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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Nice work Treez, keep it up!
BVB - super stoked for you man. That second year can be a bitch because your brain starts working again. Stay strong and talk if you need to, OK? Really proud of you.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, California
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H&I
Best thing that happened to me for long-term sobriety was after about a year or two I volunteered to do H&I meetings through AA once a month (hospitals and institutions). I did those meetings off and on for about eight years until it felt like I was doing time with the inmates and then I stopped. I spent a lot of years drinking and trying to stay out of those places so it was one of the most frightening obstacles in my sobriety. If you're fortunate and don't have a big rap sheet getting cleared to attend meetings in institutions is not a hard thing. The hard part is voluntarily going through the security checks and locked gates into the heart of a prison where you feel somewhat vulnerable. Until you realize how lucky you are that with each and every visit you get to go home to a life free of the misery and insanity of incarceration. It's not as hard to want to stay sober at any cost after that.
I'll never forget it and the memory has served to help me stay sober for many years.
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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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Congratulations on your year, BVB!!!
Norwegian - Don't know what to say, as in the past you've made poetry that seems heartfelt and then you say it's all made up. AsGomer Pyle once said, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." Wish you the best, no matter
I still consider myself an AA'er, but rarely go to meetings. I do have some guilt about not being there for the newcomer, but I do feel I act the Twelfth Step, being here for those reaching out for help, in real life(and even here on ST!). I fell off the "regular-meetin' goin'" when I got a dog walk client that conflicted with my meeting times, almost all of which were at 7pm. The walk was 30m at 7, which gave me just enough time to miss the speaker and announcements at meetings and get there for the whining...errr, I mean sharing.
Still carry the last Anniversary Coin I received in my wallet- it is IX, so that does make me one of those in the Two to Ten Years MIA. The good news is that I have stayed sober(and drug free) since, and I am at 18.5 years now. Holy cow - that seems unreal at times. I am grateful. I cannot imagine how bad it would be if I hadn't gotten sober, but I am pretty sure it would be quite unattractive.
People say that if you slip, you pick up right where you left off, as if you never had a day sober. I've heard a few who got resober say that wasn't the case for them, but it is one experience I hope I never have to encounter. I don't mind the uncertainty of knowing if I would immediately go back to being a blackout drinker with a big mouth, drinking home alone, talking to nobody but myself, or if I could be sociable in public and stop before the third drink, at least for a while.... Some questions are better left unanswered!
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Stevee B
Trad climber
Oakland, CA
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Celebrated 25 years last Tuesday. H&I is my cornerstone. I rarely attend more than one meeting a week; My wife is not in the program and I don't think more meetings would improve much. I get the most out of attending that one meeting with a focus on bringing a cheerful and helpful spirit to the suffering I meet there, new or not so new. Two H&I meetings a month remind me where I came from and that I can't do it alone. Best of all is I recruit two newer guys per H&I to come with me, which helps me forge new connections constantly and keep me socially connected to the fellowship in what for me is the "right" way.
So yeah, x2 for the H&I recommendation.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Mar 26, 2015 - 03:48pm PT
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Nice Steve B, congrats!
Five years for me, two days ago, on the 24th, almost spaced it!
Where does the time go?
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Mar 26, 2015 - 04:19pm PT
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Grats Jaybro and HUGE grats Steve, thanks for the inspiration.
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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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Mar 26, 2015 - 05:30pm PT
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Congratulations Jaybro! I almost forgot my anniversary last year too - made me a little sad. Glad I DID remember during the actual day.
Somebody I have been around recently has slipped, with 20 years sober under their belt. I don't know them well, but when they told me they were drinking again, they said "I was 25 when I quit. How do I know that it just wasn't stupid youthfulness at play?"
I was glad that I never had that idea about my own drinking days, but then I had a grandmother die from alcoholism, and saw my mother's deterioration. I have seen the ghost of Christmas past, present and future when it comes to my drinking. This slipper person says they aren't "done with this run yet," but they already look like hell to me. I hope they won't stay drinking long, but statistics show it tends to take a while, if ever, to regain a foothold on sobriety.
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Stevee B
Trad climber
Oakland, CA
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Mar 26, 2015 - 06:22pm PT
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Firing, Jaybro! Five years is a long time.
So welcome, Vegas, thanks for saying so. Feels good to hear that.
Sorry about your acquaintance Happie. You know I know that story. Literally dozens of friends down that road now, with very few good results, though one or two are OK.
On the brighter side, I see several dozens of my friends from my first year on FB, still doing the deal and shining bright. Million dollar program for sure.
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pb
Sport climber
Sonora Ca
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Mar 26, 2015 - 07:39pm PT
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Yeah! Good for all of you. Life is good, I almost forgot I'm good too.
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John Burns
climber
Pothole, Utah
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Mar 26, 2015 - 07:42pm PT
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anyway,
all this is more easily swallowed
when my pipes they aint irrigating
adolf's piss.
cheers to you dry-folk. someday, I'll quit wetting my soul.
