Well, I made it.

[LunaCrist]

My FB status this morning.






Today marks exactly 52 weeks (1 year) since I had what i considered my last drink. While the exact date was the 27th of September of 2015, it was a Sunday last year and so this is the day in my books.




This journey actually was much easier than I anticipated due to the SMART Recovery Program that i came across and all the support that i found was available.

Key things i learned from SR:

1. Alcoholism is NOT a disease. There is no scientific evidence supporting a genetic disposition to alcohol or drug use. It is learned behaviour. This makes it much easier to continue abstinence knowing that you are not 'born this way'.

2. Lapses happen and they are part of the process. A lapse is a single event of use. A relapse is a return to the continuing use behaviour. I have had 2 lapses. They were early on in my recovery and they were complete learning experiences, mostly because they were far from enjoyable. I used the SR tools to determine what caused me to drink, analyzed it, and that prevented it from happening again the in future.

3. I now question even why I even used at all. I am discovering that i don't need a drink to be social, to deal with tough emotions and situations, or enjoy life in anyway. I can do that, and appreciate it more, sober. I have made it through concerts, emotional life events, and even vacations.

4. Life doesn't stop throwing curve balls. Events don't cause emotional discourse, it is how you react to them that causes emotional upset. How we see the world, not the world itself, is what causes difficult situations and emotions.

5. This is a journey of the 'self' and that you can not rely on others to complete it. Others can support you during, but can not do it for you. It is hard, but it is possible.

6. There is absolutely NO SHAME in admitting that you need help or that you have a problem. Learned behaviour is very difficult to change on your own, especially if it has been learned over decades. Simple tricks like 'near beer' or substitutions do not work in the long run.




So now i feel it is time to 'give back'. I have created a page here for SMART Recovery Yukon. It is only an interest page, and a stepping stone to the program itself. I have also created a private group for anyone interested in participating in the program. This is to maintain confidentiality for those actually participating vs. those just interested. You can message me directly, through the page or via email at smartrecoveryyukon@gmail.com




Things to consider:

1. Is my harmful behaviour affecting more than myself? Is it affecting my work, family, or friendships?

2. Am I enjoying the harmful behaviour anymore? Am I achieving long-term goals by continuing, or just short-term satisfactions?

3. Am I too old for this ****?




If you are in any way contemplating an end to harmful activities, come check it out. https://www.facebook.com/SMARTRecoveryYukon/




I want to thank everyone in their support of my recovery. Especially my wife. Thanks for putting up with the 'real' me for the last year, as difficult he can be. And of course my family, who are always there. Finally, my little girl, Blue, for giving me the best reason to be who I am, not who I thought was the better man.




"Why do we fall down? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

[Amethystmyth]

This is so inspiring. Congratulations on your year anniversary!

[guillenfan]

Congratulations! You are inspiration to me.

[Peg1960]

Congrats on ONE year!!!! YES

[Apellles]

Congrats and great post.I appreciate your six points on what you've learned from SR.I'm just now really starting to work the Smart program and am on day 42 without alcohol. I feel good about what I'm learning and to me it's also a help to know it's a learned behavior that I can change.For me it's just learning to cope with reality and realizing I do have the power to do so.
I look forward to posting here after a year too and have hope that I can.
It's great to hear you're starting a meeting and best wishes for that too!

[MkLove]

That is so great! I'm looking head and seeing how many people you could potentially help by that post. You made giving it up approachable. I agree with what you described about socializing- drinking isn't necessary, though I thought it would be. In fact I've definitely noticed that the some of the real drinkers don't usually stick around for the fun, maybe accelerate early and then peter out early. That was me, I liked getting home to really get my drink on. This is so much better.

[bjh]

LunaCrist,

Thanks for sharing your journey and perspectives, your story is inspiring. So glad you are feeling that you are able to bring others along and share the SMART program. I am a beginner here and so far, and think the tools will be very helpful to me, too.
Best wishes for continuing success.

[soberTE]

Thanks! Your new life sounds better than the one I have now. Hopefully I can continue in your direction. Keep up the daily work.

[komoto]

Congrats! That is one awesome posts. Great use of the tools. Point 3 managing thoughts,feelings, + behaviors.

[ovlovo]

Congrats! Inspiring

[trailmoose]

Wow. Appreciate this post, thank you Luna

[Tacitus]

Congratulations on a year of sobriety.

Your number 1 thing that you learned from SMART Recovery is not taught by SMART Recovery:
http://www.smartrecovery.org/resourc...on.htm#disease

Position on Addiction as a Disease
SMART Recovery tools can help you regardless of whether or not you believe addiction is a disease.

