Robbie64

Congratulations on 6 years of sobriety MLD. Your post really is inspirational. I've often wondered what the significance of the 51 part of your username was and I think I've finally found the answer!

Mags1

Congratulations Marty on 6 years. What a great post! You’re truly an inspiration.

tornrealization

I love the long novel honest posts, to thankyou very much! You’re an inspiration. Congratulations on six years!

D122y

The...feeling normal.......not drinking part has been a challenge.

I still don't feel totally normal not drinking, but it is getting there.

It feels more normal now then it did last year etc etc.

Born again proud non drinker. Booze is poison. I hate the stuff.

Thanks.

RecklessDrunk

Congratulations on 6 years!

It's a long story but it was my 2nd dui arrest that bought me to AA. I pleaded out of both in a court but the 2nd dui had a felony drug charge with it.

I use to get so mad at the drunk driving laws. While I still see checkpoints as unconstitutional (I'm American,) back then I would really get bent out of shape over stuff like that. Why can't they raise the BAC, why can't they lower the penalties, why don't I just not drink wasn't even on the radar. I thought it was crazy to expect people to go to a bar and not drive home drunk. That must be some kind of magic trick, have literally 1 or 2 beers.

Now I see humans like a pack animal, like wolves or something like that. If the wolves smell or sense or however they figure out something is wrong with another wolf the pack rejects it. DUIs is like the pack of humans rejecting us. One of the ways our drinking gets us rejected from the pack. If not for my last arrest the thought of quitting drinking would never have crossed my mind. Once I got a chance to see life from outside the bottle, even with the obsession present I knew deep down that I didn't want to live that way.

bandicoot2

(((MLD))) Thank you for your inspiring & encouraging post!!
Congratulations on your 6 Amazing Years!!

BeABetterMan

Controversial post ahead:

Lots of great stuff in there MLD. But one thing stands out to me, and it stands out in almost every story I read. And it's what a blessing your third DUI turned out to be. So many times I hear people come into SR after a DUI or a broken relationship or a lost job, and people rightfully rally around them and tell them it's going to be ok, or that it's "too bad." I almost never feel that way. I often want to say, "good." In my experience drinkers (most of us alcoholics) of our kind do not stop drinking when life is good. Like has to go bad. Real bad. The sooner people like us can wreck everything, the sooner we can rebuild it. When we're sitting in a cop car, or crying in a room alone, or dealing with some other crisis our drinking has caused, I believe that the hand of God is there. What we feel like is a curse or bad luck often turns out to be a blessing. Which leads me to my favorite story:

An old Chinese farmer had a mare that broke through the fence and ran away. When his neighbors learned of it, they came to the farmer and said, "What bad luck this is. You don't have a horse during planting season." The farmer listened and then replied, "Bad luck, good luck. Who knows?"

A few days later, the mare returned with two stallions. When the neighbors learned of it, they visited the farmer. "You are now a rich man. What good fortune this is," they said. The farmer listened and again replied, "Good fortune, bad fortune. Who knows?"

Later that day, the farmer's only son was thrown from one of the stallions and broke his leg. When the neighbors heard about it, they came to the farmer. "It is planting season and now there is no one to help you," they said. "This is truly bad luck." The farmer listened, and once more he said, "Bad luck, good luck. Who knows?"

The very next day, the emperor's army rode into the town and conscripted the eldest son in every family. Only the farmer's son with his broken leg remained behind. Soon the neighbors arrived. Tearfully, they said, "Yours is the only son who was not taken from his family and sent to war. What good fortune this is..."

So MLD, I say good job on your third DUI, what a fantastic blessing it turned out to be! --- I say that tongue in cheek of course

lessgravity

Huge congrats MLD. One of the inspirational stories here and one of the contributors who has been with me on my sober path - thank you deeply for both things. Enjoy the life you have earned.

fini

congratulations to you, MLD51.
and thank you for all your sharing and giving here.

tursiops999

Congratulations MLD, so good to hear your story. Thank you for being here on SR.

freedomfries

Congrats on six years. Thanks for sharing

BeanieBaby

Congrats! I have kept up on your story for the 5 years I’ve been here. So happy for you - it works if you do the work!

dpac414

Congrats MLD!! Always good to see people reaching great milestones.

Sammy1980

Congratulation's MLD!
I am almost a year sober and it feels so wonderful, just starting to find myself again a little at a time. I can never become complacent because I don't think I could ever make it through this journey again.

AAPJ

Wonderful post! Thanks! Congratulations!

travelbug

Thank you so much for such a great post. I needed to hear that. I am day 33 sober. So excited, looking forward to the milestones, 6 months, a year......forever.....

Chung

Congratulations MLD51! That is so wonderful and inspiring 🙏🏼! Your responses to my infrequent posts always includes words of encouragement, kindness, and wisdom coming from your own experiences! Thank you.

DriGuy

Great isn't it? And it gets better still. When does it stop getting better? I haven't found the answer to that yet. But congratulations on another year, and congratulations on being happy while your doing it.

thomas11

Congratulations MLD, you've been a great inspiration for us. You've helped me tremendously. You're my neighbor to the East. Congrats again, well done.

theVman31

Congrats Marty, great post