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Poloman
Trad climber
Anna, Il
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Mar 26, 2015 - 08:12pm PT
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Hankster
With each passing day your endeavor will get easier. The hardest part is the change in routines and the way you socialize. It is very worthwhile.
Eventually, it will become effortless.
I have been sober for 31 years. For a very long time it has been effortless. I am so happy that I stopped when I did.
I am old enough that, by now, I would have been feeling the ill effects.
If you can do a month, you can go the distance. After a while, it won't even bother you.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Mar 27, 2015 - 12:40am PT
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Psyched to see everyone is doing so well.
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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Apr 27, 2015 - 06:07pm PT
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^^^looks like the best day eva:-)
two days for meez
and i'm runnin with it
no more stumbl'in
Thank youz for the inspirationz
3dayz.
couldn't sleep w/out routine 72oz'z
Olive'z bday tomorrowz
shez gettin a new dad
Cheerz
tremorz all day
took two handz to steer a pencil
only one thought on my mindz
and it aint balloonz
i m so d e p r e z z e d
May 6,
Had to jump back so as to count the days since the last time I was in a daze
10 TEN!!!!!!!!!! BOWWWwww!
The last 3 were rather easy being sick in bed:-(
Psyched to have my high times come strictly through breathe:-D
And I got all this extra money too nobody mentioned that$
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Apr 27, 2015 - 06:16pm PT
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hey there say, all... great to hear all the updates...
wonderful new ways for you to feel good, now...
keep up the great work... :)
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Apr 27, 2015 - 08:41pm PT
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Having just had a climbing visit by a very dear, sober, friend made me really appreciate what I have and all the many ways that sobriety is the way for me!
Now my roommate.... Last night the sound of cracking pbr's sounded almost like hail! This morning the new toaster oven was in the backyard. I guess he showed it!
Go Bluockr!!
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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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Apr 28, 2015 - 05:24am PT
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Way to go, Blublockr.
The toaster oven story reminds me of a wonderful story one of the elder guys shared at a meeting. He was a debonair white-haired defense lawyer. Not the stereotypical oily kind getting baby-killers off, but the kind that believed with all his soul in the intent of the justice system; that all deserved a FAIR trial. Even a baby-killer.
So he tells of his last drunk, how he walked into the elevator of his Upper West Side high rise, and was immediately confronted by a POLAR BEAR! Standing tall and surely intent on mauling him.
Well, he fought back, and he fought, but he couldn't recall how he had survived.
How he ended up in jail, he wasn't sure, but apparently he put two and two together, when he was questioned once he'd slept it off. It seemed a little impossible to believe to himself, the idea that a polar bear was loose in NYC, in an elevator.....But he told his story nonetheless.
When the detective explained that he'd attacked a woman who had been wearing a full length white fur coat, he understood what had happened, that he was an alcoholic and his life had become unmanageable.....
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Apr 28, 2015 - 11:37am PT
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Hoh man! I've heard of pink elephants before but elevator cruising, polar bears?
So, I felt bad that that brave little toaster had to die for another's problems, so I fished him out of th garbage last night. I set him up this morning and made sourdough rye toast with almond butter, yum! I'll see if he's still with us or back in the gulag shortly, although at 12:30 it's probably too early for the executioner to be cognizant yet.....
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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May 30, 2015 - 07:14pm PT
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I have not been on your side of this fight.
I am trying to console my daughter who just heard that her former fiance just died, very young. He had so much to offer. 35 is too young to die from the bottle, by the bottle. He wasted away to under 100 pounds on his 6'2" frame. He was a very likable, charismatic man. We embraced him as part of our family because she loved him, and we became fond of him.
I hear the guilt in my daughter's voice - why could she not inspire him to get sober? perhaps she gave up on him too soon? not soon enough? I tell her it had to come from within him. You can't choose for someone else. I hear her voice - and I can tell she thinks Mom is just trying to console her, but somehow she should have been able to do more for him.
He lost her, his business, his house. He returned to his parent's home to live. They reached out to each other from time to time. He never gave up the bottle. She offered friendship, but not the romance they enjoyed before.
I am not surprised to cry for her and the useless guilt she feels. I am surprised at how I am crying for him. I imagine how lost he and hopeless he felt.
I can't change this. This is the third death too young in our family in the last year.
FOr those of you who do struggle, know how much you are loved, and how those who love you have no idea how to help you. You matter.
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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May 30, 2015 - 11:38pm PT
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Nice sentiments Seamstress. And suprema!
i can't believe it's only been 35 days SOBER for me. Feels like its been 35 years worth of experiences condensed in those 35 days : ) compared to the prior 3yrs feeling like one drunk'in day : (
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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May 31, 2015 - 12:09am PT
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Thanks Treez!
Give ur friend a "BEST THING I EVER DID" from me too!
AND one from my daughter tooz
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