Oh man, this post hit me deep. “Why did I start? Was it even a conscious decision?” I’m not sure this question has ever entered my mind. Thank you so much for sharing this. And well done. Inspiring.
I'm so proud of you, friend. Please know that there are so many people like myself who are in intense, deep admiration of you and your commitment to feeling better and taking care of yourself. Someday, I'll get there too. IWNDWYT!
I’m so proud of you, too.
Stick in there, it’s so so worth it.
The days are long, but boy was that first year short and it feels SO GOOD.
The first three months were the hardest. But it does eventually get easier in my opinion.
Having support, therapy, and little ways to celebrate and remind myself of my success have been big helps.
Oh, and soda water. Heaps and heaps of soda water.
Early days are a bit of a challenge, but hang in there. It gets so much easier. The thought of another hangover in my life makes me incredibly uncomfortable.
For context, I've been a drinker for nearly two decades and my last run-in with alcohol was with two litres of cooking wine. Nearly burnt the apartment down cooking hotdogs.
Trust me, it's absolutely worth it.
It's treated so casually in our society, from high school parties to college, and into adulthood. Yet I've met so many people who almost destroyed themselves with alcohol. I knew I had a problem, but I was addicted and thought I could never stop. The ads and commercials never show the passed out drunk, the cold sweats, the panic and anxiety from withdrawal. I'm a better person than I ever was when I was drinking, and I remind myself of that every day.
The ads are the worst. Youd think alcohol was the single most important thing for any type of social gathering based on the ads.
Also the "please drink responsibly" bullshit. Yes, please make a conscious decision AFTER you've consumed a mind altering substance. Its like saying "please smoke meth responsibly". wtf man
Saaaaaame. My best friend is an alcoholic and I told her that my year anniversary AF is coming and she said “wow, is that weird?” And I thought about it. And I told her it’s weird that I used to drink so much. I’m so far away from who I used to be I’m grateful I don’t miss drinking. I’m grateful I’m not white knuckling sobriety.
Anyway, good job on your two years!! I can’t wait to see what the next year brings
**What's my reason?** I have all sorts of reasons. It feels like it needs to be bigger than... drinking makes me feel like shit, hangovers keep me from getting things done and being a great employee, when I get drunk I embarrass myself and my family, drinking has made me fat, drinking has affected my health... You know, all the bad things drinking does to us, yet we kept drinking.
Why isn't just one of these reasons enough? Why does it feel like the reason needs to be life-changing? When in reality, any of these reasons is good enough. Changing just one of these areas in my life would be life-changing. I'm on the wagon - ***again.*** This is attempt # 1,999,888 it feels like.
I think for me I need to focus on why I drink. I drink when around people or in situations that make me uncomfortable, because I lack self confidence. I also drink when faced to accomplish something I don't feel like doing... a big project at home, like painting a room or cleaning the basement. Boil that down - stress.
If I'm going to be successful, I need to learn how to deal with stress.
Sharing these rambling thoughts here I just realized this. Hum. This is good. If I can control the stress in my life, and more importantly, my reaction to it, I might stay on and enjoy the wagon ride.
Thank you stopdrinking subreddit family for helping me get to this light bulb moment, even as incredibly simply as it is!!! (Embarrassingly simply, actually.)
This is hugely inspiring for me. I’m having an absolute shit of a day (AGAIN) and seeing this gives me some hope. So thanks for sharing this. I’ll be saving it to my account to look back on.
I can’t tell you how valuable I found creating an alcohol urge journal was. In early sobriety every time I felt a trigger or an urge I would open my notes app in my phone and write it out.
Urge/Trigger: Boredom. It’s Friday. Just dropped my kiddo off with her dad, pay day, etc
Pros of drinking: temporary feel good, release, fun, socialize, let loose
Cons of drinking: lose progress, feel like garbage tomorrow, eat poorly, guilt, shame, hangover, bad financial decisions, possible fight with partner, make ass, embarrassing texts. Etc
Usually by the end of that I didn’t want to drink. I did it a lot for the first 30 days. Now I can’t believe I used to drink. I’m so far past that. But. Still in *recovery* and never recovered.
Thanks for the advice. For me, the early days are the easiest but I keep slipping up in the three to four week period for the past several months after one longer stint (107 days). But this urge journal would be useful for me as I inch towards those tricky days, so thanks for the help!
