracking too but the big win was mine. The beauty is she doesn't even know about it . Cannot let em see ya sweat .

Another time that sticks out is when I fired my sponsor. He had a lot of nerve in some of the stuff he did and said to me towards the end. I was rather upset about the whole situation and the uncertainty of going it alone. Turned out that I learned a lot about overcoming self doubts, and that what other folks think of me does not have to matter.

I could rattle off a bunch of wins but won't bore ya.

As I have pondered this I think the prevailing theme for me has been about an internal turbulence. My wins have been when I have been able to decide that my issue was really about how I was feeling and reacting to a given situation. That I did not have to respond the way the old me would have. Every obstacle overcome has made the next win a little easier so far.

Great topic Ken. I enjoyed thinking about this.

FreeFall

Ken, it's so cool to see you post this on a Sunday night. You were kind enough to share your demons and experiences and help us all get through the Sundays and it's very cool to see the whole turnaround that you have created in your life! Especially with your former bar right across the street. Not easy!

For me the big wins have been every special occasion or holiday. One after another I've made the choice to remain sober, although it would have been so easy to cave in to the AV. My AV seems to have a party hat on at all times lol I think once I made it through St. Patrick's Day sober I realized this time was different. SR made the difference so thanks to all!

Ken, you come up with so many great topics you could probably write a very cool recovery workbook/journal that could be published.

SnwFlower

My first big win was also my first 'Day One' of sobriety - 139 days ago. That day was vastly different for me than any other, in that I knew deep down to my core that I was quitting for good this time. I had been struggling for so long to find that strength and finally found it, along with an innate knowledge that my life would change forever, for the better. Yay!

LadyinBC

My first big win was when I made it thru week three. I had never, ever made it that far before. I could last two week and then I was right back at it.

For me this was a big thing.

Tamerua

Thanks for everyone's wins, this was good to read.
In August I googled how to quit drinking and I found two things. SoberRecovery and an AA website that said, just don't take that first drink and you won't get drunk. What a novel concept. Never occurred to me.

Took me 3.5 more months of drinking but I got there.

Grungehead

I don't think I can answer this question to be honest. I have had a couple of big wins and a couple of big losses too. I guess I would have to say it was in April of 1990. That is when I admitted to myself for the first time that I was an alcoholic. Or it could be April of this year when I finally gave up after an eight year relapse. The way I look at it I'm not going to know for sure if I will win until the game is over. I think the score is tied right now.

Soberpotamus

Age 27, got sober for one year. Was invaluable experience for two reasons:

Showed me I CAN do it!

And I was able to feel great, get in shape, make new friends, pursue some life goals, and repair some family relationships.

I think it was so important now looking back on this because it was such a time of accelerated growth. Unfortunately the death of my grandmother sent me back into my alcoholism at the end of that year... And I struggled a few times since to regain sobriety. The death of my mom three years ago knocked my back on my arse again... But I have fought through it all not to let my addiction spiral out if control.

Finally I had enough of that life. I was finally ready to quit and deal with the trauma and grief. And I hope to live a full sober life I have a lot to live for.

Sent from my iPhone using SoberRecovery

fantail

That feeling this time when I knew I was really doing it. I don't know how but I just knew, as some others have said above, that this time it was for real. I'd made myself really sick so I was physically very tired for the first few days, but I remember feeling tired and relieved, grateful to have my bed, grateful to be recovering. Like someone getting to shore after swimming for way too long.

SoberHappyHour

May seem like a loss, but my first big win I look at as a blessing in disguise. As I crashed my car head on into a tree last year blacked out drunk, I believe that God was the tree that night. I don't recall any of it because I was so drunk. But I could have been killed or possibly killed someone else. But instead, I totaled my car and suffered just minor injuries. I think of that night as the wake up call, and a win because that's when I finally realized something has to be done.