If we truly made a Big Plan, what are we doing here?
 

Shouldn't alcohol be entirely off our radar?

Lol. No one is forcing you to stay :)

I've had the same thought. I'm here because it does not harm my recovery and I really like hearing about the success of others, the reminder that one drink will activate my addiction and the insights offered by others around the world.

I'm on more of a SMART path than RR.

Take what you need, leave the rest.

Hope you are well.

For me, there are other things that I'm dealing with that I attribute to the years of drinking. Periods of depression, brain fog, life on life's terms type stuff. The BP addresses getting and staying sober, but not so much learning to live sober. Which, in my case at least, can be pretty challenging at times.

As someone who does planning for a living, I know that plans and decisions can and do change all the time. I am here to remind myself that my plan and decision to no never drink again is the right one during the period of time it takes my brain to recover from years of abuse.

Well, for me making a firm decision means just that: a choice and then a plan. We then need to implement the plan, make it work in a practical way. I do not believe it happens just magically with something as serious as addiction. SR has been tremendously useful for me to achieve this in the beginning, both as source of information and company others who have successfully and stably achieved the same goal or have been working on it alongside myself.

These days I come here mostly the same way I go anywhere and do anything I'm interested in: because I enjoy the activity (the discussions). I made a few connections and friendships here that I really value. I come here to see how everyone's life is going. I enjoy helping others in need with advice and sharing experiences, when I can. I also like this community a lot for just general self work and improvement, which I have always been interested in.

I am here (if that really is your question) to tell others that they can choose to quit, become mindful to the extent that choice can be exercised over drinking in that tenth of a second that counts, and to know that they will not drink again. Ever.

No recovery process, no daily reprieve, no relapse, and no fear.

Alcohol will never be off my radar. My consumption of it, however, is so off it is like really really totally and absolutely off.

Helping others. I would have never gotten sober had it not been for freshstart57.

I am glad he was still here.

I personally don't follow RR, was more of a LifeRing type until that organization started going downhill - now I'm a non-denominational secular sobrietist who likes to help other folks where possible and keep at least a toehold in recovery world so I don't ever forget. I've experienced too much to believe you can make decision and then just shut off your brain about it forever more. :)

I wasn't sure at first if I should answer the question as it seems to be in relation to those with a "Big Plan" and I am not one of those. But I will follow the trend of others and answer the question "why am I here?"
The strange thing for me is when I was contemplating the question my head started to come up with stock standard answers drilled in my head from other recovery programs, one liners like "if you want to keep it you have to share it". (Funny how old messages jump in like that). I don't hold onto ideas today that sobriety is contingent on sharing, however I see some value in remaining a part of recovery communities for rich and robust living as a abstinent person. I enjoy encouraging others to bring critical thinking skills, positive skepticism and challenging questions to their own recovery narratives and continue to do the same for myself. I like this little corner of SR for the most part people here are less dogmatic then many other recovery sites, there are plenty of discussions that are stimulating and almost no drunka logs.
A

What Freshstart57 said twice...

He, or another Luminary here, previously stated their 'Process'. Mine was pretty much identical to theirs. I up and quit - as was done for Millennia prior to the last Century - but 'gave that Process a name' by joining up here a few months later and learning of RR. I knew hadn't I reinvented the Wheel in doing what I did. Recovered Pals I meet now out and about in the World reiterate that plenty of us have taken the Path - a very liberating one - that is best for us.

When fellow Free Thinkers wander by here, it's reassuring to convey to them the sensibility and feasibility of taking charge of their own Recovery with plenty of Virtual support.
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When I quit it was no longer an option but it was far from off the radar. This putting myself back together is hard work.

It's true- one could make their Big Plan, act on it and never log into SR again. Nothing wrong with that at all. I stay because I like the community, I like being reminded why I made my BP and I want to help others who are struggling with booze like I used to struggle.

I for one am very grateful that y'all did stick around! I wonder if I'd ever have worked it out for myself if this thread hadn't have been here. I still check in here, though I don't post much. For me it's a bit like surviving some kind of disaster, wondering how your fellow survivors got out and how they are doing but also being on hand to help those that are still struggling to escape. Maybe an over dramatic analogy, but my life was starting to go down faster than the titanic till I made my Big Plan. Thank you Freshstart et al for sticking around and to TU for starting this discussion so long ago.

:thanks

+1

There were several others who helped rip the scales from my eyes as well.

Spreading the word that there are alternative paths to sobriety. Some people don't know. I didn't.

As far as participating in online communities, this is the most relevant to me. Learning about and then making my BP changed my perspective on addiction , not quite a 180 degree swing. I never thought any program would "work" for me, as I was never comfortable with a disease model, even though I had implicitly accepted the core idea and just gave fuel to the AV 's fire and allowed me to keep continuing the cycle.
Finding out about RR and AVRT pushed me passed those last 10 degrees in the arc of the swing and gave me the confidence (helped me find, pointed out the power resides within) to resolve to quit , full stop.
Coming here or not doesn't increase or decrease my resolve, it's more like a karmic debt to pass forward.

2 points:

-A plan for me sometimes needs to be reinforced and tweaked, in isolation and at the hands of my addiction, that may not always be the sensible way forward, having an outside influence, a second opinion on things, ensuring decisions are made with the focus on the task at hand is important.

-Giving back to a community is something that I can do each day that actually makes me feel pretty good, just another thing that is included in my plan, helping others, but it also benefits me too!! :)

Big plan or not what are we doing here? This is one of the great big unexplained mysteries of life really, when you get down to it, what are any of us doing here?
I think it's because of my addictive nature and my inherent curiosity for learning about people, certainly it's a better use of my time than sitting in a beer garden or buying cheap booze or watching others get hammered. Alcohol is never off the radar, how would that be possible? For me it's like that small sparkly thing at the edge of vision which is like a mirage of attractiveness in the form of the sparkling, otherworldly consciousness I long for at times. A mirage is true enough, not refreshing but dehydrating to the soul. Living in a western society means bombardment with alluring ideals and exotic dreams. exciting yet 'normal' in UK culture is the advertising attractiveness to the poison alcohol and how taboo being 'alcoholic' is.... If I lived on any other planet it may be off the radar but here on earth alcohol is almost impossible to eliminate from ones radar. Interesting topic/question/thought

Driving my wagon of hope through beautiful views on my road to myself

I like to think I am on the cutting edge of a new phase in human evolution.

I am here, because alcohol still enters my mind, and when it does I like to have people who understand to talk to. It's not like just because I make a plan I never think about alcohol, or struggle with my sobriety. Also. seeing people on here who relapse makes me keep my guard up to anything alcohol related, and makes me remember what I am trying to keep from slipping back into. I am pretty fresh in my sobriety, and this forum helps me immensely.