I am one year sober this month, and I got up before sunrise today!
I'd been slowly increasin my alcohol intake for a few years, by the time I knew what was happening, I was a "functional" alcoholic...though in retrospect I was really NOT functioning.
My wife has been living with me since 2022, when she first got here - she almost turned around and went back to GA when she saw my house and the state of my dysfunction. But somehow we worked through life, and I was able to just lay it down... Got my brain to think of it as an allregy and from that point forward I couldn't stand a drop. Been working in therapy for the rest of the stuff related...
ANYWAY, I am now waking up at 5-6 am and eating healthier than ever and now my wife and I are trying to get ourselves moving more too. We both have spinal stenosis and chronic illnesses, and she's got major cervical surgery next week, so her PT will be extensive, but she can still do walkies!!! So we're trying to move as much as we can before next summer. We live in a beautiful place (Tahoe) so we'd like to be able to go hiking a little...
This morning, I woke up by 5 am. Had our coffee and watched news...We had to run to the store and while driving there at about 8 am, we took a detour and had a mini hike! Did .65 mi in 17 minutes.
That's about the same as the walk in our neighborhood around the block... So hopefully we can continue to try and keep moving, even in the SNOW!
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you luck on you journey.
That’s wonderful!
Big hugs to you!! 
Alcoholism us such a wasteful disease . It sneaks up on you and completely destroys. Glad you figured it out and will never slide back.
I'm coming up on 2 years this Thanksgiving. The first week was tough, the second much easier and after a couple of months, fairly smooth sailing. At the same time, I found laying off weed was a piece of cake.
For me, it was understanding and facing head-on certain triggers: after mowing the yard, getting back to the rig after a long hike, watching the game with friends, etc. One beer would turn into two then usually several more. Our family is closer and healthier than before while I set a good example that difficult challenges CAN be overcome, even for an old fart like me. What also helped was focusing on tasks or developing hobbies, old and new, which keep me occupied.
Good on you and continued success with your new direction.
I'm still hoping the repurcussions on my teens will eventually be worked out. They're all grown up (21 & 22) and out of the house, but they left when I was pretty bad... And our relationships suffered the past couple years especially.
Had to cut them off for now until they can also get some therapy and we can come back together healthier. They were using me and I was too codependent to say no. I realized that if I was in actual rehab, they would make me go no contat until the relationships could shift. So here we are. Hopefully eventually they will reach out and we can see how much we've all healed...and begin healing together.
thanks for the kind words
Our kids are established and in their mid-30's. Still I've made a positive change in the way they see their old man.
I like your allergy solution - what works is good, right? With me, its just something I can no longer do - basically the same thing. I did have one barely pleasant shot last New Years Eve with no relapse — might have another again in January too. I'm just thrilled in knowing I made a HUGE difference in my and my family's lives. I hope you can also.
Here's to your new life and continued healing with your own family. I'll extend a positive wave of my own new-found happiness in your direction too. Can't hurt right?
Unencumbered.
Congratulations!
And keep moving!