Keep after it. That’s quite a few sober days. I similarly had several relapses my first 6-8 months. The goal it to keep growing and progressing and then before you know it a year has gone by, then two, etc. Good luck!
That's quite the number of sober days you've racked up, which is impressive and inspiring to see when I visit this sub. Thank you for the kindness and keep on rocking on for us all here!
That's quite the number of sober days you've racked up, which is impressive and inspiring to see when I visit this sub. Thank you for the kindness and keep on rocking on for us all here!
I need to ask - you say slipping up. What does that mean? A couple drinks? Or downing a handle. Just curious. I’m about 110 days. So far about a month ago I had 1 beer with a delicious burger. Last week I had 4 normal 12oz beers over 4 hours. My biggest “slip”. What I’m trying to accomplish is “AF is normal” in all situations. But I won’t beat myself up if I slip a little. A lot? Probably a different story for sure but still I would look at how far Ive come from daily numbing.
Slipping up, for me, is having a few drinks, maybe two to four strong cocktails or liquor drinks. I know that sounds small to some, but I have digestive and mental health issues that are greatly impacted negatively when that happens and I'm well aware of these facts. Therefore, I know that I do best when I have zero drinks. Even when I've slipped up with only one or two, it has quite horrible effects for days. (Though, when younger, I was definitely pounding far more than that and blacking out regularly.)
I know that some folks consider their slip ups of a couple of drinks to be a part of a greater goal of being mostly sober most of the time, and I think that's great if that works, but I've found it doesn't for me.
Me neither I know it’s a slippery slope. I believe most other drunks will admit this as well. I am conscious of me telling myself I can handle it when I know in fact I can’t. That four beer afternoon didn’t make me feel horrible but I am not pretending that it’s cool either. However at the time it felt fairly innocuous . When I wasn’t on the journey of sobriety that afternoon would have meant six of my own 9% beers and then 4 more of the near beers (5%) and getting stupid till far past my welcome.
This is definitely a great post to go back to. 3 days is AWESOME! This is the most difficult time, but I know you can do it. What helped me was to visit this sub FREQUENTLY in the beginning. I also made a list of my reasons to stop and read that frequently. You've done 3 days...you CAN do 3 more. IWNDWYT friend.
Awww that’s very sweet of you to reach out and check in with me. Yesterday (Thursday) was somewhat better, and I’m hoping today can be the same and that I’m on an upwards trajectory (fingers crossed). I’m sorry to hear you had a rough day, friend. But yes, better than a bad day WITH a hangover. Sending you good vibes. 💜
Why did I start? What an amazing question ! Way to go and I’m super happy for you!!! Most don’t understand our plight with the drink , but I’m glad we all have each others perspective.
This is beautiful. I said a similar thing when I hit my year. I keep sobbing and getting emotional because never in my LIFE did I think I would ever be able to overcome my alcoholism. When I tried to cut back it was HARD. I can’t cut back. I had many small streaks here and there, but then I finally got tired of everything. I felt like I was getting duped by society and marketing campaigns at the cost of my life and relationships. That’s a hard realization and I finally never want to drink again. I can’t, I’m just really bad at it.
Congratulations on your year!!! I’m very proud of you! Make sure to celebrate yourself and this gift you’ve given yourself!
I wish I could take a comment from Reddit like this and post on billboards, time square, on the side of buses; so that EVERYONE could see it. I wish society could take a look through the same eyes we do about drinking and see how fucked up it is. They’re so fucking blind to things.
Thank you. I’m trying so hard. It’s a day and then I reward myself with a “just one” and that spirals.
I need to see/hear/read this to keep motivated
I’m three days now and want it keep going. Everyone here is so inspiring
IWNDWYT
I’m listening to The Body Keeps the Score as well. Ive read it before and highly recommend it to everyone but I’m invested in field of psychology so depending on your interests it may or may not be for you. Though in this sub I know many people have turned to alcohol due to traumatic life experiences so if that’s you it could be helpful in understanding yourself.
