From the heart...

For anyone that is new to this battle let me share some things I have learned and offer you some support. Let me start by saying welcome and good for you!! There are so many new people here its great. Actually it goes both ways if you think about it. It’s a shame that anyone has a problem with addiction but its great that we all came across this site. This forum has truly been a life saver to many, myself included. When I came here in December of 2007 I was just a few weeks clean. I was lonely and depressed. When I found this forum I thought I would drop in and ask a few questions and maybe even get a little help. I never thought that I would still be here over 7 months later, still clean and even helping others. I have gotten some of the greatest help and support here and even along the way made some truly great friends. Some I hope for life. You kinda come full circle here. What I meen by that is..you come here down and out and asking for help then before you know it you are the one offering the help and support. To me I kinda feel like its my pay back to this community for everything that was given to me. Still when something happens or I am craving or just having a bad day I come on here and post. Its nice to vent to others that know exactly how your feeling and what you are going threw. You don’t feel like you are being judged and by no meens do you feel like you have to explain yourself. Everyone here has been where you are, no matter what point in this journey you are. That’s another good point I want to make. Post Post Post!!! You will not believe how much it really helps to get it out and not keep all your feeling and emotions all bottled up! You have to truly want to get clean in order to stay clean. It is one of the hardest things you will ever do but in the end it is so worth it. You will see!! Yes you will feel like **** for a while, about a week, but it really does improve everyday. Kinda like a bad flu. Just try to keep yourself busy. Watch a funny movie, read a good book or take a walk. I remember someone telling me to take a walk and I was like ..yeh right! That’s the last thing I wanted to do but I tried it. AT least right now its warm out when I was going threw WD’s it was December and so cold..i hate the cold. I got all bundled up, I actually resembled the little kid Randy from The Christmas Story, and took that walk. I will tell you what, when I got back home I did feel a little better and it also kept my mind off of how crappy I was feeling. You will eventually find what works best for you and when you do stick with it.
Just always keep in mind that we didn’t do this to ourselves over night so its not going to be overnight that we fix ourselves either. It’s a journey. It’s a journey that is so worth it in the end. To wake up each day and have your life back and feeling good about yourself and what you have done. There is no greater feeling! We all have those off days here and there where you feel down and yucky but the way I look at it is that everyone, even those who are not addicts, have off days. Its just another reminder that we are returning back to a normal way of life.
I wish everyone here, newbies and those that have been here for a while the best of luck. I am so happy that I have all of you.

Hugs to you all,
Jen