The only thing keeping me sober right now
 

The only thing keeping me sober right now is my sobriety date. I don't want to lose my sober time and have and have to start all over at day one. I think I would have I think I would have relapsed by now....

What's going on??

In fact, the only thing keeping you sober right now is inside your mind. The date doesn't matter. It's just something you respond to.

Collect those things that keep you sober inside your mind. Where it all happens anyway.

1 Year will be an amazing milestone, though it's important that upon hitting the milestone you need to then look forward again, and keep looking forward to the next milestone, and then to the next.

It might be good to look at some of the things that you've achieved or the benefits of being sober over the last year, in comparison to prior to that, in order to keep pushing through after 3rd Jan!! :)

I am so looking forward to my one year!! I won't give in , I can almost taste it.

What keeps me sober is thinking of the way I used to be and the miserable life I was leading.
Just take it one day at a time and those days will keep adding up.

I don't think there is anything wrong with a sobriety date keeping someone sober. Whatever works.

Same here whatever works for you! I'm at day 2, and beleive me you do not want to go back to this. My anxiety is driving me nuts. Sleeping sometime in the new year would be nice. GRR!

Thanks for the post, Charliee. It's helpful. I know it's not only about numbers but I do find it encouraging and motivational for me to look at my sobriety date at times when my alcohol voice is tempting me to have a drink. It helps me pause and think to myself what I was going through when I chose sobriety and that I do so for a very important reason: to become the best "me" that I can be. Good luck to you and best wishes.

Whatever it takes! Beyond that sober date look at the rest of your life. Do you enjoy knowing where you are when you wake up? Isn't it great not to be hungover? Aren't you happy when you look at your phone and know every call you made the last 24 hours? Aren't you relieved not to have any mystery texts sent from your phone? Isn't it great to see your car in the driveway and remember parking it there?

I'm not sure what recovery plan you have or how you quit, but for me AVRT was the ticket. Do a search for it if you can. AVRT teaches you to recognize the desire to drink as "Beast" activity or "The Addictive Voice." It's not the you part of you, it's the animal part that's dedicated only to pleasure and instant gratification. Once I learned to recognize that part as distinct from the higher cognitive part of my mind it was pretty easy to smack it down.

The key is to make your Big Plan. That is when you decide once and for all that you will never drink again and never change your mind. No half measures, booze is now and forever off the table. Just not an option, it no longer exists for you. Doing that really "flips a switch" in your brain, or at least it did for me. I went from 3 bottles of wine per day, 7 days a week 365 days a year to not drinking a drop. And there were virtually no cravings (and believe me, there were before the BP!). It's been 13 months now for me without a drink.

You have done great! And you are doing great. It's okay to worry and it's human to be weak sometimes, just believe in yourself and your reasons for quitting. You can do it!:ring

whats keeping your recovery shaky tho Charliee?
gritting your teeth can work, but it's not fun.

wouldn't it be better to get at whats eating at you?

D

My sobriety date has many times been the only thing that kept me sober. Or at least it felt that way. There's always a lot more hiding underneath that.

I always felt that anything I was going through, I would have to go through again, only worse... PLUS, everything I already went through, if I picked up a drink. Would have to do it ALL over again, and I believed it would be harder, and more painful. Always felt too that if I rode out whatever it was I was experiencing or feeling, I'd never have to go back there again, and I would get stronger from the experience. Been doing that for 29 years, and I've been right thus far.

Sometimes things suck really bad on all levels, but they pass. Eventually. Every time. If I don't pick up a drink. If I pick up a drink I feel I'm also blanketing everything else I'm experiencing with horrors and problems way bigger than whatever it is I feel I've got now. Alcohol is a liar. It's a depressant. It only wants to ruin my life or destroy me completely.

Sometimes I have to keep it as simple as DON'T DRINK NO MATTER WHAT. Or find whatever I need to just not drink today. I know the goal is forever, but telling myself I'll wait it out just one more day has always done the trick for me too. Hang in there. There's great stuff on the other side of the pain, if we ride it out.

Hang in there Charliee! When I had 10.5 months I slacked off on what was keeping me going, my husband relapsed and then I shortly followed. October 1 would have been a year for me. I am back again, one day at a time and i am shy of thirty days. Perhaps you are going through the seasonal doldrums? I found that with each season or holiday that came up I was experiencing it sober for the first time in a long time and you are facing the Triple Crown of drinking holidays, thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years while sober which is added pressure.

Go back to what has helped you get this far and add something different to shake it up a bit. You are doing great if you have gone this far. Do what was working for you. Post here for support. I didn't have SR back in August. It really helps keeping me sane and sober.

Good girl! You know it isn't uncommon to have these feelings when we reach milestones. I had many different feelings when I was coming up to my year. From ***** to good god what am I really doing this for.

Actually reaching that 1 year made me feel sooooo good and proud of myself because I honestly didn't think I would make it.

Hi. I hope you hang in there and can face life on life's terms. This life of staying and enjoying sobriety will smooth out if we let them. When I joined the program I had the idea that when I stopped drinking everything would get better, however life goes on with the same old same old and I needed to get into the recovery thinking mold. We still lose jobs, have deaths of family members, sick family members and ourselves. The fellowship and meetings taught me and millions how to react and have a healthy reaction to painful situations. For me this was the growth I needed as opposed to the immature reaction of escaping to alcohol.

BE WELL

Keep going strong Charliee ...
I want to be where you are .

Well done! no more hangovers and all the other disgusting revolting things that go with alcohol...humiliation, VOMITTING, restless legs , memory loss , killing brain cells , frying your liver , clogging your arteries , high cholesterol , high blood sugar , diabetes . Blackouts , diarrhea Headaches , thirst , guilt , remorse , sleep deprivation, impending doom , anxiety , heart palpitations , shame , lies , disappointing our loved ones , sluggishness ., misery .

Not drinking .= peace , freedom! laughter , energy , motivation & SLEEP :-))))

Yep i can think of pretty good reasons to stay sober :-)

You can do this lovely, you know where it's gonna end up and it wont be pretty ,

Much love xx