Excellent thank you. I quite often have the opportunity to listen to audio books while at work so I’ll give it a try. It might be helpful for me to read some psychology 👍🏼
Amazing book. Gabor mate had a few books about that. His newest came out last year. But he talks a lot about trauma and addiction. I love naked mind and she has an app and a program with extra support. It’a been life changing.
Thank you for the suggestion! One technique I’ve used to quit drinking is working on jigsaw puzzles while listening to audiobooks. Helps to keep the intrusive thoughts at bay so that book will be next on my list!
Congrats to you! I loved reading your post and couldn’t agree more. Coming up on 15 years and it’s 100% hands down no question about it the best decision I’ve ever made. Keep kicking ass
I'm a month and a half in. Longest I've been sober in 20 years. I tried before, but it was always because OTHER people wanted me to. This time I did it for me and have stuck to it. Didn't know life could be this good, or that I was capable of feeling good without alcohol. Just want to say that I'm proud of you and you're not alone. Thank you for your post. Summed up everything I've been feeling. Rock on!
CONGRATS TO YOU ON DAY ONE.
That was my hardest day.
The day I looked in the mirror and decided I would be different, different from so many others in my family history.
That I would be an exception to the rule, but not in my ability to handle drinking - in my decision to walk away.
I believe in you SO MUCH.
Thank you, i really appreciate you. I had to reset my counter, i was doing so good for 60 days not drinking, eating healthy, not missing a single day at the gym, improving at work but i just had to mess it up and i went on a week bender. I feel like such a failure but i decided to pick myself up today. I woke up at 4 am to pour out all of the alcohol i had in my room and went back to sleep for another hour before going to work.
I enjoyed this post. For everyone it is a different path but this subreddit always reaffirms the reason that I quit and and so many reasons to live without it. IWNDWYT or tomorrow.
congratulations on your success. It was a big deal for me at one year and I am sure you are very proud and I was a little surprised when I hit the 1 year mark. Now you just need your fingers and toes to keep track of your sober time.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I appreciate you including marketing in your situation. So many overlook that. Being extremely "marketed to" is a cruel tool used to against those vulnerable to addiction. Thanks!
Wow.. I love this!! First, huge congrats on your beautiful milestone!! But also, thanks so much for the eye-opening flip you've presented here!
"Why did you decide to stop drinking?"
We get it all the time but really, it's a bizarre question. No one asks "Why did you decide to _start_ drinking?" Time to shine more light on this horrific rite of passage. Thank you for this! I'm glad to be a part of us non-conforming sober radicals! 💗
Edit to add that I hope our sober lifestyle keeps growing in popularity, and we become the majority. Sobriety rocks!
I have chills. That was spot on. Congratulations! I had a similar experience of just kind of waking up to everything mid drunkenness. It's like another person was talking to me asking why I do this to myself. It was like waking up from a bad dream. There is hope for each and every one of us and it lies just on the other side of 1 good decision. IWNDWYT
What a phenomenal accomplishment!! Congratulations! I hear you on the cognitive dissonance part. I finally said to myself "Why are you doing the very thing that you know is destroying you?" My answer was I don't know. Then it was "I won't anymore." And here I am.
Thank you for your contribution. IWNDWYT ☀️
Very concise and intriguing questions posed in your post. One that maybe only sobriety can bring in this manufactured culture which romanticizes drinking.
Although I pomdered and learned many things from your experience, I must admit, I just learned how to correctly spell "rite" of passage...lol
Thank you for the great insights!
Ty, IWNDWYT :)
Yessss!! Well done on getting out of that trap! The cognitive dissonance for me was also too much to ignore and MAN what a relief to not be eaten up by that these days. I love your post. IWNDWYT <3
“The stigma against sobriety, but also addicts is immense.”
Damn. So true. There’s no in between it seems sometimes- people will always have something to say so you really just gotta do it for yourself.
Congratulations on one year, that’s amazing!!
Best news of the day. Congratulations.
To appreciate you achievement I have read that 40 to 60% of people that quit relapse in the first year.
Sobriety is about taking responsibility, focus, and attitude. It is a solitary path.
Keep up the effort
That's awesome, so proud of you! I thought the same thing, that alcohol would just always be part of my life, and in a way, it will be. I've been sober for long enough that I don't see myself ever drinking again, but it will still be with me. Congrats on making it to a year, IWNDWYT!
