I am well over a month of sobriety. I couldn’t even begin to tell you when my new sobriety date is. I do know it’s sometime during the first week of May, but that’s as close as I can get. This may or may not be a problem. Part of 12-step meetings is to give your sobriety date. To be perfectly honest, I don’t care what the date is.
Sobriety, to me, is a way of life, not something to be marked by a calendar. You can do it if you want, but it’s really unnecessary. People that become Christians don’t show up to church and introduce themselves to a group like- “Hi, my name is Martin and I’m a grateful believer in Jesus Christ and I’ve been saved since April 7th, 1988.” Meth smokers don’t come up and say, “I’ve been smoking meth since September 19th, 2009.”
That stuff doesn’t happen.
What are addicts supposed to do it?
I suppose it could be said it’s a “celebration” of their victory. Maybe…
Personally I think it’s a way of putting pressure on yourself. I know that’s how I see it anyway. “Dude, I’ve only been sober for like, 6 days…my last record was 129. I have to exceed that or I’m a failure.”
The number of days I have sober is not what makes me a success. My mental state, attitude and frame of mind I bring with me is what makes me a success. How I handle adversity is what makes me a success. Actually, my level of surrender is what makes me successful. I’m incapable of fighting addiction on my own. It is only through the grace of God that I can have success.
Counting the days? Not anymore. Now I count my blessings.
