Amazing Accomplishment. "13" Years Sober Today

7 months and a day or two. I value the sobriety. When I am thinking about having a drink, I think through what will happen. Within a minute or two of recalling horrible hang overs and stupid shit I said and made a fool out of myself, then the want of the first drink fades. I take the time to write this, thinking, hoping, it help someone else going through the same bad habits.
 
GIZMOMAN said:
Well its has been 13 years ago since my last drunk...

In a nut shell
Getting sober isnt easy
STAYING sober is the challenge

To pass on some seasoned advice:

Get sober for yourself...if you dont do
It for yourself. IT WILL NOT WORK!!

You will tested, challenged, and often most days
you will literally want to head to the liquor store..
Giving in to this malady only means
THE Addiction WINS AGAIN!!
It wins if it keeps you drinking and losing most which is dear
to you..It WINS if it takes your Life..

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
Never discriminates of gender, age, nor race
Addiction effects 1 in 7 families in some way.

Remember. Love the person..despise the disease
The disease causes people not to be who you know
they are....

Sadly 1 in 100 people get SOBER And Stay SOBER...
Those odds are truly scary to say the least
Treatment facilities can merely teach, educate the
addict and help families learn and cope
The real work begins after treatment..

I know in my time sober I have had 89 addicts I
knew die...sobering odds...
People in recovery need to always know,
Their addiction is not their fault...
The Addicts responsibility is trying to live
each day sober with all the help they reach out to
get...YOU are never alone...Help is there..You have
to want SOBRIETY more than jobs,family, EVERYTHING..

I am a miracle....I live everyday like that. Find
gratitude for every minute you are given...
By my getting and staying sober I have been afforded
the gift of giving life to my wife by donating a kidney to her
almost 11 years ago..I know without this way of life. My odds
of helping her would not have been possible.

Just know ..Never Stop Trying..No matter how many times you stop
and begin again..NEVER...

Thank You All My BF Family...

==Keith==
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Congrats! I'm at 2 years and 9 months myself
 
After smoking for 40 years I quit cold turkey 10 months ago. I also changed my diet and lost 30 lbs. I'm the only person I know that quit smoking and lost weight simultaneously.

I'd like to take credit, but it was all an accident. I know the harm that smoking does, but I liked it. I enjoyed it. I occasionally liked irritating certain people with it ;) I had no intention of quitting.

Then I got a cold. It turned into bronchitis. That turned into pneumonia. I coughed so hard I tore a rib loose. It then hurt to cough. I did nothing that might make me cough. Or sneeze. Sneezing really hurt :confused: By the time it was all sorted and I could smoke again, it had been three weeks. I sat there with the smokes in my hand and thought: "Why not just quit?" Haven't had a puff since.

Other than getting a shot of cortisone or getting something sewed up, I hadn't been to a doctor in around 15 years. The pneumonia got me going and getting me caught up on all the "tests" your supposed to be doing. Everything was surprisingly good except my A1c was 7.3. Diabetic. I decided I was not going to be diabetic, hence the diet change to get my sugar under control. The weight loss was an unexpected benefit. I still need to lose some more, but all in all getting pneumonia turned out to be the proverbial blessing in disguise.

Have to admit I feel better :)

P.S. Congratulations to all who have successfully corralled their addiction. I've seen friends and acquaintances who completely screwed up their lives and the lives of their loved ones with one addiction or another.
 
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kvaughn said:
Odd that this popped back up. I quit drinking to support my daughter who had been doing heroin for 10 years. She went to her 7th try at rehab and I went on vacation to make my self unavailable to her and deal with my co-dependency. We've both been clean almost 2 1/2 years now. She's back in school to be a LDAC and I'm retiring. Life is much better.--KV
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Good for both of you buddy. I see struggle stories like this to be more common and I respect the struggle. We all have our stories and all I will include is that I lived on the streets of some major cities pan handling change for rot gut. I have 22 years sobriety now and I started off at age 37 with a grade eight education. As I got a few years under my belt in support groups my mind started to clear and I went back to school. In my late 30's I got my grades 9-12. Then a university degree. Then a two year addictions diploma. How do I see things now after working in several detoxes?..........I can't make anyone get sober or clean. All I can do is offer education, experience, strength and hope to the still suffering. It is the individuals choice whether they want to fight for it or not, and the doors are always open. But many die. It may sound hard but I invest little energy into an individual who doesn't want it, ...because they are not ready. You can lead a horse to water .................. Recovery programs are for people who want it, not for those who need it.
 
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upnorth said:
Good for both of you buddy. I see struggle stories like this to be more common and I respect the struggle. We all have our stories and all I will include is that I lived on the streets of some major cities pan handling change for rot gut. I have 22 years sobriety now and I started off at age 37 with a grade eight education. As I got a few years under my belt in support groups my mind started to clear and I went back to school. In my late 30's I got my grades 9-12. Then a university degree. Then a two year addictions diploma. How do I see things now after working in several detoxes?..........I can't make anyone get sober or clean. All I can do is offer education, experience, strength and hope to the still suffering. It is the individuals choice whether they want to fight for it or not, and the doors are always open. But many die. It may sound hard but I invest little energy into an individual who doesn't want it, ...because they are not ready. You can lead a horse to water .................. Recovery programs are for people who want it, not for those who need it.
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I agree 100%. Saw my daughter go through rehab to stay out of jail, to keep from being homeless, to keep from dying etc.,etc.
She finally wanted it. The difference I could see this time is the gratitude that was not there before.
The problem with the horse to water thing is when it's your only daughter, you have to stand there with her and wait for her to get thirsty.
She's still clean. Working full time and going to school. In a good relationship with a good man. Still grateful.--I'm glad I waited.--KV
 
My first attempt failed after 7 months. Couldn't deal with the honesty of trying not to drink. Went on a across country bender from Md. to Ca. and couldn't handle it. Came back after a week and with a good sponsor, big book, and AA, I've been blessed and sober since Sept of 78. You must want it for yourself to succeed. Life is good sober. Congratulations to those that haven't had to have a drink today.
 
Gentlemen, I want to make sure my integrity stays in tact. I am not sober anymore. It happened about 2 months ago, and I have been ok so far. I did for various reasons. My only caveat is I do not drink and drive, which is something I was careless with in the past.
 
I am a recovering Alcoholic and I haven't had a drink since 2005. (When I re-read this, it kinda sounds like boasting, which is not how I mean it. I'm reminding myself as much as anything else.)

I would like to extend an invitation to any BF member who wants or needs to talk, or is struggling, feel free to send me a PM.

It can help to talk sometimes. I'm not a counselor, and am actually a bit of a jerk. But hey, it would beat taking that first drink.
 
Kiteman72,
I didn't take it as boastful at all. My first sponsor(died in 2001) said "if you didn't piss someone off today, you didn't say what needed to be said"
congratulations....
U.-H.
 
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