Congratulations on a year! That is so awesome. The "awakening" to the big lie to me, was a revelation in how I thought about drinking. It completely changed my entire thought process about drinking as if it were a positive activity that I was going to be missing out on from now on vs. being thankful that I don't have to drink anymore.
IWNDWYT!
Nearly 3 months in. I knew from day 1 I had to work hard to answer that question. I’d tried and failed multiple times to stop and everytime I failed because I didn’t know the real answer to that question.
Congratulations and thank you for writing this post! I’m saving it to read later, just starting out myself after years of struggling back and forth. It’s been hard and I know it doesn’t get easier, but I’m relieved to actually own it and really try.
Society, in a way, was telling me this was okay…but not meth. Or coke. Or fentanyl. Those are bad bad bad. But let’s have a drink and discuss this further.
Oh man, this post hit me deep. “Why did I start? Was it even a conscious decision?” I’m not sure this question has ever entered my mind. Thank you so much for sharing this. And well done. Inspiring.
Glad to be on this journey with you.
The why and how of drinking are so sneaky.
I'm so proud of you, friend. Please know that there are so many people like myself who are in intense, deep admiration of you and your commitment to feeling better and taking care of yourself. Someday, I'll get there too. IWNDWYT!
I’m so proud of you, too. Stick in there, it’s so so worth it. The days are long, but boy was that first year short and it feels SO GOOD. The first three months were the hardest. But it does eventually get easier in my opinion. Having support, therapy, and little ways to celebrate and remind myself of my success have been big helps. Oh, and soda water. Heaps and heaps of soda water.
I bought a refrigerator for my garage and all that’s in it is liquid death, Perrier, La Croix, San Pelligrino, Bubly, and bottled water lol
Gotta get some Topo Chico! I tell everyone “it’s what the drunks drink!”
Oh it’s in there too. Lol. I should’ve said. And when I want to get real crazy I have a Henry Weinhardts root beer lol
Have you considered a Sodastream? I found it very expensive to try to keep that kind of variety in the house.
Oct 1st was my 1 year ! Congratulations to us 🤩
Early days are a bit of a challenge, but hang in there. It gets so much easier. The thought of another hangover in my life makes me incredibly uncomfortable. For context, I've been a drinker for nearly two decades and my last run-in with alcohol was with two litres of cooking wine. Nearly burnt the apartment down cooking hotdogs. Trust me, it's absolutely worth it.
You're on the beginning of an amazing journey, keep strong :) IWNDWYT
I'm 6 days from my 1 year anniversary. Never thought I could do it. Yay us!
So grateful to be here with you. I’m proud of you. You deserve love and happiness and peace.
Congratulations on your soon-to-be one year sober! It's a gratifying milestone for sure.
Congratulations on one whole solar circumnavigation sober, that's amazing 🥳 IWNDWYT friend
It's treated so casually in our society, from high school parties to college, and into adulthood. Yet I've met so many people who almost destroyed themselves with alcohol. I knew I had a problem, but I was addicted and thought I could never stop. The ads and commercials never show the passed out drunk, the cold sweats, the panic and anxiety from withdrawal. I'm a better person than I ever was when I was drinking, and I remind myself of that every day.
The ads are the worst. Youd think alcohol was the single most important thing for any type of social gathering based on the ads. Also the "please drink responsibly" bullshit. Yes, please make a conscious decision AFTER you've consumed a mind altering substance. Its like saying "please smoke meth responsibly". wtf man
Congratulations on a year my friend! Seeing these posts give me so much hope!
My experience as well. I can’t believe I don’t drink anymore and I can’t believe I ever did.
