Hevyn

Thank you for a heartfelt & uplifting post, James. A whole year - how fabulous.

Dee74

Congrats Cobber

Like others have said, things get better -but more importantly than that for me, I got better.

When the rough times come, and they come for everyone, recovery or not, I feel much better placed to handle the ups and downs now than I ever did when drinking

what happens from here - anything you want to happen James

D

PhoenixJ

Pondlady

Congratulations on a sober year, a very special milestone.

For me each year improves and I now enjoy healthy eating a lots of exercise.

peacefulintent

H James. Congratulations on a very important and meaningful achievement! Isn't it a wonderful feeling? I just passed my 2 year mark so I am not really an old timer ( actually, I am getting pretty close as far as age goes) but feel like I have learned a great deal in 2 years.
Biggest thing...I am so much more aware of the world around me. All of my senses are 100% there and working together to help me take in all that is out there. I love taking it all in! I feel so much more alive. Sounds corny, but I really wasn't living my life to my fullest when I was drinking. Everything was muted and foggy. I was also not proud of myself or happy with myself. Without alcohol I began to feel more. I am beginning to feel peace within myself that I have not felt in a long, long time. Not giving that up for anything!
Life's ups and downs are still there, but how I think and act towards them keeps getting better and better! Peace to you.

Zebra1275

Also, i know this is going to sound stupid... but does it just keep getting better from here?

Yes it keeps getting better. But in my opinion, not on the same trajectory as your first year, it levels out as time goes on.

I will use a sports analogy to explain what I mean.

I love to play tennis and it's one of the activities I dove into when I got sober. I started out pretty bad since I hadn't played since high school 30 years earlier, and was really out of shape. But as I practiced and played more I started to get pretty good. Now I've been playing regularly for almost 9 years, and I'm even better. But the rate of my improvement in the first couple of years far exceeds the rate of my improvement the past couple of years. Now I can work on a particular shot and improve it somewhat but the improvement is incremental, not dramatic. I've sort of plateaued and I'm never going to beat Roger Federer. But I'm proud of my game and I really enjoy playing.

It's sort of the same with my sobriety. I'm proud of my sobriety and really enjoy it. In the beginning I counted my sober days and each one was a big deal. Now I have no idea how many sober days I have. The unit of time I use to measure my sobriety is years, so it's a different feeling.

Kiwidub

Cobber3

Thank you amigo. I hope you are well.

Flower2327

Congrats, James! That's wonderful. I'm looking forward to joining the 1 year club later this month.

I will say, what I eat and how much sleep I get can have a HUGE effect on my mood. Simple carbs and sugary things can really drag me down and tend to make me want more of them, creating a vicious cycle that can take days to get out of (now that sure sounds familiar, doesn't it?). Same with sleep. One night with only a few hours sleep, try to make it up with a nap, which messes up the next night, etc., and before you know it I'm feeling depressed and anxious (and probably reaching for the aforementioned carbs/sugar!).

Lorax1981

Great job! Dee’s right. We get better and life gets better but we still get hit hard with losses and life. But we can handle it and be there for others and that’s the beauty of it!

PhoenixJ

YES! Congrats man

16YearsDrunk

I honestly don't want to even think or relive where I was this time last year. In hospital with a dying parent. Urgh. But, it's 8 months for me so it proves I made it through the storm and came out the other side I guess