What has been your biggest challenges to your sobriety?

[Persistence]

I just found TTF recently. I didn't realize that there were so few new posts on some of these boards. I'm going to start adding my 2 cents for what it's worth.The biggest challenge to my sobriety has been being run down from stress. Not really physically tired, but emotionally tired. Some event happens in my life and I get through it despite the difficulty. Then I get home and feel apathy towards my recovery. My mind seeks voratiously to find things to soothe itself. Food, candy, TV, then thoughts of using P. Another difficulty is not being vigilant when I get triggered. The path to using doesn't start with looking at P, it ends with it. The path is slippery, and if I start even a small amount by letting myself go in that direction, it's very difficult to stop. I'm working on finding more and more ways to interrupt the process in it's earliest stages. The only way to arrest alcoholism is to not take the first drink. That's alot harder to do with this addiction.Of course being alone and bored are difficult as are times when I am hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. The most difficult is when many of these issues all combine.

[fightingdefeat]

The biggest challenge to my sobriety has been being run down from stress. Not really physically tired, but emotionally tired. Some event happens in my life and I get through it despite the difficulty. Then I get home and feel apathy towards my recovery.

Hey Persistence! Yeah man, stress and frustrations in life are what really can make it tough. It is amazing how I can be chipper and moving right along in recovery... and then something hits me in life. I remember one time a year back or so. I had applied for a part time job I was sure to get, had a great interview, basically was assured the job, then didn't get it the next day when they called me. It was so frustrating. I was about two months clean of P and I was feeling depressed at the difficulty in job hunting. Well, I remember sitting down at my computer and getting onto FB or something and just being like, aww, what the heck? Who am I kidding. I am a failure. That's when temptation set in and then eventually I gave in. It was horrific. Those moments are almost out of body experiences. You are screaming at yourself for being inadequate, then you start on that path and then it's like, oh crap, what did I just do?

So yeah, that's a huge problem for me in my sobriety. Those events that you have no control over and then require your increased willpower and determination.

That and then a previous misconception I had that sobriety and this rotating door concept of "quitting" where I would be "on hold" rather than really quit. I had so convinced myself that it was basically impossible to 100% quit, even though I told myself I was going to REALLY quit... whatever that meant. Now I realize that it is possible to truly quit, but it's all in the mindset in how we come at this and where we are really trying to go to. Are we trying to quit "just long enough until we can't take it anymore" or are we "quitting no matter the perceived cost"?

Both of these issues though I have noticed go back to my mindset and my plan. Am I actively fighting this and taking all the necessary steps to rid myself of this? Am I actively learning about my struggles and my thought process in this? Am I taking steps to counter this and learn how to re-think about these things? It's so tough and I have such a long way to go, but it's good to take it one step at a time.

Well... there are just a few of my thoughts. Thanks for starting the thread :), good topic.

[BlackWolfSwordsman88]

My biggest challenge has been going out in public. I have a really bad problem with going out and not looking at other women even when my Wife is around. Everything becomes a trigger and then it becomes a mental battle to stay in normal mode.