Alcoholism: Day 71 Of Sobriety. Giving Thanks To Steemians For Helping Me Get Here.
Today I feel really thankful. I am usually in a thankful mood as of late, but today I am thankful to the point of being humbled. I've been trying to figure out how to thank @thejohalfiles for an insanely crazy upvote on the Few Comical Stories About My Military Experiences From Iraq Post.
Contemplating how to give my thanks got me to thinking about how I am still even on this platform.
I Have A Multitude of Steemians To Thank For That
Through the support and encouragement of many Steemians I have successfully reached Day 71 of my sobriety.
In no particular order I would like to list those whom I owe many thanks.
- Every Steemian who has left a supportive, caring, or encouraging comment.
- @merej99 Being willing to listen.
- @bibek Making me smile. One of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.
- @lydon.sipe Leaving comments filled with the love of Christ.
- @aunt-deb Asking me to be a judge for the Story Slam. This made me feel appreciated more than you will ever know.
- @foodie.warrior Having a food blog that makes me hungry and helps me to gain back weight after I became too skinny because I always stayed drunk.
- @barrydutton Telling me I am helping make positive change through my sobriety blog and encouraging me to continue.
- @papa-pepper Sending a prayer out of the blue that arrived on a day I struggled quite a bit with my sobriety.
- @neobarrack Giving me the opportunity to serve you and realize even more that to serve others is truly a passion of mine.
- @harleymechanix Promoting the #22kill campaign and raising awareness about veteran suicide.
- @williambanks Reminding me I have skills to offer the world by giving me the opportunity to be a part of Viva.
- @hope777 Helping me to develop a stronger relationship through her Love and Marriage series, an aspect of my life I need to strengthen after years of drinking.
- @thecrazygm One of the first people to help me realize I could use my weakness of Alcoholism and turn it into a strength to help others.
As an appreciation of my thanks, I will be going through every one of my comments before this post.
If someone left a supportive or encouraging comment in regard to my sobriety, I will enter their name into a drawing for 50 SBD.
The only other qualification is the winner must have been active on Steemit within the last week. This is to ensure the account is still active on the platform and I am not sending SBD to a dead account.
This is the least I can do because each comment has given me something of value and I would like to show my thanks by giving something of value. What I give can never be of equal value because what you have helped me achieve is priceless!
OFFICIAL HOME OF THE FIRST EVER LOONEY COIN
If you enjoyed this post, please upvote and follow if you desire! I mostly story post about my sobriety, family, effects of war, and the crazier parts of my life. However, if it interests me I may just Steem about it! Steem on Steemians!
Congratulations @lexikon082! However you forgot to mention the number one person who got you to this milestone, the one who never left your side and stayed vidulant during the weak moments.....You! :) At the end of each of these 71 days, you had your back... without your own willingness, self compassion and knowing when to call in back up and support from others, you wouldnt be at this beautiful point of sobriety. Giving thanks is beautiful yet....don't forget you! You are the one going head to head with the inner critic. You are the only one who can see the lurking self doubt and send it packing!! You stood at the edge of darkness and pointed light into those darkest corners of the mind! It's awesome to see how supportive this community is and how many kind, courageous members there are. I'll be thinking of you as you walk this journey towards greater health and well-being! ❤️.
I've purposely waited to reply to this comment because I don't know how to respond. Thank you for that reminder. This is one of the nicest comments anyone could ever want. I appreciate your support.
Of course. :). In my own experiance, It's exponentially harder to see our own strengths and to offer ourselves gratitude and compassion. (Especially when we hold guilt or pain left over from our addictions and challenges.....forgiving the self is damn hard work!) Thank you for sharing your journey with us!
You are very welcome. Your comments provoke thought as always.
Wow!
Great news @lexikon082
I'm loving this. It takes dedication to achieve this.
Thanks for sharing and pls .. do stay in touch
You are very welcome for the share. I do keep a list of people who ask me to keep in touch. If I'm not around, don't worry I will be eventually. Thanks for your heartwarming words.
God bless you!
Thanks for that. It means a lot.
You're welcome
Congratulations! It's amazing the support this community provides. It's unlike anything I've seen in social media. Keep it up!
I agree with you. This community is an example of many small parts when counted as a whole make a world of difference. Thank you very much for your reply.
Full power UV for you but my vote power is so drained, it is now only worth a little over $7 man, I am sorry!!!
I am super proud of you, you have been a breath of fresh air for so many of us, in so many ways, I sent people your way who lecture me about my open tabs and your super awesome post you did!
(:
We love you man!!
