I woke up early this morning. The garage door opener installer came to put in the new openers I bought for my new house. I then ran over and picked up a new car stereo, someone broke into my car last year and broke mine so I finally got a new one.
I got home and had lunch with my girlfriend then cleaned the garage so we can actually park in it.
I then sat down to read the 'Dope and realized that today is my four year anniversary. Today I have been clean and sober for four years.
I’ve posted before about getting sober. Alas, I can’t search for those threads to re-read (to remind myself where I was back then) or to link to in this post.
Short recap for those who don’t know. I am a recovering alkie. I did all the dumb stuff alkies usually do, alienate family and friends, get DUIs, lost jobs. All that crap. I turned my life into hell because I couldn’t stop drinking.
Finally, I realized that alcohol won. I wasn’t going to get sober by myself (and man did I try). So I ended up in a halfway house. The idea of the halfway house scared the crap out of me at first. I thought I was better than having to live in a halfway house. Obviously I wasn’t, otherwise I would have never ended up having to go to one. So I went to the halfway house. I listened to what they said, did most of it (I can be sort of stubborn sometimes), went to A.A meetings and relearned how to live without drinking.
I went into the halfway house two or three weeks into a new job that I hated. (Note, I blew a really good job due to drinking. Twice). After a couple months I got a new job, the one I am in presently. I like my job, pays ok and the work is interesting. A few months later I got a new car. A Hyundai. I love it.
I moved out of the halfway house 6 months later. I moved into a condo with another recovering alkie. That went well.
Then I started dating. That was a bit rough at first. But I finally met a great woman. We now live together with her 10 y.o. daughter.
I just closed on my house in January. Things are almost all done at the house. There are a few more things to unpack or fix but it’ll be done soon. I got a steal on the house. It rocks.
I’ve been on numerous trips: St Thomas twice and a few small trips to the lake or the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.
I’m working (slowly) on my degree in CS. It’ll get done.
I have a recording studio setup. Sadly I haven’t been able to play much recently (trip to St Thomas and moving) but things are slowing down again and I can get back to my first love, playing guitar.
When I first went into the halfway house and started in A.A. I’d hear people say things like ‘The miracle will happen if you just do it one day at a time’. I heard a lot of things in A.A meetings that I didn’t believe at first 'cause I can be kind of stubborn sometimes and I want to do things my way. My way is always better, don’t ya know. But I finally snapped and decided to do things the way the people in A.A suggested. And Holy Shit! It worked.
So today I have four years sober.
Life is good.
I live with a woman I love and her daughter who rocks.
I have a new house.
I have a good job.
I have plenty of guitar gear (though I can always use more).
My relationships with my family are all back to being great.
I have a life I actually love living.
The miracle did happen.
Slee,
Four years sober.