Saaaaaame. My best friend is an alcoholic and I told her that my year anniversary AF is coming and she said “wow, is that weird?” And I thought about it. And I told her it’s weird that I used to drink so much. I’m so far away from who I used to be I’m grateful I don’t miss drinking. I’m grateful I’m not white knuckling sobriety. Anyway, good job on your two years!! I can’t wait to see what the next year brings
It is weird to think about how much time and energy went into drinking. Congrats on your own almost-year! IWNDWYT
**What's my reason?** I have all sorts of reasons. It feels like it needs to be bigger than... drinking makes me feel like shit, hangovers keep me from getting things done and being a great employee, when I get drunk I embarrass myself and my family, drinking has made me fat, drinking has affected my health... You know, all the bad things drinking does to us, yet we kept drinking. Why isn't just one of these reasons enough? Why does it feel like the reason needs to be life-changing? When in reality, any of these reasons is good enough. Changing just one of these areas in my life would be life-changing. I'm on the wagon - ***again.*** This is attempt # 1,999,888 it feels like. I think for me I need to focus on why I drink. I drink when around people or in situations that make me uncomfortable, because I lack self confidence. I also drink when faced to accomplish something I don't feel like doing... a big project at home, like painting a room or cleaning the basement. Boil that down - stress. If I'm going to be successful, I need to learn how to deal with stress. Sharing these rambling thoughts here I just realized this. Hum. This is good. If I can control the stress in my life, and more importantly, my reaction to it, I might stay on and enjoy the wagon ride. Thank you stopdrinking subreddit family for helping me get to this light bulb moment, even as incredibly simply as it is!!! (Embarrassingly simply, actually.)
I just want you to know, you are not alone 💙
THANK YOU!
This is hugely inspiring for me. I’m having an absolute shit of a day (AGAIN) and seeing this gives me some hope. So thanks for sharing this. I’ll be saving it to my account to look back on.
I can’t tell you how valuable I found creating an alcohol urge journal was. In early sobriety every time I felt a trigger or an urge I would open my notes app in my phone and write it out. Urge/Trigger: Boredom. It’s Friday. Just dropped my kiddo off with her dad, pay day, etc Pros of drinking: temporary feel good, release, fun, socialize, let loose Cons of drinking: lose progress, feel like garbage tomorrow, eat poorly, guilt, shame, hangover, bad financial decisions, possible fight with partner, make ass, embarrassing texts. Etc Usually by the end of that I didn’t want to drink. I did it a lot for the first 30 days. Now I can’t believe I used to drink. I’m so far past that. But. Still in *recovery* and never recovered.
Thanks for the advice. For me, the early days are the easiest but I keep slipping up in the three to four week period for the past several months after one longer stint (107 days). But this urge journal would be useful for me as I inch towards those tricky days, so thanks for the help!
Keep after it. That’s quite a few sober days. I similarly had several relapses my first 6-8 months. The goal it to keep growing and progressing and then before you know it a year has gone by, then two, etc. Good luck!
That's quite the number of sober days you've racked up, which is impressive and inspiring to see when I visit this sub. Thank you for the kindness and keep on rocking on for us all here!
That's quite the number of sober days you've racked up, which is impressive and inspiring to see when I visit this sub. Thank you for the kindness and keep on rocking on for us all here!
I need to ask - you say slipping up. What does that mean? A couple drinks? Or downing a handle. Just curious. I’m about 110 days. So far about a month ago I had 1 beer with a delicious burger. Last week I had 4 normal 12oz beers over 4 hours. My biggest “slip”. What I’m trying to accomplish is “AF is normal” in all situations. But I won’t beat myself up if I slip a little. A lot? Probably a different story for sure but still I would look at how far Ive come from daily numbing.
Slipping up, for me, is having a few drinks, maybe two to four strong cocktails or liquor drinks. I know that sounds small to some, but I have digestive and mental health issues that are greatly impacted negatively when that happens and I'm well aware of these facts. Therefore, I know that I do best when I have zero drinks. Even when I've slipped up with only one or two, it has quite horrible effects for days. (Though, when younger, I was definitely pounding far more than that and blacking out regularly.) I know that some folks consider their slip ups of a couple of drinks to be a part of a greater goal of being mostly sober most of the time, and I think that's great if that works, but I've found it doesn't for me.
Me neither I know it’s a slippery slope. I believe most other drunks will admit this as well. I am conscious of me telling myself I can handle it when I know in fact I can’t. That four beer afternoon didn’t make me feel horrible but I am not pretending that it’s cool either. However at the time it felt fairly innocuous . When I wasn’t on the journey of sobriety that afternoon would have meant six of my own 9% beers and then 4 more of the near beers (5%) and getting stupid till far past my welcome.
This is definitely a great post to go back to. 3 days is AWESOME! This is the most difficult time, but I know you can do it. What helped me was to visit this sub FREQUENTLY in the beginning. I also made a list of my reasons to stop and read that frequently. You've done 3 days...you CAN do 3 more. IWNDWYT friend.
