A shout out to the serial relapser
EnjoyingTheJourney
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 3,847
Congratulations on your 5 Months Sober Jeni!!!
I just read your original post in March and it really touched me. Thank you for sharing your story and for encouraging countless others!
6 months just came for me yesterday and it's a good good feeling. Wishing you a beautiful Sober day-
I just read your original post in March and it really touched me. Thank you for sharing your story and for encouraging countless others!
6 months just came for me yesterday and it's a good good feeling. Wishing you a beautiful Sober day-
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 9,029
Congratulations on five months. That's fantastic. I'm glad you bumped the thread. I realized I had read it back in March. Doesn't seem that long ago but it is. Think of all the wonderful changes that can happen in that span of time. Yay!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: South East England
Posts: 8,009
Originally Posted by Kaily 
Some people are totally alone in real life, horrible and no support.
Even amongst a family, I felt isolated.
Next weekend my husband and 2 adult children (that doesn't seem to make sense, but my kids are 20 and 23 now, so not really children, but you understand what I mean...) are going to a local beer and cider festival. They are meeting up with family friends. I feel desperately sad and left out...I can't drink and won't go.
It's possible for me to remain sober despite that. It is vital for me that I stay sober...so I will find something to do just for me and I will probably hang around with you guys, or I will find a meeting.
Stay close. There are many people here who manage to stay sober despite real life situations. We are here for you ❤️
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: London, England
Posts: 7,059
Originally Posted by Jeni26
I had no support in real life either Kaily. That's why SR was, and still is, so important to my recovery. I even met my sponsor through this site. But I'm actively involved in AA now, and am building that support network in real life. My hubby drinks, our friends drink...that's what happens when I spend a lifetime cultivating friendships based mostly around drinking.
Even amongst a family, I felt isolated.
Next weekend my husband and 2 adult children (that doesn't seem to make sense, but my kids are 20 and 23 now, so not really children, but you understand what I mean...) are going to a local beer and cider festival. They are meeting up with family friends. I feel desperately sad and left out...I can't drink and won't go.
It's possible for me to remain sober despite that. It is vital for me that I stay sober...so I will find something to do just for me and I will probably hang around with you guys, or I will find a meeting.
Stay close. There are many people here who manage to stay sober despite real life situations. We are here for you ❤️
Even amongst a family, I felt isolated.
Next weekend my husband and 2 adult children (that doesn't seem to make sense, but my kids are 20 and 23 now, so not really children, but you understand what I mean...) are going to a local beer and cider festival. They are meeting up with family friends. I feel desperately sad and left out...I can't drink and won't go.
It's possible for me to remain sober despite that. It is vital for me that I stay sober...so I will find something to do just for me and I will probably hang around with you guys, or I will find a meeting.
Stay close. There are many people here who manage to stay sober despite real life situations. We are here for you ❤️
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: South East England
Posts: 8,009
Originally Posted by Kaily
Yes but they will come home, being truly alone is just that, no one in the world to rely on..just me.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: South East England
Posts: 8,009
Originally Posted by Melina
Thank you so much for this thread, Jenifer, and congratulations on five months!
I had 8.5 months, then 4 months, and now I'm struggling to get days.
It's scary. But I have a lot of hope. I know I can do this.
Xoxo
I had 8.5 months, then 4 months, and now I'm struggling to get days.
It's scary. But I have a lot of hope. I know I can do this.
Xoxo
It gets harder the more we relapse I think. I gave up hope towards the end and ended up in a very dark place, afraid to tell even those closest to me that I had failed again.
But, we can do it. Find what works for you, try something different and go for it as though your life depends on it...because it does. ❤️
Forum Leader
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posts: 16,945
Originally Posted by Kaily
Yes but they will come home, being truly alone is just that, no one in the world to rely on..just me.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 254
So cool! Thank you!
Originally Posted by Jeni26
I see many members who have been on SR a long time...years maybe. I count myself as one of them.
It is so hard to come back time and time again having failed. Every relapse gets harder to bounce back from. Part of this I believe is due to the effects of kindling. Part of it is due to embarrassment, disgust, self-loathing, guilt and crippling fear.
It is so much easier to stay away when we have failed. Perhaps we lurk a little, try to re-join a class of whatever month we sadly fell off the wagon. We don't fit any more. We see people we got sober with go on to lead their happy sober lives...we are happy for them, but we remain lost and scared, and confused that our once strong confident commitment to sobriety seems to have vanished.
I'm shouting out today for all those lost souls like me...don't EVER give up. Do whatever you can do to make this stick. Whatever you have tried before, double the effort. Whatever you said you could never do to stay sober, do it. If it makes you uncomfortable or scared...carry on doing it. Change every aspect of your drinking lives and make a new sober one. Be around people who believe in you, who love you, and are shining examples of what good recovery looks like.
And for those people who love us, don't ever give up on us. Don't roll your eyes or give up hope when you read another...'I'm back to day 1' post. Relapsing isn't contagious, we don't do it because we are trying to hurt you, we don't understand how it happens ourselves. I believe it is a sign of advanced alcoholism. Please never turn away from us when we need you most.
This really is a fight for our lives. We are all stronger when we stand together.
I'm one month 10 days sober this time. This last time.
The last relapse will be my last.
Let's do this thing
It is so hard to come back time and time again having failed. Every relapse gets harder to bounce back from. Part of this I believe is due to the effects of kindling. Part of it is due to embarrassment, disgust, self-loathing, guilt and crippling fear.
It is so much easier to stay away when we have failed. Perhaps we lurk a little, try to re-join a class of whatever month we sadly fell off the wagon. We don't fit any more. We see people we got sober with go on to lead their happy sober lives...we are happy for them, but we remain lost and scared, and confused that our once strong confident commitment to sobriety seems to have vanished.
I'm shouting out today for all those lost souls like me...don't EVER give up. Do whatever you can do to make this stick. Whatever you have tried before, double the effort. Whatever you said you could never do to stay sober, do it. If it makes you uncomfortable or scared...carry on doing it. Change every aspect of your drinking lives and make a new sober one. Be around people who believe in you, who love you, and are shining examples of what good recovery looks like.
And for those people who love us, don't ever give up on us. Don't roll your eyes or give up hope when you read another...'I'm back to day 1' post. Relapsing isn't contagious, we don't do it because we are trying to hurt you, we don't understand how it happens ourselves. I believe it is a sign of advanced alcoholism. Please never turn away from us when we need you most.
This really is a fight for our lives. We are all stronger when we stand together.
I'm one month 10 days sober this time. This last time.
The last relapse will be my last.
Let's do this thing
Guest
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,802
Thanks Jeni for bumping that up. That was a real inspiration to me. I've got 4 days up which isn't unusual. Just that I always relapse or in my case go on a binge for a few days. Recently my binges turned back into every day drinking which shows how this is progressive. I really needed to hear that today. Congrats on 5 months.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
