I scan 200+ blogs several times a week. I have them listed in 5 different RSS readers by topic. Bloggers living in recovery tend to be bloggers writing in the first  few years of sobriety. I have been writing in 11/2004 about my recovery journey which began 11/24/1976. In today’s post I have added excerpts from others about their recovery journey.

1.  From Allie Holbrook writing at her lifeafteralcohol.com:

“The thing about sobriety is that it doesn’t solve things because some things can’t be solved.  But the things I am unable to solve are things I wouldn’t even have confronted if I were still drinking.  I mean, I am terrified about my job because I am self-employed and flying by the skin of my teeth, and I would never have attempted that in the first place, drinking.  The things that make me angry about my relationship, or rather about relationships between men and women and the patriarchy as a whole, they’re things that I come up against because I push, now, for my own space.  I used to step aside.   They’re things in the middle of the town, awful and beautiful, and I would rather be here, in the thick of it, than taking the road around.”

2.  From  anewsoberlife: “900 days sober“: (I couldn’t find personal info for her other than her photo)

*woot woot* I honestly am feeling amazing. I decided to make a list of 20 of my favorite part of being sober in no certain order. (1.) Always knowing what I did and said the night before. (2.) Being able to have fun without needing alcohol. (3.) Being emotionally stable and present no matter what is going on, or the time of day. (4.) Not being filled with shame and regret. (5.) Really liking myself and being proud of who I am. (6.) Being more patient and a better parent. (7.) Having my kids want to be like me no longer scares me. (8.) Being a partner and co-parent that my husband can count on. (9.) Not being bogged down by depression and anxiety. (10.) Being healthy and strong and physically active. (11.) Setting and achieving goals. (12.) Not letting fear control me. (13.) Being able to plan activities and trips with worrying about how I can make alcohol fit in to our plans to “make it more fun” or ” help me relax” or “help me sleep in a strange place”. (14.) Learning how to get through hard times without numbing myself. (15.) Finding out that facing fears and hard emotions and overcoming them is what makes you a better and stronger person. (16.) Being able to sit completely still in silence and be at peace with myself. (17.) No longer having that constant dialog inside me about alcohol. (18.) Being optimistic about the future. (19.) Being able to look into the past without regret or longing. (20.) Enjoying every stage of growth and change because I have learned that happiness is a choice.”

3. From Lucy Rocca writing on her blog, sobersistas:  “The World Does Not Revolve Around Me”:

“When I drank, my ego was blown out of all proportion. Yes, I was routinely annihilated by the shame and self-disgust which arose out of countless boozy incidents, but I was simultaneously affected by the indulgence that walks alongside heavy drinking, the way I prioritised alcohol over the rest of my life. In a perverse way, my addiction fuelled an over-exaggerated sense of my own importance, despite the constant chip chipping away at my self-esteem as a result of silly drunken escapades. Having chronically low self-worth and an inflated ego are not mutually exclusive concepts I have come to realise.”

“Drinking upon our every feeling means we become frozen in our emotional development. Although it often feels like a soothing lotion applied to our inner pain, alcohol is, in reality, a numbing agent that stunts our personal growth. When I stopped drinking I had the emotional maturity of a teenager – impetuous, petulant, self-centred, paranoid and angry. It took a long time to get my head out of my backside and to realise that no, the world does not revolve around me. The old me would throw a tantrum if I didn’t get my own way. I would manipulate where I failed to see a desirable outcome emerging otherwise. But once sober, it dawned on me that if a person disagrees with me it’s not because they hate me. If someone fails to pay me attention, it’s more than likely because they’re caught up in the storyline of their own life, not because they don’t care about me.”

“One of the greatest lessons I have learnt since becoming sober is one of humility. That, whilst I understand and value my place in the world, I no longer allow myself to think I am more than I am. Nature and immersing one’s self in it is, for me, the best way to reinforce a humble attitude, to cement the notion that none of us is more than a brief hint of an impression on the world. Walking amongst towering mountains that have stretched high above the land for an eternity; breathing in the salty sea air and listening to the rolling waves of the ocean; acknowledging the bright splash of colour in a flower that grows amidst rocks; hearing the sound of nothingness in a place untainted by mass human inhabitancy. Submerging my soul in the natural world is like medicine. It strengthens my emotional core and keeps me fully grounded.”

Photo credit.