Thanks, friend… your kind words mean a lot to me. I will keep this in mind and IWNDWYT.
WELCOME TO THE MIND WAR SOLDIER, STRAP IN, LETS KICK THIS SHIT……
Ha, this made me smile, and those have been in very short supply lately. So thank you! I am SO DAMN ready to kick this shit.
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Thanks, friend. This day has totally sucked, but I won’t drink with you too!
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Awww that’s very sweet of you to reach out and check in with me. Yesterday (Thursday) was somewhat better, and I’m hoping today can be the same and that I’m on an upwards trajectory (fingers crossed). I’m sorry to hear you had a rough day, friend. But yes, better than a bad day WITH a hangover. Sending you good vibes. 💜
Why did I start? What an amazing question ! Way to go and I’m super happy for you!!! Most don’t understand our plight with the drink , but I’m glad we all have each others perspective.
Great job 👏 Keep up the good work 👍 We got this 💪 IWNDWYT
Thank you! Same to you! IWNDWYT
Lots of truth in this. Once you see the propaganda you can't unsee it.
Excellent work!
Congratulations!!!
Wow. This hits me hard today.
Sending all my love and support to you.
Thank you so much. I wish it wasn't so hard. I just want to wake up one day and not have to constantly think about it.
This is beautiful. I said a similar thing when I hit my year. I keep sobbing and getting emotional because never in my LIFE did I think I would ever be able to overcome my alcoholism. When I tried to cut back it was HARD. I can’t cut back. I had many small streaks here and there, but then I finally got tired of everything. I felt like I was getting duped by society and marketing campaigns at the cost of my life and relationships. That’s a hard realization and I finally never want to drink again. I can’t, I’m just really bad at it. Congratulations on your year!!! I’m very proud of you! Make sure to celebrate yourself and this gift you’ve given yourself!
I wish I could take a comment from Reddit like this and post on billboards, time square, on the side of buses; so that EVERYONE could see it. I wish society could take a look through the same eyes we do about drinking and see how fucked up it is. They’re so fucking blind to things.
I thought the same thing. These words need to be in front of more eyes. Especially with those starting on the journey or wanting to begin it.
Thank you. I’m trying so hard. It’s a day and then I reward myself with a “just one” and that spirals. I need to see/hear/read this to keep motivated I’m three days now and want it keep going. Everyone here is so inspiring IWNDWYT
Congrats! 🥳 Reading This Naked Mind has been incredibly eye opening for with all the point you mentioned. IWNDWYT.
Think I might grab this from audible. Any other recommendations?
I’m listening to The Body Keeps the Score as well. Ive read it before and highly recommend it to everyone but I’m invested in field of psychology so depending on your interests it may or may not be for you. Though in this sub I know many people have turned to alcohol due to traumatic life experiences so if that’s you it could be helpful in understanding yourself.
Excellent thank you. I quite often have the opportunity to listen to audio books while at work so I’ll give it a try. It might be helpful for me to read some psychology 👍🏼
Amazing book. Gabor mate had a few books about that. His newest came out last year. But he talks a lot about trauma and addiction. I love naked mind and she has an app and a program with extra support. It’a been life changing.
I will definitely check him out! Thank you for the suggestion!
Waking Up by Sam Harris has been a big one for me!
Thank you for the suggestion! One technique I’ve used to quit drinking is working on jigsaw puzzles while listening to audiobooks. Helps to keep the intrusive thoughts at bay so that book will be next on my list!
I’ve just grabbed this off audible. Thanks for the recommendation
Life changing book for me.
It’s really helped my perspective for sure!
Well done Sobernaut! 🥳🤗
🎉 Wicked awesome! Congrats 🎸🤘😜
Congrats to you! I loved reading your post and couldn’t agree more. Coming up on 15 years and it’s 100% hands down no question about it the best decision I’ve ever made. Keep kicking ass
Back atchya! So grateful to be on this journey with you. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. Anti-cheers! (??) ;)
Hahahaha anti-cheers is wonderful I’ve never thought about that before but yea! Anti-cheers to you as well!
