First benchmark achieved
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2021
Posts: 32
First benchmark achieved
Im super happy today. 21 days has been a benchmark I have struggled to reach for years. Ive been a problem drinker and alcoholic for about 10 years now, but for the last 3 to 5 years, Ive been trying to make myself go longer and longer between binges. Most of this time my range was between 4 and 9 days, with occasional shorter and longer periods (I did up to 19 days just back in August of this year). I had set 21 days as my initial benchmark because Ive always heard, for right or wrong, that it takes about 21 days to break a habit. So I thought three weeks would be a great first benchmark. 30 days is my next one and its just a week and some change away. After that my next benchmarks are 3 months, 6 months, a year, and then three years, and who knows after that. Ive been seeing a psychiatrist also for some underlying “me” issues that need fleshing out. Issues that I have been self medicating with alcohol, and just in the two times Ive been to therapy, its been amazing. I am definitely going to keep the therapy going for a good while. I was pretty busted up inside due to some things that happened in the past. We are all just cumulative sums of the paths we have walked, and the things we have experienced. But its definitely helping. I feel like Ive shoveled 100 tons of concrete off my back that Ive been dragging along for years (probably 12 years, right in line with my alcoholism). Im really happy today though. I thought at one time Id be dead before I ever saw 21 days, but here I am. Just wanted to share! Hope you all have a great and sober Saturday with those that you love, just like me.
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: NSW - Australia
Posts: 14,509
Congratulations on those hard won 21 days snowboarder. I will have achieved a benchmark of 2 years myself soon, and all I had to do was hold the line. 
No contest; it can be difficult and uncertain in the early days.
(But) It becomes easier as time time goes by snowboarder. We learn as we go. We grow. Sobriety becomes no longer a feat of endurance, but something we want for ourselves, something we cherish.
I hope you find a similar peace snowboarder.
No contest; it can be difficult and uncertain in the early days.(But) It becomes easier as time time goes by snowboarder. We learn as we go. We grow. Sobriety becomes no longer a feat of endurance, but something we want for ourselves, something we cherish.
I hope you find a similar peace snowboarder.
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Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 2,426
21 days is fantastic Snowboarder!!! Those milestones bring such a sense of accomplishment and so much healing has taken place as each one comes and goes. As long as we don't ever ever ever celebrate with a drink, I think those markers can be very motivating and fun. You'll find a range of opinions here on SR on the topic of tracking sober time.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 525
I have come to conclude that there is a type of alcoholic defined by the following:
1. A physical allergy to alcohol that leads them to respond differently to a drink of alcohol than non-alcoholics. Specifically, taking a drink leads these types to crave more. They don't always give in to the craving, but they always want more.
2. A mental obsession that leads them to pick up a drink despite the strongest desire to stop drinking, often after meaningful periods of abstinence. It is no exaggeration to call this a type of insanity.
3. A spiritual malady that has only one solution: The recovery program of Alcoholic Anonymous.
Obviously, I am describing a specific type of alcoholic here. I know that I am one of these types but I also recognize that you may not be. However, I believe it's important to keep in mind that you might be.
1. A physical allergy to alcohol that leads them to respond differently to a drink of alcohol than non-alcoholics. Specifically, taking a drink leads these types to crave more. They don't always give in to the craving, but they always want more.
2. A mental obsession that leads them to pick up a drink despite the strongest desire to stop drinking, often after meaningful periods of abstinence. It is no exaggeration to call this a type of insanity.
3. A spiritual malady that has only one solution: The recovery program of Alcoholic Anonymous.
Obviously, I am describing a specific type of alcoholic here. I know that I am one of these types but I also recognize that you may not be. However, I believe it's important to keep in mind that you might be.
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