7 years & 7 months, as I turn 52...

[autumn]

Hello lovlies,

I so hope you are all well,
It's been a while, but life has had me busy.... And it's been a heck of a ride!

I am sat here minutes away from my 52nd birthday and it's suddenly dawned on me, it is also 7 years and 7 months since I finally quit... Wow

10 years ago, when my drinking was chaos, hitting 50 seemed way out of my reach. And anyhoo it was such a shite existence, what was there to look forward to? I was drinking myself to death....

My rock bottom was bad, oh so bad, and it left me with only 2 choices. Drink and die or sober up and start living again.... I chose life and my sobriety is now my most precious gift.

I am alive! My darling sobriety has seen me through my divorce and near bankruptcy, but we fought back and we are both still standing, and we are stronger than ever.

My sobriety is my rock, my gem and my compass and my cork, as it keeps me afloat through these troubled times....

If you are struggling right now, please look to the path that is well lit, the sobriety path. The dark path of booze will ambush you and take everything you have. There are only 2 forks in our path. I give thanks for every step I take in the light, when I finally found it!

I hope right now there are a fewer struggles going on, as I know it can be a dark and lonely path with heavy steps, so I am sending such love xxx

[available]

Congrats Autumn on your achievement, sobriety is a wonderful gift that is so hard to achieve but so wonderful when we do it.

today is 8 years for me and i have never been happier or prouder of what i have achieved. Nothing can take this away from me except for me and i am not going to let that happen.

I was a keep drinking and die or stop and live and i am grateful i chose to live.

[Slo]

Congratulations, Autumn and @available, on your similar and lengthy sobriety milestones! You are both so inspiring with how much you value and appreciate your sobriety all these years later, and through thick & thin. And you both have made it through divorces and come out stronger, which is also inspiring to me. I think it’s true, Autumn; that at some point there are really only two forks in our road, and we have to choose. I want to stay on the AF path too! Thanks for the encouragement.

[Mulburry]

My rock bottom was bad, oh so bad, and it left me with only 2 choices. Drink and die or sober up and start living again.... I chose life and my sobriety is now my most precious gift.

This is almost exactly where I was a couple months ago. Thanks for your post, it's inspiring to hear that you've been there and made it through the other side.

[Lavande]

Hello & Congrats on your AF time autumn

Protecting our quits is mandatory so we can have the lives we truly want.
Keep up the great work!

Lav

[Pavati]

Congratulations, Autumn! Sobriety is such a gift. So glad you're healing...

Pav

[Guitarista]

Congratulations Autumn!

Great to read your posts as always. Compliments of the season and have a rippa 2022. x

[Tabbers (a.k.a. KTAB)]

My sobriety is my rock, my gem and my compass and my cork, as it keeps me afloat through these troubled times....

Great post Autumn I love your words above, congratulations on your 7-7 anniversary.
I am just over a year sober after trying and failing consistently for over a decade but this time it is different, we just know when the mindset truly changes and as I face into a second Christmas I feel 100% exactly the same as you do about our precious sobriety, the best gift we can give ourselves.

today is 8 years for me and i have never been happier or prouder of what i have achieved. Nothing can take this away from me except for me and i am not going to let that happen. .

Congrats Available, 8 years is fantastic. You are spot on, no one can take this from us but ourselves just as no one could give it to us. You are right to feel proud.

This is almost exactly where I was a couple months ago. Thanks for your post, it's inspiring to hear that you've been there and made it through the other side.

Hi Mulberry, sobriety is out there for all of us if we want it badly enough. We are losing nothing and gaining everything but the truth is it doesn’t feel like that at the beginning, only with time do our lives start to change and we can see there so many positives from sobriety and not a single downside that I know of. We only get one life.

[Mulburry]

Hi Mulberry, sobriety is out there for all of us if we want it badly enough. We are losing nothing and gaining everything but the truth is it doesn’t feel like that at the beginning, only with time do our lives start to change and we can see there so many positives from sobriety and not a single downside that I know of. We only get one life.

Yup, letting booze destroy one's life, literally, is not the way to do it. I just hope I haven't done to much irreversable damage to my body yet. Your signature ("ethanol is a toxic chemical why would I drink it?") is right on the money. It's crazy, the more research I do, the more I realize just how many systems in the body/brain alcohol effects and just how toxic and damaging it really is.

P.S. Congrats on one year, by the way!