10 years or so ago when I was in the navy they sent me to rehab for drinking, and that’s where I learned about AA for the first time, at the time I really wasn’t ready to change, but the navy definitely was thought I needed to change.

However many years after that when I was ready AA was a good fellowship of men and women who all wanted the same thing “sobriety”

The main basis of the program is alcoholics helping alcoholic. When we help others we learn that it helps us as well.

The only requirement for membership is the desire to quit drinking.

There are fellowships all around the world and like you said even online meeting.

And yes the “big book” is our guidance that provides us with suggestions, and it’s a good idea to find a sponsor who can help you through the book and the steps.

The book will suggest you do some extremely hard things like living a life of honesty and integrity day by day.

Living a life worth living, not escaping from.

Let me know if your interested in know more.

Just hit 40 days sober. Had a work function tonight and ordered a non alcoholic beer. Didn't feel weird at all (as I have feared in the past).

Nice work with getting back up and back on track after a lapse. I know that's hard to do sometimes, especially when dealing with guilt and shame from the lapse.Congrats on 40 days! Next thing you know, you'll be at the two month mark!


I hope everyone has been well! I've been feeling under the weather for the past several days, so I've just been laying low to recover. I feel like I will be able to hit the gym up tomorrow, so I am grateful for that.

Oh damn, the misc is back! I hope everyone has been doing well! I celebrated two years of sobriety on March 30th! I went to go visit my parents last week and it was really nice to spend some time with them. Also, I hope it was nice for them to see my sober and doing well!

Saturday marked 9 months sober:

I’m at the point where I am not sure if I am a “real alcoholic/addict”

Kinda feel like a fraud at some of these meetings; people in there definitely seem like the real thing.

Congrats on 9 months sober! I cannot relate to kind of feeling like a fraud, but I wonder if that is possibly your addiction trying to be sneaky and lead you to drinking/using again. My understanding is that everyone who has a desire to be sober is allowed into the meetings. So, you are definitely no fraudster!

congrats on the 9 months, how has it been . do you ever feel like having a drink

congrats on 2 years how has the 2 years been

Yea Iv definitely felt like drinking or smoking a few times.

Definitely probably the disease talking.

4/20 will be one year since I had any type of alcohol and it feels good.

In my heyday I was drinking at least 2-3 beers for lunch and more after work almost every day. My excuse for drinking on my lunch break was that I needed it to take the edge off during work. That was such a fking copout, nothing I did warranted me drinking that much or at all. It wasn't until I was close to 270 lbs with a fd up heart that I realized that I needed to make a change.

Today I'm down to 225ish and unfortunately was laid off so I got a lot of idle time while I'm waiting for call backs and interviews.


Hope you all get to where you wanna be.

Thank you!! It has been a quick journey and it certainly does not feel like it has been 2 years.I always keep that in mind when I start having thoughts that might go against my recovery lol.Congrats on hitting one year in two days! I can relate to excusing my drinking and using as a "way to unwind" lol. Nice work on getting down to 225ish! I wish you good luck with looking for work and that you find something soon!!

Wow, the promises really are attainable and do begin to come true, early in sobriety, and even greater things come through staying the course. I reached 8 months a couple of weeks ago and suddenly things started to get more vibrant, more energy, and I was more upbeat on life.

I had a difficult 6.5 months of job searching after getting out of rehab, having some close calls, making it to the final round, and ultimately not being selected for a couple of jobs I felt I was an incredibly strong candidate for. I weathered through these and leading up to my 8 month sobriety date had an incredible opportunity that I believed was now dead in the water.

In all the interview processes I was upfront about an alcohol related termination. The last one the interviewer wanted to go indepth about it. Typically the issue of alcohol was adressed briefly when I was asked why I left my prior company. Two to three sentences about my alcohol termination, my decision to go to rehab and the completion of it, and my term of sobriety. In the last opportunity, we had had two prior interviews together, spent time walking around the campus, and it was the 7th and final interview of the process where he really wanted to dig into everything. I was honest and upfront about where I was in sobriety and some of the details of my past that were related, the discussion about alcohol took up about 15 minutes of the last interview. I thought I was probably tanked, but felt at peace with speaking my truth when directly asked and pushed to reveal more.

Weeks go by, I had written it off as another lost opportunity.

Recently got confirmation that I got the job, passed all of the background verification processes and start the job in mid May. It is a job that even in my prior successful career that was clear of alcohol issues I never could have dreamed of getting.

After rehab I had been working a paycheck job as a cashier at a truck stop, cleaning showers, getting yelled at constantly, and dealing with violent angry customers, being degraded by managers and some of the customers. Let's not talk about the things I cleaned up in the bathrooms. There is no thing as a non-noble job, but this was rough. Prior to this I had positions where my lateral colleagues were PhDs, I was considered the expert in the state on several issues, and had presented at large conferences nationally. Several academic papers recognize my for my contributions in the field. It was rough sometimes thinking about how far down things had gone because of my alcoholism. I got through it and stayed sober, focused on my graduate classes and my hope for the future.

