Addiction & Recovery
Related: About this forum2-28-1992
Celebrated 20 years last night, shared cake with some wonderful people,
Truly I am blessed
irisblue
(34,367 posts)congratulations! Cyber Chips and Cyber Hugs. and for me, today is 6 months..
cordelia
(2,174 posts)That is fantastic.
NMDemDist2
(49,314 posts)Congrats on 6 months, I think that was the hardest one after the first week
cordelia
(2,174 posts)Truly inspiring.
NMDemDist2
(49,314 posts)sorry i missed your post in there
tavalon
(27,985 posts)It's our job to shower you with congrats, so very deserved. I'm finding that working on recovery is much more difficult than falling into old habits. You deserve all the accolades. And if you stumble, you will always have many hands willing to hold yours while you dig out. But if I were a betting woman (which I'm not, because I think that might just be one of my soft spots), I would guess that you won't.
Then again, to start a whole different topic, how hard is it for people with huge amounts of sobriety to admit when they have screwed up? I would think it would be incredibly hard, but I don't know. Perhaps the tenth (?) says it best when it says we recognize our mistakes and promptly admitted them. Makes it sound so easy, huh? (sorry don't have the steps right in front of me and am the opposite of eidetic).
oldhippydude
(2,514 posts)you know that 20 year thing is in fact a day at a time.. but i found that folks kind set that as milestone, and in fact folks started treating me subtly diffent..even though i was the same guy.. thanks for being one of "go to" guys online
and congrats on 6 months .. that is a big deal.. how i remember my first 6 months..
NMDemDist2
(49,314 posts)Miracles really DO happen!
Rhiannon12866
(223,337 posts)I have 34 months today.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)Since we take this day by day, yours counts too! Congratulations!
Rhiannon12866
(223,337 posts)I used to keep track of the days, but now I'd need a calculator, LOL. But that's exactly how I did it, One Day at a Time...
tavalon
(27,985 posts)but I remember coming home from my work and having the addict confront me about the difference between enabling and helping and that he would need my help in the future and wanted to make sure "I believed in him". I cried and I cried, but the quiet voice inside my head knew I was being manipulated. I won't ever forget that. It was the day I was sure that the man I knew and loved was gone.
He left that day and I had to send a letter I wasn't ready to send (too early in recovery) but I sent it. I haven't heard from him since and when I'm in my sickness, I wonder and worry, and when I'm working my program, I'm working my program. It's that simple. I'm insane if I'm not working the program and progressing to sanity when I am. I'm not sure how I'll measure the time, I think I might just measure the progress.
NMDemDist2
(49,314 posts)tavalon
(27,985 posts)You know, it feels simultaneously weird and really okay to mix it up with recovering drug addicts, recovering alcoholics and recovering enablers. We all have a drug of choice that made us insane.
Mine is trying to help people who are quite capable of helping themselves. It doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as say, "my drug of choice is Stoli". Perhaps I should say, "my drug of choice is people". Insane. Working day by day to get sane.
demosincebirth
(12,740 posts)Tripod
(854 posts)tavalon
(27,985 posts)Much better than my couple of years, followed by fifteen years of running my own life, followed by, um, lemme see, 3 months. Congratulations! You are an inspiration to me and to no doubt, many.
Old Codger
(4,205 posts)Way to go.... 20 is a milestone for all of us...