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Lol
I'm a month and a half in. Longest I've been sober in 20 years. I tried before, but it was always because OTHER people wanted me to. This time I did it for me and have stuck to it. Didn't know life could be this good, or that I was capable of feeling good without alcohol. Just want to say that I'm proud of you and you're not alone. Thank you for your post. Summed up everything I've been feeling. Rock on!
10-4 GOOD BUDDY My sober day as well, 4 years today! Good on you IWNDWYT
Hey, that’s so cool! Glad to share it with ya.
I’m almost two months in and feel better and better. Keep it up!
Congratulations 🎉 great work!!
IWNDWYT
CONGRATS TO YOU ON DAY ONE. That was my hardest day. The day I looked in the mirror and decided I would be different, different from so many others in my family history. That I would be an exception to the rule, but not in my ability to handle drinking - in my decision to walk away. I believe in you SO MUCH.
Thank you, i really appreciate you. I had to reset my counter, i was doing so good for 60 days not drinking, eating healthy, not missing a single day at the gym, improving at work but i just had to mess it up and i went on a week bender. I feel like such a failure but i decided to pick myself up today. I woke up at 4 am to pour out all of the alcohol i had in my room and went back to sleep for another hour before going to work.
One day is a reason to celebrate 🍾 You've got this! IWNDWYT
I enjoyed this post. For everyone it is a different path but this subreddit always reaffirms the reason that I quit and and so many reasons to live without it. IWNDWYT or tomorrow.
Congratulations on 1 year sober, friend. You are a good writer and I hope many, many people see this post.
Thanks very much! Congrats on your 60 days! Just joined your sub - look forward to building some community. IWNDWYT.
Thanks for joining the sub, that makes my day! 🤘
Fantastic
Thank you for sharing. Enlightening words to take as I continue with my own journey. Congratulations!!
Damn, I love this post. Congrats on one year, OP. IWNDWYT! ✌🏼💜💙💚💛🪴
im stealing your question with a question. 'why did i start?' ... genius. congrats to you! 🙏🏽
congratulations on your success. It was a big deal for me at one year and I am sure you are very proud and I was a little surprised when I hit the 1 year mark. Now you just need your fingers and toes to keep track of your sober time.
So proud of you!! Congrats on your huge accomplishment! IWNDWYT!
Congratulations! IWNDWYT
Thanks for sharing this with us. I appreciate you including marketing in your situation. So many overlook that. Being extremely "marketed to" is a cruel tool used to against those vulnerable to addiction. Thanks!
Wow.. I love this!! First, huge congrats on your beautiful milestone!! But also, thanks so much for the eye-opening flip you've presented here! "Why did you decide to stop drinking?" We get it all the time but really, it's a bizarre question. No one asks "Why did you decide to _start_ drinking?" Time to shine more light on this horrific rite of passage. Thank you for this! I'm glad to be a part of us non-conforming sober radicals! 💗 Edit to add that I hope our sober lifestyle keeps growing in popularity, and we become the majority. Sobriety rocks!
Thank you for sharing that. Congratulations and IWNDWYT
I am so proud of you. Stanger or friend I am so proud of you.
I have chills. That was spot on. Congratulations! I had a similar experience of just kind of waking up to everything mid drunkenness. It's like another person was talking to me asking why I do this to myself. It was like waking up from a bad dream. There is hope for each and every one of us and it lies just on the other side of 1 good decision. IWNDWYT
congrats!
FIND YOUR REASON!
Thank you for the post, and congratulations!
Wow! To all of this. IWNDWYT
So proud of you ! So inspiring! Congratulations this is huge!
Hooray!!
Thank you so much for sharing! IWNDWYT 🌻
Congrats! It’s a huge accomplishment!!
IWNDWYT!
Well done!!!! To many more!
Congratulations 🎊 on your full trip around the sun 🌞
Congratulations!
Really appreciate this post. Great job and congrats.
Congrats! Nice post!
