• H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

Sober Living Social Thread

I took a big step and moved out of the house I was living in and into a sober living facility. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry a little when I had a moment alone. It was just too easy to use at my former residence. Everyone but one person was using daily. Everyone keeps saying, "this is the first day of the rest of your lufe"....I know people mean well, but I really don't want to hear it. I'm required to attend two NA meetings a day. I'm so overwhelmed.

i found everything overwhelming when i first got into sobriety and i was in a similar situation. just know that you made the right move and the meetings will help you. you just have to use them in the right way. get a sponsor and involve yourself in meetings. share, help pick up, read the sheets they pass out before the meetings, build a relationship with people in the meetings, get a newcomers number sheet.

find something you enjoy doing to take yourself out of yoru head. for me its drawing graffiti, bowling, playing pool and i spend a lot of time at my home group playing card games with other members.
 
Thanks. I went to a meeting tonight too. It's a requirement of living here. My roommate is an alcoholic and has been in and out of the program for 22 years. That kind of scares me. I don't want to look back in 22 years and still be working through the steps.

i know what you mean. i have the same feelings sometime but i have accepted the fact that i will most likely be working the steps for years to come. the thing is you dont spend large amounts of time doing the steps...you complete the steps and the re-do them

in the end what it really boils down to is how far are you willing to go for your sobriety and how bad do you want it
 
I'm lovin life clean! Sure am glad I saw through the illusion of the needle :) However I still need to get rid of all these old syringes and filters that are filling 2 drawers :) Cant wait for 2morrow! A run thru the redwoods sounds like conscious contact with my hyper power :)
 
i know what you mean. i have the same feelings sometime but i have accepted the fact that i will most likely be working the steps for years to come. the thing is you dont spend large amounts of time doing the steps...you complete the steps and the re-do them

in the end what it really boils down to is how far are you willing to go for your sobriety and how bad do you want it

So, you go back through the steps? I kept hearing "you have to work your steps" over and over tonight. Why do you go through them again (or more than that)? Maybe eventually I'll become involved, but I felt like an outsider tonight...even though people were relatively friendly. I was mad and didn't want to be there. I suppose that didn't really help.
 
So, you go back through the steps? I kept hearing "you have to work your steps" over and over tonight. Why do you go through them again (or more than that)? Maybe eventually I'll become involved, but I felt like an outsider tonight...even though people were relatively friendly. I was mad and didn't want to be there. I suppose that didn't really help.

yes you re-work the steps. they suggest you do certain steps everyday. im talking more about AA but NA is almost the same just different wording. this is a reason you need a sponsor...to explain things like this for you.

i cant say you, or anyone else cant get and stay sober without the steps and the program but i know it has worked for me tremendously. every element i have thought about while using and been like "i need to do this to get this shit out of me and i know it would help me stay sober" is in the steps. for instance i remember the first time i went to rehab...before i knew about the steps and the program i was thinking "i need to get rid of this shame and need to get this bad shit i have done to others off my chest and make apologies" well thats steps 4,5,8, and 9 right there.

its normal to feel like an outsider. i and plenty of people i know felt the same way. you are newly sober you are going to be filled with self doubt and just all around uncomfortable but just know thats normal. these groups are formed and maintained to get you in a position where you have people to talk to about these exact things and one of the big points of these programs is tolerance and to help others addicts and alcoholics (step 12).

the times when you dont want to go or be at a meeting is the times when you truly NEED to be at a meeting. i cant stress enough how these meetings and the whole program can be beneficial to you.

if you ever want to talk in depth feel free to send me a PM
 
also: i know in memphis there are meetings all around the city at all times of the day both NA and AA. i have been to a few...and i mean FEW that i have gone to several times and the feeling of being an outsiders stayed...just stay away from those meetings if you feel a vibe that doesnt fit you. i feels its important to experience many different meetings because every meeting really does have its own vibe. also, once you find a meeting that you really enjoy and see and meet people you mesh well with, make that your home group and keep going to that meeting. a home group is important. having said that you also probably need to experience different meetings...each meeting you will find you hear or experience something different from others and you need all of that...if you keep going to the same meetings and hear the same people and the same stories and the same stories....i know i found that once i found a home group i kind of faded out of other meetings and i caught my program getting stale...i felt i was getting the same message every meeting, which is OK, but i think its important to get all the input from different people/groups you can while newly in the program
 
