WARNING! If you thought THAT was hard...

[alcoholrehabcoach]

Okay. So you defined what being an alcoholic is. Great job.

Now what does SOBRIETY mean to you?

[annalittlebit]

Loss--whether temporary or permanent--of the compulsion to use alcohol .....Reconnection with real life.

[snugsnug]

Serenity, to me means I can make my own decisions, the dope doesn't. For so long my life was ruled by drugs, in all my affairs. Today, dope don't rule nothing!

[CleverCelt]

Sobriety to me means living a life free of obsession, guilt and shame while living in peaceful co-existence with my higher powers will for me and still be able to put my hand out to someone who may need it!

[janbear]

Sobriety to me, is living free from active addiction and working the 12-steps of recovery while applying the spiritual principles embodied in those steps to change me for the better a day at a time.

[admin]

Sobriety is what I have today which is a new life from God free from addictions through the working of the 12 Steps and now going out into the world carrying the message to others.

[DaveH]

Sobriety for me is living out the serenity prayer in my life, one day at a time. Exhibiting acceptance, courage, and wisdom......and allowing humility to remind me that I am not the source of those three things in my life.
DaveH

[Humblepie]

Well it's not the opposite of being an acolic because sobriety doesn't mean I can suddenly control my drinking again. So far sobriety/recovery has been the ability to see truth and accept it. Truth and acceptance has freed me from the bondage of self that was my drinking and allowed me to leave a life of conflict behind for a new life of peace and harmony. Basically what everyone else in this thread has said.

[BIG AL]

SOBREITY MEANS EVERY SINCE I GOT SOBER THE DOG STOPPED PEEING IN MY LAP:D

[searcher230002]

sobriety is seeing things for what they really are, & not what self, (I) wants them to be..............Perspective................bc

[McDaniel N.]

SOBRIETY is working The Program to stay sober;Not dry.

[clean42day]

Sobriety to me means being chemically free and having a clear mind with which to make decisions with - however - just because I am chemically free - DOES NOT MEAN - that I am free of the disease of addiction and alcoholism - it just means I am no longer feeding it. the disease can still be working below the surface (in my thinking)- while I am sober! I learned that one the hard way and am still faced with (it's) little twists and turns of perception.

while Sobriety to me means - freedom of choice!

I don't need an alcoholic obsession or an addiction - to drive me to make some bad choices.....I can do that - all on my own sober! :11: after peeling layers away for six years now - I still find self-destructive tendencies lurking below the layer I just peeled!

it also means not loosing the lesson. :4:

I can't tell you how many times - I lost the lesson in an addiholic fog and blamed it all on my addiction.

sobriety is just the tip of the iceberg and an event = living a life in the "recovery program" part is a "work" in progress.

I'm still working on the recovery part and getting a little better each day.......................

I am going to be 6 years old in a week and I am just now realizing how much I "don't know" ! :5:

[francie21805]

Wow, there are so many things, but I’ll just list a couple. First, it would be finding the God of my understanding, who had been there all the time, I just didn’t know that I had to seek him and his will for me, to begin the wonderful relationship.

“Deep down in every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of a God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that Power in human lives are facts as old as man himself.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 55

Then there’s the emotional sobriety, I think I’m getting, that comes from working and applying the Steps in my life. It’s slow, but I believe it’s happening.

“When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon god, we couldn’t very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.”

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 116

Thanks for the topic Mike!

[Craig A.]

Sobriety means I can live now not just survive! Enjoy the life I have now the good and the bad! Before I could not accept the bad or the unhealthy feelings I had about myself so I would run. In the beginning of sobriety I would do the same thing but today I am learning how not to run and keep peeling that onion and not be so harsh or judgemental on myself! Sobriety is waking up and being glad that I woke up. Realizing that my Higher Power was always there and didn't desert me! Thanks for the topic and God Bless!!!

[DryDaveC]

A very clear view of exactly how I fit in this world. Sobriety means to me- The clarity of thought and emotion in connection with Gods will for me, and how I am to be used by him each day. Its the moment that I realize that with Gods help, I can stand in the eye of a tornado and so long as I have Gods will in mind, I will not be harmed.
Its a connection to my brothers and sisters on this earth whom I am meant to help to find the same sobriety I have found in recovery, and to help them stay there when they get there.

[santana]

Peace & Serenity :D

[paulm]

soberiety is a way of life. trust God, clean house and help others, (preferrably all three of those). very simply being sober and having soberiety are two very different things. one is achieved by abstinance, the other is abstinance+Faith. I've read that "faith without work is dead", I should pay mind to that.

[Leadfoot]

Had my spiritual awakening as a result of these steps.
Defined as "Personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism". Per the Book!

[Stogi]

It means I woke up in my bed this morning and not just came to on the couch (sometime at who knows house)

Means I can go to work and not have to worry about a piss test.

Means my little boy has a daddy he can be like.( He's 5 and never knew me as the way I was.)

Means my wife has a husband she can love.

Means there is a life worth living.

[Rockin Big Daddy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Fz1rviXFU

[Chewi]

Sobriety means striving to live in God's will, not my own.