Life does get better, and hope, goals, mission, and purpose helped me everyday.

This is just another step on the journey. But good things can and do happen.

Stay the course my friends. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

Congrats on eight months of sobriety as well as congrats on your new job! Thanks for sharing some of your victories with us. I agree that good things come from recovery, some are sooner and other things are later!

121 days clean here, stopped drinking as I ended up in a random chicks bed, didn't even know her name or if we even had sex, felt rotten. Feel much better for this lifestyle change. Keep it strong kings.

Congrats on over four months of sobriety!! Definitely a positive lifestyle change!

On day 3 sober again... the anxiety during the week weening off was terrible. Gonna give the AA a chance next week. I drove to one the other day but didn't muster the courage to go in. My issue is after 2 weeks ill feel good and for some reason I will tell myself the lie again thinking I can handle myself and that night ill binge drink, and then the bender begins. Same ol cycle

It’s hard, but doing hard things makes us stronger.

You have to understand we tend to desire to be creatures of comfort, but that comfort will lead to complacency which leads to death.

I am slowly learning this is a one day at a time thing, and that every day we have to work the steps.

One acknowledge we need help
Two acknowledge there is help
Three accept that help

I wish I could tell you it’ll be easy, but that’ll be a lie.

Right now my sponser wants me to get phone numbers from people in the meetings and call them during the week and talk about my feelings.

You think I want to do that?

F no,

But I do understand how it’ll help me.

A change in perspective is always beneficial.

But hey man take it easy and focus just on today.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery,
Today is a gift that’s why it’s called the present.

If you have the present live in that, don’t numb it.

Cheers man, means less drugs as it all goes hand in hand. Can't do coke if you're drinking beers. So I'm very much on 5am wake up, gym + cardio and 16 hour fasting and running a calorie deficit crew.

Got laid off a single day before tenure kicked in, been a slovenly booze hound just delaying life for the past few weeks since. Developed the habit when covid shuttered everything in 2020, also used it for self-medicating. Had numerous "I'll never even look at alcohol again" moments in the form of hangovers and such, but the other day was a different animal. Went to piss and it was dirty brown. I'm no doctor but I know enough to know that's a bad, bad sign. Not only that, but I've gotten fat as **** in such a short time.

Wish me luck boyos. It won't be the first time I've gone on a sabbatical, but I'm hoping this was enough for me to make it stick.

Some of what this dude says stuck in my head, dunno if will help you but give it a listen.



https://youtu.be/b2VN9cgWYZg?si=E4sVZ_Nqx2wAcfkz

It certainly helps to get a good routine and schedule going! Sitting idly can be dangerous.I'm sorry to hear about you getting laid off. Keep us updated with how things are going!Thanks for sharing the video, I am giving it a listening to in the background.




I hope everyone else has been doing well. Crazy that we are rounding the corner to the start of summer. It's been nice having some warm and sunny weather; I just got back from riding my bike. My recovery has been going strong and the 30th of this month will be 26 months!

Yesterday I had my first beer in 4.5 months whilst doing some DIY and it made me realize I don't need to be teetotal. I just need to be more responsible with my drinking and not drink to an excess and see it as a challenge to drain my bank account.

I wish you all continued strength in your journey men!

We're all going to make it.

Last month was 6 years for me. It's honestly hard to even remember a life where I did drink, and even harder to imagine a future where I would drink.This is how it starts... good luck

Some people can drink and use moderately, some can't. I know for sure that I can not and will not be able to drink or use responsibility, so a life of sobriety is my cup of tea.Congrats on 6 years, that is quite a long time! I have been thinking about that recently, how the **** did I manage to drink and use for so much of my life?! It seems crazy that someone would tolerate the ups and downs with substance abuse as well as the feeling of a bleak, meaninglessness existence.

Over a year sober now, forget the exact date. My nursing career is back on track. Not sleeping with 4 chicks a month and buying morning after's all the time. Life is good. Gym is good.

Congrats on over a year of sobriety! And congrats on getting your nursing career back. Do you have to do random UAs and check ins or is your license unencumbered? I lost my nursing license a few years ago and the hoops to jump through make it not worth it.

A week in to sobriety again.. Feeling hopeful though. Been having a few N/a beers when im craving something, they've seem to help a lot especially in social environments. Its funny they taste like beer but ill only have one an hour naturally compared to the real thing id kill 3-4 with ease in an hour. Body still recovering, reworking itself; random body pains, but they're improving. Hoping I can keep it going, don't want to slip up and go right back into the viscous cycle for probably the 100th time. Hoping this week I can drag myself back into the gym and begin to make that a hobby that I used to be addicted prior to my heavy drinking years.

Been sober since Feb last year.. not even one sip.. no cigs.. no weed. No candies. not even a tylanol or an antibiotic.

Went on a long bender and had kidney failure.. eating super clean diet and recovered fast.. i actually look about 10 years younger.