Be Kind :)
Administrator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,469
Be Kind :)
I've been around SR for almost twenty years, having found this place after a few years of recovery.
I'd never been on a message board before so I was a bit intimidated. But the first thing that struck me was the genuine kindness and respect that people expressed towards one another. It felt like a family to me, and that I had found a home. In all the years I've been here, I've been so impressed how our members reach out to help one another. There is always caring support for someone who is struggling and always a warm welcome for new members.
It's the kindness and respect that have helped countless members begin their sobriety journey. It's the kindness and respect that have helped countless members who have relapsed to find their way back to sobriety. And, it's the kindness and respect that have helped countless members get through the hard times in their personal lives and stay strong and sober.
It's so very important to remember this.
I'd never been on a message board before so I was a bit intimidated. But the first thing that struck me was the genuine kindness and respect that people expressed towards one another. It felt like a family to me, and that I had found a home. In all the years I've been here, I've been so impressed how our members reach out to help one another. There is always caring support for someone who is struggling and always a warm welcome for new members.
It's the kindness and respect that have helped countless members begin their sobriety journey. It's the kindness and respect that have helped countless members who have relapsed to find their way back to sobriety. And, it's the kindness and respect that have helped countless members get through the hard times in their personal lives and stay strong and sober.
It's so very important to remember this.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,368
Not surprisingly I totally agree Anna 
Signing up here was a HUGE step for me.
If I had not been treated with kindness understanding and respect when I got here I would have backed out and left.
The community here not only changed my life - it saved it
D
Signing up here was a HUGE step for me.
If I had not been treated with kindness understanding and respect when I got here I would have backed out and left.
The community here not only changed my life - it saved it
D
Sober Soldier
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 1,911
I've found nothing but kindness and support here over the years. No matter how many times I relapsed, got lost in the shadows, and re-emerged, everyone was right there to help me pick myself back up.
SR is not just a tool for me, it's my anchor.
SR is not just a tool for me, it's my anchor.
Member
Join Date: May 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 3,922
I got hounded off another forum (yes, me!) because I was (a) reasonably healthy and (b) only drank a bottle of wine a day. I didn’t meet the criteria of having cirrhosis and drinking a bucket a day. I feel a lot less hounded here
Also, a few months ago when I had quite bad Covid and my wife just left, SR was a real comfort, although I’d prefer to keep topics recovery related. Was a one off.
Also, a few months ago when I had quite bad Covid and my wife just left, SR was a real comfort, although I’d prefer to keep topics recovery related. Was a one off.
s ❤️
Member
Join Date: May 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 3,922
Thanks Venus. That was actually a topic relevant to alcohol and recovery. I’m now a good-natured and hopefully considerate person, but the years of being an a*****e drinker up until 2018 did the damage. I wasn’t nasty, just not really mentally there a lot of the time. It must be miserable and boring to be married to a drinker.
What I will say for now is that I’ve had a few losses over the last three years, but I haven’t drunk or particularly needed to as a result of the losses. It’s not that I’m any stronger than anyone else, it’s just that by pure luck of timing, I stopped drinking a good few months beforehand. That’s the secret of not drinking to “relax” (what a cruel irony) - get some serious sober time under your belt. Relapses are very bad news. If something major happens in someone’s life when they’ve recently relapsed, it’s going to be a mountain to climb to stop again. Protect your sobriety, folks.
What I will say for now is that I’ve had a few losses over the last three years, but I haven’t drunk or particularly needed to as a result of the losses. It’s not that I’m any stronger than anyone else, it’s just that by pure luck of timing, I stopped drinking a good few months beforehand. That’s the secret of not drinking to “relax” (what a cruel irony) - get some serious sober time under your belt. Relapses are very bad news. If something major happens in someone’s life when they’ve recently relapsed, it’s going to be a mountain to climb to stop again. Protect your sobriety, folks.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,154
Originally Posted by Hodd 
I got hounded off another forum (yes, me!) because I was (a) reasonably healthy and (b) only drank a bottle of wine a day. I didn’t meet the criteria of having cirrhosis and drinking a bucket a day. I feel a lot less hounded here
Moderators make a big difference too. One of the reasons I ended up here was that my one other forum allowed for the presence of a troll, who was there for years and continually getting worse. So I started a search for a different environment, even though the purpose of the forum was something important to me. By the way, that ever present troll in the other forum was eventually banned, but not until after wrecking the place, which is now down to just a pitiful handful (maybe 3 or 4 other stalwarts) who refused to leave. I never understood why the moderators allowed that guy to take over the forum. Maybe there were other reasons that forum fizzled. It's hard to understand the dynamics of groups sometimes.
At any rate, Anna's OP to "be kind" is more than a suggestion. It's also a description of this forum, and a reminder of why we are all here in the first place, and so far, everyone seems to want to maintain that look and feel of the forum. It's a very bright spot in what can be a brutally harmful internet world.
Magsie
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: UK
Posts: 26,640
I love SR. I know and understand we have members from all walks of life, many different parts of the earth, different personalities, not mention us all wanting one thing…to stay sober.
Kindness is of the upmost, especially when first sober and can feel very vulnerable and fragile. Treating everybody like a human being and with respect and dignity, is first and foremost.
Kindness is of the upmost, especially when first sober and can feel very vulnerable and fragile. Treating everybody like a human being and with respect and dignity, is first and foremost.
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