Advice...?

Yeah, you got a point there. No, no meetings. Didn't really "want" that, but in all honesty, i was envious of that whole chip ceremony thing :grinning:

This

Universe will never ask for too much. We aren't expected to be superheroes. Sometimes just a simple act of kindness can change the world.

That’s a huge accomplishment! I understand wanting to feel seen in this. Unfortunately some people just don’t understand how difficult this process actually is. Some won’t even appreciate it. Sometimes a circle change is necessary. Sometimes now. The main question I have here is if they are supportive of this accomplishment?

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Big big congratulations. You deserve tons of praise. :+1:t2:. I get it. But some non alcoholic people may not.

For sure. Not understanding the difficulty of it may play into it. I remember as a kid watching my older brother and mom not being able to stop, thinking "that's stupid, just don't do it" . Later in life I realized I was the dumb one, and they were sick and really couldn't just "stop". Thank you for the kind words.

Thank you Cathy!

Your sobriety is your party. Other people may not understand the significance because they may not be privy to how critical the choice was for you to make. But remember that you got and stay sober for you, not them. And not for kudos. Unless it's 100 percent about you, then it doesn't work. Pat yourself on the back and wake up tomorrow, ready to find new ways to keep building a better version of yourself!

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I like the party analogy, good stuff. But they've been invited too!!! :slight_smile: but this party for 1 is good enough for me.
I definitely agree that it has to be "for you" for it to work, in general, but in my case my kids played an important role in my decisions for sure. Not sure ALL parents are the same, but for the most part, I think that caveat holds true in some aspect or another.

Keep going. Maybe your loved ones just need some time to see that there is no going back for you. This group can help you celebrate. You got this.

Yes. Get over it. Congratulations, you're not a drunken scumbag anymore. Stay that way. The "pats on the back" are when people invite you places or no longer worry about you doing something dumb. The trust of the people you care about returning.

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For sure, this group is awesome. Thanks!

You are on to something here. I have noticed that many people who are so called normal drinkers struggle with how to respond to my quitting because they internalize their own relationship with alcohol when I bring it up and then have nothing to say. The analogy that comes to mind is if you were in perfect shape and were surrounded by overweight or obese people ans you had given up sugar and sweets for a year would they go out of their way to congratulate you? No. They would see you and think maybe I should eat less.

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Man I love a good analogy! Thanks for sharing, makes a lot of sense!

I don't care what others think about my "time". And I make effort nit to have expectations of others. I've found that that usually leaves me disappointed and possibly feeling resentful.

I try to do the same w most people in my life, and youre right that it helps. But there are a few that are supposed to be super important people in my life and I expected more I guess. I get in my feelings sometimes. Thanks!

It’s hard because we were lost for so long, I feel like. When we are so happy, excited and sober our emotions are so big to us, but either like you said for others they’re waiting for the shoe to drop but also they are just not experiencing the “high” we are, especially what we are feeling. I just celebrated my one year and unfortunately my expectations of others were higher than what I was feeling. New sobriety… am I right? Good luck to you, keep it up!!

Yes ma'am. I feel that. it's way different for us. We know what it took, what we went through, way way more than others. Great point, thanks! :grinning:

And congrats to you on 1 year +!!!

For me I spent years disappointing my loved ones at various times. I can’t realistically expect a round of applause for doing what i was supposed to do in the first place.

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