One month sober...
 

Hey, this may not be that big of a deal and you may wonder why I would post something this insignificant, but for me, it's an accomplishment.

September 30th marks 1 full month of sobriety for me, in which I have struggled to maintain for a good 5 years now. True I'm just a 21 year old, but I've had a constant battle with alcohol and other drugs since 16 years old.

I have successfully been able to fight the other vices off before the age of 18, but alcohol has been a constant problem with me and has continued to do so up until august 30th of this year.

It's a lot harder to stop than people may think, and when I'm accustom to drinking twice a week for the past 5 years, staying sober for a whole month and beyond seems like a dream at first. Through strength of will power plus a good circle of support, I've been able to fight off the power than alcohol possesses and have currently put a stop to my drinking ways.

I guess mainly this thread is also to thank a certain poster here at OM. We've been PM'ing each other for 6 months now, ever since I've started to get sober, and he's stuck with me through the relapses that have occured and has said prayers and still continued to help me out with whatever advice he has to offer.

I got a longer battle ahead, but 1 month is really milestone for me, feel free to call me and idiot and tell me that 21 years old is the age to be drinking and later on is time to get sober, but this was a long time coming and I feel better than I really have ever felt.

not sure where to start here:

congrats first off, and second for a lot of people, and people that can relate its nice to know, that advice or confidence is here for you. you just have to know where to find it.

great post- rep.

Congrats lil bro! We are all proud of your accomplishments and hope you can stick with it for life! You should be proud that you have taken the first steps to getting your life back from the drugs and alcohol that was hurting you.

And as for your supporter, I am glad to hear that you have a good support group here in them. We are all one big family here and it shows. Congrats on sobriety bro...

Stay on the Wagon man! Alchoal is BAD!!! I luckly learned that young myself.

Thanks to everyone, it's been a tough battle, but now after 1 month, I feel like I can fight it forever.

Again, thanks to everyone for their help and kind words.

Way to go DenFan. One day at a time.

Right on congrats. It takes alot of will power to make a life change like that. That itself earns respect in my book.

happy to see you have confidance that you have the problem undercontroll yet I know part of it is not to forget it is a everyday struggle! take it one day at a time.

Some would say 21 is a bit young to worry about it I would say bull****. The overall effects only get worse and it gets harder as you get older to stop. I know that first hand. It can mess your life up so bad you end up waking up one day and having to rebuild all you've worked for.

WOOOO HOOOOO!!!

anyone calls you an idiot and ill knock their cyber teeth out!

way to go my friend.

there is NOTHING insignificant about 30 days.

thats a long friggin time. a LONG time.

thanks for making my day buddy. you are SO the man.

absolutely awesome. AWESOME!!!

jake

First let me say congratulation Denver 38, 30 days sober is a big deal. As good as it feels now I promise you it will get better, much better. Oh there will be hard times and times of strong temptation but if you get a good support group and hang with then you will find a life that you can't even imagine at this time. One day at a time this will come to pass for you. I have been living it one day at a time for over 10 years now and I can tell you first hand what I have said is the truth. PM me any time.

That is truly fantastic, DenFan. There's nothing I can add that hasn't already been said... :thumbsup:

All the best DenFan.......keep on keepin' on.

Congratulations, DenFan. You've got a long life ahead of you and if you feel like alcohol was holding you back, you've made a great decision. Be proud of that decision because it requires more courage than many people will ever realize.

congrats denfan

I'm so happy for you Denfan I think I'll have a beer to celebrate!

J/K It is always impressive to see anyone win against any type of addiction. It's probably a great feeling to know for a month you've owned it instead of it owning you.

Way to go Denfan! Keep up the good work!

First of all that took major Nad to post that amongst us heathens here on the web! Ya got heart kid! Don't forget it. You'll be ok as long as you remember that you have friends in places you never know you did.. :homer:

Good going!

I'm proud of you, dude!

It takes cajones the size of cantaloupes to do life w/o the anesthetic in this culture of consensual unconsciousness, apathy, and ignorance where the official philosophy is "Why ask why? Drink Bud dry."

:thumbsup:

Congrats DenFan.

It sounds like you know what you gotta do and are doing it.

I'm sure it isn't easy.

I just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who has shown their support in this thread.

The best way to explain my drinking habits, was back in Canton I went down to party with the OM tailgate. I started drinking at about 7 PM and kept on going until 6 AM where a little bit later I passed out on the couch in the RV totally hammered out of my mind, and have a blurry recolection of the night before. Probably to most people it would be "Hey, you went to a huge tailgate party and got tore up, it happens to everyone," but that wasn't a special occasion, thats how I've been known to drink since I basically started, and through 5 years of that and doing it at least twice a week, it just took an enormous toll on my body(added in that I'm only 5"9' and 150 now, was probably only 120 when I started) and I needed to stop.

Last summer, if you ever read some posts of mine at night and said to yourself "This guy has to be drunk to say these things and type this way," well...you were right. Last summer was the worst, not a night went by without me getting drunk, and back then it was something to brag about, now I look back and am pretty ashamed of what occured to me. To say that I spent 3 full months of my life drunk every night is not something to be proud of, and not something to show off as some kind of token gift that God gave me.

It's tough, especially with turning 21 just 6 months ago and not doing the "normal" tuff that 21 year olds do, but the way I drank and the length of my drinking has already caught up with me, and it's taken a lot of willpower and a few trips to the doctors and/or hospital to fight it off, but I feel stronger than I used to now. Still have things medically wrong with me due to drinking that isn't making me feel as good as I should be, but they'll soon go away now that I've knocked this habit down.

Thanks again to all who have shown support.

Once again, I extend my congratulations. I've always been a "non-drinker". MAYBE I would have a beer or two socially now and then, but it would never be to the point of being drunk. So, I don't know what it's like to be in the grips of alcohol. I've had people tell me to do the "cool thing" and get drunk once in a while, but I ignore them because I know that's the right thing to do. It's not as much of an issue now that I'm a little older, but I still get it some of the time. Especially at your age, that's what you need to do. If you undergo peer pressure to get drunk, give them this and you'll feel much better: 4321~

Congratulations on the milestone, DenFan. Keep it up.. you can do it!

Congrats on a huge first step.

I've been through this sort of thing with family members & know how tough it is.

Huh, O well, there are more where you came from. *hiccup* (spoken from someone who cut his thumb on an oyster can)

Hard freeze tonight. Beezlebub has abandoned house jumping and adopted the electric blanket for the duration.