I know that my long black hair getting in drains and every where else can really bother the people I live with hahaha
 
also: i know in memphis there are meetings all around the city at all times of the day both NA and AA. i have been to a few...and i mean FEW that i have gone to several times and the feeling of being an outsiders stayed...just stay away from those meetings if you feel a vibe that doesnt fit you. i feels its important to experience many different meetings because every meeting really does have its own vibe. also, once you find a meeting that you really enjoy and see and meet people you mesh well with, make that your home group and keep going to that meeting. a home group is important. having said that you also probably need to experience different meetings...each meeting you will find you hear or experience something different from others and you need all of that...if you keep going to the same meetings and hear the same people and the same stories and the same stories....i know i found that once i found a home group i kind of faded out of other meetings and i caught my program getting stale...i felt i was getting the same message every meeting, which is OK, but i think its important to get all the input from different people/groups you can while newly in the program

Wow.....that's SO much to take in. I feel overwhelmed all over again. Great advice. Thank you so much. I went to a meeting at noon, and I have another one in about 30 min. I still don't want to go. I still don't want to be here.
 
Does anybody in here manage to smoke cannabis regularly after quitting hard drugs and find it helps?

I quit coke 3 weeks ago and haven't looked back since. I decided it was too counter productive to my life taking stimulants in general for me it was a big thing but it's in the passed now. Because I took so much drugs I wound up getting diagnosed as manic depressive (bipolar type 2) which I'm prescribed seroquel which along with copious amounts of cannabis is helping keep me on track with being productive and proactive without going off on any meglomaniac type manic episodes. I've not been tip top but its better than where I was and I think by next year I could be properly on the way again until then I'm getting back into good exercise routine and studying habits and feels like the burden of stimulant addiction has been lifted. The air around me feels cleaner.
 
Pot helps me stay off hard drugs.

That's how I feel about it, but I'm going to try going a week without it once this year. I have a feeling if I wake up, and haven't done any first thing in the morning, it will be a lot easier to keep going without craving. :)

However, where I am right now in life, would be close to impossible to go without :|

I'm doing well though, I'm eating better, trying to exercise, and am taking care of myself. In 4 days I'll have my 1 year :)
 
That's how I feel about it, but I'm going to try going a week without it once this year. I have a feeling if I wake up, and haven't done any first thing in the morning, it will be a lot easier to keep going without craving. :)

However, where I am right now in life, would be close to impossible to go without :|

I'm doing well though, I'm eating better, trying to exercise, and am taking care of myself. In 4 days I'll have my 1 year :)
Haha I am trying to have that week right now. Its tough. I have broken down and had 1 bowl both days I was supposed to have none.
 
Hey...I wish I could, or should say was able to smoke weed. I get really paranoid from it. I tried again to smoke some about 3wks ago....of course, I got really paranoid, and had to basically meditate through it lol, so I didn't flip out.

Lyrica help me w cravings for dope....it's definitely a process...and a sucky one at times. In my opinion, it is a way better situation to smoke weed, take Lyrica, etc. than to shoot heroin. There's no comparison to the destruction of me and my life that H will cause.

Addiction is a mf'r-and defies all logic. I can't understand why I still want to do the very thing that completely destroyed my life. Unbelievable. I've been clean a little over a year now. :) Best wishes to everyone..my thoughts and heart is with everyone, and praying for all of us to get through it.
 
Just came off a 28 day clean streak, fell off the wagon hard on a 7 day bender.

By the 3rd day of the binge all hell broke loose, quite literally, Manson is not my style but this song is spot on,



Doing better now.
 
That's how I feel about it, but I'm going to try going a week without it once this year. I have a feeling if I wake up, and haven't done any first thing in the morning, it will be a lot easier to keep going without craving. :)

However, where I am right now in life, would be close to impossible to go without :|

I'm doing well though, I'm eating better, trying to exercise, and am taking care of myself. In 4 days I'll have my 1 year :)

Sometimes I think the amount of weed I smoke is bad but then it's helping me to remain happy go lucky. And fills the void of harder drugs pretty nicely along with the odd couple of beers imo.

What you doing in the gym CH? Read a post you said you were sore from the day before. I find weightlifting an extremely useful tool in the process of recovery. I think if you've lost muscle/weight during addiction, you can gain it back and even become a better, more conscious version of yourself.
 
Sometimes I think the amount of weed I smoke is bad but then it's helping me to remain happy go lucky. And fills the void of harder drugs pretty nicely along with the odd couple of beers imo.

What you doing in the gym CH? Read a post you said you were sore from the day before. I find weightlifting an extremely useful tool in the process of recovery. I think if you've lost muscle/weight during addiction, you can gain it back and even become a better, more conscious version of yourself.

I'm mostly just doing lifting/weight training, about 2x per week. :)
 
"Just for today" . I've been saying that shit all day. I will be clean, just for today.
 
Don't forget what's on TV tomorrow!

Treehouse_of_Horror_XXVI_promo_poster.png
 
Got results back for a uds.

Totally clean.

No opiates. No benzos. No stims. No weed. Nothing.

Fucking cheering.
 
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