Your claim that "There is no scientific evidence supporting a genetic disposition to alcohol or drug use" is not true.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1369-1600.2006.00035.x/full

"COGA has used a multipronged strategy to identify genes contributing to alcoholism susceptibility and to other alcohol-related phenotypes. Genetically informative families with multiple alcoholic members were carefully phenotyped in multiple domains and studied in a genome wide linkage survey that identified chromosomal regions that appear to contain gene(s) in which variations affect these phenotypes; this kind of survey is not biased by previous hypotheses about candidate genes. These linked regions have been evaluated, initially using a denser map of microsatellites and more recently by genotyping SNPs in positional candidate genes. This approach succeeded in identifying association with several genes, including GABRA2, ADH4 and CHRM2. Associations with each of these genes have now been replicated at least once using independent samples. This greatly strengthens the findings, and demonstrates that the approach of identifying promising candidate genes within previously identified linked chromosomal regions works. COGA has also detected association to several addition genes, including TAS2R16, GABRG3, OPRK1, PDYN and SNCA, which we expect to be tested by other researchers."

The research that has been done on the heritibility of substance abuse disorders has indicated that these disorders are in fact heritable.
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-he...-use-disorders
Research shows that genes are responsible for about half of the risk for alcoholism.

Most of us are not born addicted to alcohol or other drugs, but it appears that many of us are born predisposed to substance abuse. This belief, that we are at risk for substance abuse, can serve as motivation for recovery because it highlights the importance of abstinence.

[Gordon1]

Sensational efforts LunaCrist!!!

So very well done on your wonderful gift to yourself, and those around you, of that Golden Year

To put an umbrella between your parade and any rain that may be about:

Your number 1 thing you learned from SMART Recovery is definitely correct - it is your decision whether it is a disease or not. Or not even care either way. Your choice.

The evidence for a genetic basis meanders, but you are ABSOLUTELY correct, you are not "born" into any pre-determined way of behaving. You can CHOOSE to alter your environment and thus alter the expression of your genes.

So very well done on that Golden 52 weeks.

[df2]

Congratulations LunaCrist!

What a great post to read this morning.

[Tacitus]

Fair enough, HughK. There is a limit, though, to the effects of choices and environment on the individual. Altering one's environment may change the expression of one's genes, but it does not change the genes that are expressed. I don't think there is any amount of changing one's environment that will change an individual's eye color from blue to brown. Similarly, no change in choices or environment will change DRD2 TaqIA A1/A1 to A2/A2, or any other gene into a different gene. There is abundant evidence from twin and adoption studies that people are born with varying susceptibility to addiction. It seems to me that it would be helpful to recognize that there really are important differences between people that are beyond their control.

Addiction is not purely learned or purely genetic. There are both environmental and genetic factors that contribute to addiction. It is simply incorrect and unhelpful to deny that some addicts are genetically predisposed to addiction.

[LobsterTank]

All great points that would make an interesting discussion thread. I look forward to seeing it started there. HOWEVER, this is someone's success story and I think 52 weeks is a great accomplishment worthy of our attention.

Way to go, Lunacrist!!!! I also think its amazing you shared it with your support group outside of SMART as well. High five!



Have a great day or at least a crappy sober one!

Be well.

[Gordon1]

Ta LobsterTank,

THAT is really it Tacitus my Dear Lovely Mate

This is LunaCrist's party, for a wonderful accomplishment, so sensationally achieved, and you are perhaps not the guest of the century

One thing I know absolutely for certain, is I don't know anything absolutely for certain

WTG LunaCrist and apologies for arguing at your party - must have been the red cordial :P

[Tacitus]

I just saw your post as I was out of town and without Internet for a while.

Firstly, I congratulated LunaCrist for his/her accomplishment and I meant no disrespect with any of my posts here. Someone who is doing outreach for SMART Recovery as LunaCrist claimed to be ought not misrepresent and contradict SMART's actual stated official positions.

Your sarcastic tone, HughK, with statements like "Tacitus my Dear Lovely Mate" and "you are perhaps not the guest of the century" is unfitting for a moderator/admin of these forums. Maybe try to watch that in the future.

[Rich_T]

There may be a genetic predisposition to alcohol abuse, but I can't do anything about it and it doesn't impact my affirmative steps in my recovery either way.

Outstanding post by the OP; it's a very inspiring success!

[caroltheobold]

Day one of my sobriety. I've recently started using meth, and I am really struggling to quit. Can anybody tell me where and how I should start using the SMART recovery program. Are there any other meth addicts out there?

[wildSaffy]

Lunacrist,

Congratulations on year 1! I bet life feels so much different and better this end of it!

Thanks for posting this on the Success Stories thread - a motivational guru I met last year said "success always leaves footprints" - so it is always good for newbies to see how other people succeeded and emulate that in their own style and life challenges.

Keep on Luna-ing!!

wildsaffy

[yassine]

i find this inspiring
Now I practise positive thinking exercises - I hope that gives a result

[Linna]

A belated congratulations, LunaCrist! And a salute to your bravery for posting here!!!
Linna

[drmojo]

I love #3
"am I too old for this"
Hell yes!!

[Maxwell3]

Congratulations! Amazing insights, thank you so much for sharing

[shyster]

well you said it, dont stop there, fantastic.

[shyster]

seasoned nice