2 weeks
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Nsw
Posts: 408
2 weeks
This point has been a pivotal milestone for me in the past. I've been here maybe 6 times over the last 4 years and only kept going twice. I already know for certain where a few drinks will get me. This time I keep reminding myself how hard it is to stop and the reasons I can't be a full time drunk anymore. I have a 4 day long weekend now so on a family trip away. Somewhat of a trigger. It turns out I'm going to have to remember all the good times I'm having instead of of a four day blurred out daze.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Sonoran Desert & Southeast Asia
Posts: 6,561
Great job FinalCall. It gets so much better at this point. Just be aware of the AV, analyze what feelings and thoughts arise when it talks to you, so you can work on those things. You're really doing great!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 527
Thanks for sharing and congratulations on 2 weeks. Please allow me to share with you the 5 instructions (in no particular order) that led to my current 18+ years clean and sober after roughly 15 years of relapsing:
1. 90 A.A. meetings in 90 days.
2. Ask God (also known to me as "Higher Power", "Great Spirit", "Higher Mind", etc.) every morning to keep me sober and thank Him ("Her", "It", etc.) every evening for keeping me sober -- both to be said on my knees. (Importantly, this doesn't require me to believe anything. I can be an atheist and follow this instruction.)
3. Call my sponsor every day. (This assumes I have a sponsor, and that person should be someone who has worked, and is working, the Steps as laid out in the Big Book.)
4. Get a home group and a service commitment. (By now I typically hear some version of: "But that's hard to do!" Of course it's hard to do, but not nearly as hard as living a life of active alcoholism and addiction.)
5. Read the first 164 pages of the Big Book and highlight everything that jumps out to you because you relate to the feelings, thoughts, or actions expressed.
As for "triggers" and events where there will be alcohol, I was told the following:
1. Always have an exit strategy. If the people there really love you then they'd prefer you leave rather than risk getting high/drunk again.
2. Go to the bathroom and lock the door or close the stall door and get on your knees and ask God to remove the obsession to drink/drug. Then take a sober action like calling someone in A.A.
God bless!
1. 90 A.A. meetings in 90 days.
2. Ask God (also known to me as "Higher Power", "Great Spirit", "Higher Mind", etc.) every morning to keep me sober and thank Him ("Her", "It", etc.) every evening for keeping me sober -- both to be said on my knees. (Importantly, this doesn't require me to believe anything. I can be an atheist and follow this instruction.)
3. Call my sponsor every day. (This assumes I have a sponsor, and that person should be someone who has worked, and is working, the Steps as laid out in the Big Book.)
4. Get a home group and a service commitment. (By now I typically hear some version of: "But that's hard to do!" Of course it's hard to do, but not nearly as hard as living a life of active alcoholism and addiction.)
5. Read the first 164 pages of the Big Book and highlight everything that jumps out to you because you relate to the feelings, thoughts, or actions expressed.
As for "triggers" and events where there will be alcohol, I was told the following:
1. Always have an exit strategy. If the people there really love you then they'd prefer you leave rather than risk getting high/drunk again.
2. Go to the bathroom and lock the door or close the stall door and get on your knees and ask God to remove the obsession to drink/drug. Then take a sober action like calling someone in A.A.
God bless!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Sonoran Desert & Southeast Asia
Posts: 6,561
Travel is generally a trigger for me. I have found I need some significant sobriety time to not want to celebrate the excitement of new places and events with a drink (or 3). So with that said, try to be in the moment - to savor the new experiences sober, your relationship with your family members, and the myriad conversations. You will have some great memories! I hope it goes well.
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