You have nothing to be sorry about! I still laugh when I think of that post and I laugh every time I see your tabs. Thanks for your upvote, the fantastic Bible Verse, and your encouragement.
You are an inspiration to us @lexikon082.
It is one thing to admit you want to change but to put it on the blockchain is next level honesty.
I was incredibly happy when I saw that upvote from thejohafiles. Your picture in this post made me smile all the more. Continued blessings to you brother!
Amen to that, he is a good one Lydon.
After I wrote this post I went inside to spend time with my wife. We were talking about steemit and my sobriety. The subject of the blockchain came up. I was explaining to her about the day I decided to start posting about my issue with alcohol and how I was absolutely terrified because I was putting it on the blockchain. I was so scared of failing as I had so many times before and it would be recorded for all to see. The funny thing is I did fail...2x and I left for three months each time I failed. I couldn't let this be recorded as a failure and I kept coming back for more.
It really helped me realize I wanted this.
Knowing I could bring a smile makes this post mean that much more to me. May you continue to be blessed also!
Way to go! I used to drink and do drugs to check out of life and all its problems. I got clean and sober back in 2012. I'm really glad to hear you doing well with sobriety. Day after day as I racked up my sober chips, my life became more fulfilling than I ever thought. Best regards.
I appreciate the support. It's nice to hear you have been through the struggle and found sobriety yourself. I agree with each day life seems to be more fulfilling and I seriously wondered for a long time If I would ever have a willingness to truly live again. After 13 years I have finally found that passion for life again.
We both come from military culture, so we both know the deed of "frat-boy" style drinking and the potential for alcoholism it can expose. Stay strong, brother, and maybe your strength can influence and help our brothers that may need the same support.
I was looking for the video of the atomic sit up the other day and I came across a friend's pictures from Iraq the other day. It was photos of us taking liquor bottles to the skull. The comment next to the photo was "This is how we numbed the pain". It was strange to realize how we went from partying to dulling our pain with alcohol. Many of us came of age during War and adding alcohol to the mix was even worse. I know there are many vets out there. I will be speaking @jdawg soon so we can come up with ways to utilize this platform to help brothers who are looking for support and camaraderie. We know they are out there. Just gotta build it and they will come. Your comment is a sobering picture of the reality and I do hope we can be of positive support and influence.
You guys let me know how I can help. This platform has so much potential for further reconnecting and/or helping our <1%! There will be a lot of skeptics and naysayers from our brethren though.
Oh yeah. I know. I've been thinking about this issue.
Wow, bud, thank you for the shout out. I'm so glad the Story Slam was a positive experience. With all the entries we had, it turned into a real head-scratcher. I'll say it again - You hit it out of the park on the judging!
More than happy to give you the shout out @aunt-deb. The Story Slam will always be a wonderful memory for me and I was more than happy to do it. Thanks for always being so positive and wonderful.
He really did, that really impressed me, he won me over that night, since he was new to me!
(:
He's a beaut.
This always makes me smile. BTW you being Canadian...Did I ever mention I own maplesyrup.eth, the ether wallet address?
You did not!!
Every time I went to register one, they were not up, or had issues again.
So much complications.
So Ether.
I've had it for weeks. Give me a second and I'll show you the screenshot.
Love you Man! https://steemit.com/life/@lexikon082/if-you-don-t-have-pictures-it-didn-t-happen
Congratulations bro! Sobriety isn't easy in this world, and it takes determination and dedication to commit to. Keep it up, the world is yours.
It's been a worthwhile adventure. Every new day sober is a reason to truly celebrate life. Thank you for your fantastic reply.
Ah, thanks. You are helping me with my opiod problem. Even though the hospital set me back.
You are very welcome. Remember what I said before...I failed so many times at this I lost count. I just didn't give up. Every day is still a fight, but it's one day at a time. You can do it Brother.
Thanks, I'm down from Fentanyl and Oxycontin to hydrocodone(Norco) so I'm weening off. The last thing I want to do though is going back Suboxone for treatment.
I understand about the Subs. Where I live in Tennessee there is a huge prescription drug epidemic. We have clinics for people trying to get clean and they prescribe the Subs. Many then turn around and sell them for more than what Hydrocodones sell for. This is how common it is down here is I know the names of medicine I have never taken! I know quitting cold turkey can be hard. And if you are really trying to lessen your doses to achieve sobriety, I can truly understand that. You know where you stand and that inner voice will guide you towards your success.
I am glad you can relate to me in some degree. I have to fight that voice a lot though, "Take two, you know it will work better", it's an evil voice. But, I think with your positive attitude I can turn that around.