markinny

I don't know but it's something I have been thinking about lately. definitely don't see it as competitive and know that it can be an inspiration for me to keep going but sometimes wonder if my last "real" relapse ( I don't count going a couple days or maybe a week a relapse but that's just me). I made it to exactly 7 weeks. a Friday to a Friday and thought all day how amazing that was for me. don't know what happened. at 8:30 pm I had no intentions of drinking and at 8:50 pm was standing in line at the liquor store. nothing good or bad happened. no stress. no reason. everyone is different but I think this time once I get a bit of time in I will try to not think about it.

least

One thing that kept me going in early sobriety was other people's sobriety time. It encouraged me to see it could be done, and that if others could do it, I could too.

time2shineagain

I've thought a lot about this. I've never thought about counting days in terms of it being a competitive thing, more that perhaps it could set some people up for relapse (myself included)? Like if I get to 30 or 50 or 100 days will I think it's 'good enough' and go back to drinking? So for me personally, I'll count the days for a while, in order to acknowledge my effort, and then just try to focus on how to sustain sobriety in the long term. If that makes sense. I'm pretty sure once I lose track I won't bother trying to calculate how many days/weeks/months I've been sober for, so that'll be the end of 'counting' for me. I'm only 23 days in, FYI. I think it's good to remember that what works for some won't work for others, so thank you for the post.

ThatWasTheOldMe

I count days just to remind myself where I was 7 days ago.

leasha24

It helped me in the beginning to count the days... a nice representation that I made it another day without a drink. I downloaded a free app on my phone called "days since" and you can plug in your sobriety date. It will tell you how many days you've been sober, you can click minutes, you can click seconds, months , or years... I'm at 530ish days sober now... I don't check it as often but is is nice to check every now and then as the days keep adding up.

August252015

Same. At first I was religious about noting the number in my day planner. And "at first" means til 365! Now at just past 16 mo I know the 22st of each month is the next one and i jot the actual number down a couple times a week. Here at 488, noting every 50 and 100 I pass is most fulfilling. For me, this is a question others (namely my parents) don't ask, it's just one more thing in my day planner along with the program/devotional things I write down and cross off.

saoutchik

I definitely do not feel competitive in respect of my number of days.

I no longer keep count of my running total but I am aware of the big milestones. I think in the early days it gives you a bit of a boost so on balance I am in favour.

LadyBlue0527

I love this saying:

"The only person I have to be better than is the person I was yesterday."

For me, counting days was my own personal challenge. As the days grew in number sobriety became increasingly more important as time passed because I didn't want to give up that time. I am definitely mesmerized when I hear of those who have 5 years, 10 years, and my sponsor has 28 years this year. What I get out of it is that this can be done.

After I hit one year on May 9th I seldom look at the counter app on my phone. BUT, there is a milestone I'm waiting for which is 18 months. That's the point I was at where I walked away from all this goodness last time and it won't happen again.

To each his/her own. Whatever makes you honestly happy about being sober.