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Never Stop Trying For Your Sobriety
I’ve achieved 42 years plus straight line sobriety. Not saying this to brag but to give hope. I tried many times on my own to stop drinking but couldn’t achieve stopping. As they say you have to hit bottom & I finally did. Was about to lose a good job & was a single mom trying to raise my kids as dad wasn’t giving any child support. I went into a In House Program & thankfully had good insurance to pay for it. Spent 31 days there & was an excellent program I could relate too. Without going into more detail that don’t think would help anyone else the point I’m making is finding a program that works for you. One size doesn’t fit all. Know when you’ve hit your bottom & keep trying whatever way you can & don’t stop no matter how many times you fail as the right path to your sobriety is out there. Hope this helps any that are still struggling.
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I found that NA helps....it keeps me from isolation and my home group is much like a family .you can share your feelings shortcomings and successes...it keeps me from giving up hope ...
Joseph
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3 ReactionsSo great you found what works for you👍🏻👏👏
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1 Reaction@surechamp
Great job. You mention three key words "I was ready". We have to hit bottom and give up, surrender. It sounds a little hokey but AA has it right - admit being powerless (or simply unable to control) drinking and drugging and all the ways our lives and other get messed up. We start saving ourselves by admitting were drowning - and could someone please throw a life preserver.
I started out in sobriety in 2003, got 4.5 years and thought I was cured. First though wrong. It took 3 years to get back. I'm sober 14 plus years now and life is wonderful.
Joe
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2 ReactionsGood for you Joseph. We each do what works best for us. And that always involves other people who help us, and who give is a chance to help others. It is a virtuous circle.
Joe
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2 Reactions@heyjoe415 thanks joe....sometimes I just feel like giving up, but then I remember the sacrifices that others have made for me...somehow I'd like to play forward a small part of that.
Joseph
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3 Reactions@joeyjensen1959
Joseph - I think everyone has thoughts, at some point in their respective lives, thoughts of giving up.
It's human nature to want to end something that has become painful. Accepting things as they are, and dismissing the notion of giving up, makes us stronger. I'm convinced of this based on my own experiences.
Well I'm glad you didn't give up Joseph!
Joe
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2 Reactions@heyjoe415 success shared gives hope to those still trying for their sobriety so thank you for sharing & so glad you didn’t give up. Kudo’s to you!
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1 ReactionI quit Oct 13th 1996 at 6pm after I got off of 494 in eden prairie from work. I quit because I refused to let alcohol take control of my life. This is what happens to all of us but we refuse to see it! I had to give up all alcohol and going with others that drink. Some of them I worked with but after that day of quitting I never went with them to drink.
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3 Reactions@stsopoci so true having to stop going with friends for drinks as sobriety has to come first as without it we have nothing.
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2 ReactionsAs I read the title, I wondered, 'Does the toddler walking on four straining against a chair leg to stand up is "TRYING" to STAND? Or is it something inborn that nudges this being-of-ours to get to the next level of its development as a fully formed human -- and one day it is running, jumping and climbing All On Its Own?
And since we are talking about what we put in our bodies, as babies we moved our mouth away the moment we felt satiated. The human being seems so exquisitely built up to how we move and when stop eating.
Yet as grown ups (Yes, Grown-ups) we begin to have problems with the system that we were born with.
Then we begin to TRY to eat just right amount and Try to move enough to help us keep reasonably healthy and strong.
I believe nature has done a marvelous job of nudging (I say luring) us into ways that help us into making ourselves into decent enough physically and mentally competent.
So why, or when, do we begin to lose this innate ability? I have wondered on this question long and hard, for years and I believe the damage to this inner 'voice' happens when Other Basic Needs that we are born with begin to be ignored, Needs such as our Curiosity and Play, both physically and mentally engaging. Other needs are for expressing our Unique gifts that many of us are born with such as for creative art or science related. It is when we nurture the WHOLE of us that we avoid being a prey of Excessive 'hungers' be they for food, shopping, gambling or drinking, and more.
The reason the lone beer sometimes stays for over a week in my fridge is because there are more urgent and INTERESTING things in life that may be 'round the corner' and therefore need my time and attention. One such need is to look for fellow men and women who I might enjoy (and they with me) talking about what matters in our lives, personally or socially. This is one thing that is sorely missing in our world and AA helps fill this need, and I believe it's this fellowship that helps with the healing from the excesses-of-substances in our lives.
It certainly seems to have worked for my 82 years of near constant upheavals.
Goof luck folks -- with a life that WE all are meant to have.
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