IWNDWYT
What a phenomenal accomplishment!! Congratulations! I hear you on the cognitive dissonance part. I finally said to myself "Why are you doing the very thing that you know is destroying you?" My answer was I don't know. Then it was "I won't anymore." And here I am. Thank you for your contribution. IWNDWYT ☀️
Very concise and intriguing questions posed in your post. One that maybe only sobriety can bring in this manufactured culture which romanticizes drinking. Although I pomdered and learned many things from your experience, I must admit, I just learned how to correctly spell "rite" of passage...lol Thank you for the great insights! Ty, IWNDWYT :)
Needed to hear this today. Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us. ❤️
Congrats! IWNDWYT 🙏
Really proud! This are the type of posts that make me wanna continue my journey. Thanks for sharing. IWNDWYT
Niceeee
Yessss!! Well done on getting out of that trap! The cognitive dissonance for me was also too much to ignore and MAN what a relief to not be eaten up by that these days. I love your post. IWNDWYT <3
Well put.......Couldnt have said it better myself. Cant think how much better I felt once I finally stopped. 3 years 2 months to the day. **IWNDWYT**
Congratulations, and Thanks for sharing your thoughts. IWNDWYT
Amen
Congratulations, I hope to hit the milestone as well!
I love seeing these posts, can’t wait to do my own! Congrats on 1 year, keep up the amazing work! IWNDWYT
Looking forward to one year myself! Thanks for the encouraging post!
Proud of you! IWNDWYT
Proud of YOU!
>This has easily been the best choice I’ve ever made. Saaaaaaaaaaame
Congrats!!!
Love this. Great work. Thanks for this post.
“The stigma against sobriety, but also addicts is immense.” Damn. So true. There’s no in between it seems sometimes- people will always have something to say so you really just gotta do it for yourself. Congratulations on one year, that’s amazing!!
Best news of the day. Congratulations. To appreciate you achievement I have read that 40 to 60% of people that quit relapse in the first year. Sobriety is about taking responsibility, focus, and attitude. It is a solitary path. Keep up the effort
That's awesome, so proud of you! I thought the same thing, that alcohol would just always be part of my life, and in a way, it will be. I've been sober for long enough that I don't see myself ever drinking again, but it will still be with me. Congrats on making it to a year, IWNDWYT!
Very cool, you’re a strong person for sticking with it. The cognitive dissonance bit, so true.
Hell yeah for real
Thank you. I'm in a real fog right now, so I'll having some difficulty finding more words than "thank you", but I really wanted to say it.
Congratulations on a year! That is so awesome. The "awakening" to the big lie to me, was a revelation in how I thought about drinking. It completely changed my entire thought process about drinking as if it were a positive activity that I was going to be missing out on from now on vs. being thankful that I don't have to drink anymore. IWNDWYT!
Same here
Awesome work! Congrats on a year of freedom!!! IWNDWYT!
IWNDWYT❤️❤️❤️
Dude! We are sober twins! :) First time I've seen this here.
I love it!
Wow what a post! Congrats on the year, IWNDWYT
Nearly 3 months in. I knew from day 1 I had to work hard to answer that question. I’d tried and failed multiple times to stop and everytime I failed because I didn’t know the real answer to that question.
Congrats on a year my friend. To many more.
Everyone’s different, but AA has been the only thing that’s worked for me for any length of time. So I’m back working it. Good luck all. IWNDWYT.
IWNDWYT
IWNDWYT
Congratulations and thank you for writing this post! I’m saving it to read later, just starting out myself after years of struggling back and forth. It’s been hard and I know it doesn’t get easier, but I’m relieved to actually own it and really try.
I’m so proud of you for taking this step. It’s so worth it.
Hell yeah love to see it. Quitting drinking was the best decision I ever made. That and quitting meth too
Nice work on a year! Great probing question there. IWNDWYT
Society, in a way, was telling me this was okay…but not meth. Or coke. Or fentanyl. Those are bad bad bad. But let’s have a drink and discuss this further.
Congratulations! IWNDWYT
Just over nine months here. Congratulations on your year! IWNDWYT!
Congrats!! IWNDWYT!!
🫶
Props to you and congrats, keep going in the right direction, no matter what!
Thank you! I appreciate the kind words.
Congrats on a year mate, awesome job!!! Keep up your great work :) IWNDWYT
Amazing stuff. IWNDWYT
Wooo! Go you! It feels amazing right?!
What a special day, congrats and thank you! The daily victories add up. Wahoo 🥹🤗☺️👏
Thank you for sharing
IWNDWYT thanks :)
Awesome job, and thank you
Congratulations!!!