Five years of sobriety today
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 3,597
Five years of sobriety today
I have been sober for five years as of today. I drank "normally" for years (or at least I thought I was normal, but looking back I can see the traits of alcoholism as far back as high school. I was always the guy who didn't want the party to end!) I was completely delusional. I honestly thought I was the best drinker the world had ever produced, I thought I was a rock star and could drink inhuman amounts, I thought people who didn't get drunk every night were joyless wimps.
Never in a million years did I think I'd become addicted, but it happened, and once I was in my addiction I was beyond help. I went from being sort of functional to barely functional. I didn't lose my job or lose my house, but I was rapidly physically and mentally deteriorating and generally wasn't a very nice person, and I sensed I had about a year to live. The scary thing is that I didn't really care, I just accepted that I was going to die. I remember buying a bunch of razors, bathroom soap, and shaving cream in bulk and thinking that I wasn't going to live long enough to use it all.
In early February 2016 I somehow managed to stay sober for three consecutive days, and during that time I typed "three days sober" and found SR. After I read a lot of posts, I realized that I wasn't alone (before finding SR I literally thought I was the only person going through this terrible experience), and learned that I was nothing special and in fact I was a pretty garden variety alcoholic. By some miracle I managed to stop drinking without relapse. In that sense I'm extremely lucky. Leading up to that, I tried the usual routes of moderation and tapering, which of course didn't work. I even invented my own methods, such as buying super expensive booze, thinking I wouldn't guzzle it quite so fast if I knew that it was obscenely expensive! Of course, all that happened was that my alcohol budget quadrupled overnight!
As I said, I literally thought I was the only person going through this and I was ashamed of myself and thought I had a moral failure of some kind, but once I started reading, I realized that I had a pretty typical alcohol addiction, that I was indeed an alcoholic, and that there are ways to successfully stop drinking.
I have "e-met" many wonderful people here, including my friends Dave and Craig, who are now friends in real life. I have made other friends here and we text almost daily.
The SR moderators are all wonderful, but I want to especially thank Dee, who made me feel welcome from the start (even though I was convinced he had banned me once early on and I sent him an angry message!) I'm pretty sure Dee has saved more lives than chemotherapy.
I've been sober since February 3, 2016, and each day I'm increasingly grateful and humbled that I survived, and that I managed to come to terms with my addiction and find a successful way to stop drinking, with the caveat that I know that I will have to be vigilant against relapse for the rest of my life and I can never become complacent about my sobriety.
It's disheartening that traffic is down at SR. Anecdotally, I think a lot of people are at home suffering in isolation right now, and I hope they will eventually find their way here or to some other program or sobriety forum.
I've posted this in the newcomers section because I hope people coming here for the first time can see that it is possible to stop drinking and stay sober. I've learned so much in the past five years, I could go on and on, but I just wanted to express my sincere thanks to everyone here. Thank you, friends.
Never in a million years did I think I'd become addicted, but it happened, and once I was in my addiction I was beyond help. I went from being sort of functional to barely functional. I didn't lose my job or lose my house, but I was rapidly physically and mentally deteriorating and generally wasn't a very nice person, and I sensed I had about a year to live. The scary thing is that I didn't really care, I just accepted that I was going to die. I remember buying a bunch of razors, bathroom soap, and shaving cream in bulk and thinking that I wasn't going to live long enough to use it all.
In early February 2016 I somehow managed to stay sober for three consecutive days, and during that time I typed "three days sober" and found SR. After I read a lot of posts, I realized that I wasn't alone (before finding SR I literally thought I was the only person going through this terrible experience), and learned that I was nothing special and in fact I was a pretty garden variety alcoholic. By some miracle I managed to stop drinking without relapse. In that sense I'm extremely lucky. Leading up to that, I tried the usual routes of moderation and tapering, which of course didn't work. I even invented my own methods, such as buying super expensive booze, thinking I wouldn't guzzle it quite so fast if I knew that it was obscenely expensive! Of course, all that happened was that my alcohol budget quadrupled overnight!
As I said, I literally thought I was the only person going through this and I was ashamed of myself and thought I had a moral failure of some kind, but once I started reading, I realized that I had a pretty typical alcohol addiction, that I was indeed an alcoholic, and that there are ways to successfully stop drinking.
I have "e-met" many wonderful people here, including my friends Dave and Craig, who are now friends in real life. I have made other friends here and we text almost daily.
The SR moderators are all wonderful, but I want to especially thank Dee, who made me feel welcome from the start (even though I was convinced he had banned me once early on and I sent him an angry message!) I'm pretty sure Dee has saved more lives than chemotherapy.
I've been sober since February 3, 2016, and each day I'm increasingly grateful and humbled that I survived, and that I managed to come to terms with my addiction and find a successful way to stop drinking, with the caveat that I know that I will have to be vigilant against relapse for the rest of my life and I can never become complacent about my sobriety.
It's disheartening that traffic is down at SR. Anecdotally, I think a lot of people are at home suffering in isolation right now, and I hope they will eventually find their way here or to some other program or sobriety forum.
I've posted this in the newcomers section because I hope people coming here for the first time can see that it is possible to stop drinking and stay sober. I've learned so much in the past five years, I could go on and on, but I just wanted to express my sincere thanks to everyone here. Thank you, friends.
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,560
Thank you, Out! I'm so happy for your 5 years of sobriety & sanity.
I didn't expect to learn a thing here - was only curious when I first signed on. Little did I know it would be life changing.
Proud of you!
I didn't expect to learn a thing here - was only curious when I first signed on. Little did I know it would be life changing.
Proud of you!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 527
Congratulations on 5 years. As they say, now the work starts 
And thanks for sharing your love for SR. I've recently made it a part of my daily routine, and I'm glad I have. I consider it part of my morning (sometimes afternoon) meditation, and it definitely helps me get my priorities back in proper order.
Onwards & upwards!
And thanks for sharing your love for SR. I've recently made it a part of my daily routine, and I'm glad I have. I consider it part of my morning (sometimes afternoon) meditation, and it definitely helps me get my priorities back in proper order.
Onwards & upwards!
Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: LI, NY
Posts: 982
You rock OTTT, congratulations and I’m proud to be your friend! I could write forever about how much you mean to me and what an inspiration you are. You’ve made me realize that the true rock stars are those who get and stay sober!
And thank you for the inspiring post. 
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 5,937
Congrats on Five Years, @Outonthetiles! That's AWESOME! 
BTW, you're spot-on about the Moderators! They're all totally awesome.
BTW, you're spot-on about the Moderators! They're all totally awesome.
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