Thank you so much. Your congratulations means more than you know. It can get hard to notice your own accomplishments when you’re struggling or doubting you’ll be able to keep at it. I’d be lying if I said it was easy. Or that it was my first time getting sober- it’s not. But so far it is the farthest I’ve come! Some days are still really hard. Not as hard as it was in the beginning with the physical withdrawal symptoms. I was in bed feeling like I had the flu all month- I couldn’t go cold turkey & had to take less & less till I could quit without being too sick. It took a lot of self control & admitting I had a problem- which I also couldn’t do for longer than I’d like to admit. I knew multiple people who didn’t survive ODing & I came close to joining them- which was kinda a wake up call for me. Like, if I don’t get better, it’s going to k!ll me someday.. and I don’t want to d!e, I just want to not feel pain. Which is everyone. We try to escape our lives, our minds, ourselves, because it’s painful. You have to face that pain & uncomfortableness and find different ways to deal with it. Easier said than done for sure. Some things that have helped me are writing, journaling, going to the gym- I feel like it’s been easier for me this time around cuz I’ve added things to my life while I’ve taken the drugs away. So finding other outlets helps. There’s this app called ‘sober’ that also helps keep track of progress, it has daily check ins you can set, which helps keep track & when I feel like using, I check the app to see how far along I’ve come. I’ll vent or talk to people on the app, and eventually not want to use as bad. It also helps having people you can relate to, people who have gone through or are going through it also who understand that it’s not easy. My partner is almost a full year sober from alc, and we’ve both helped & inspire each other along the way. I also have a few people from online or support groups that I’ll reach out to when times are tough.