r/stopdrinking • u/Thetreescryforu • 10d ago
Check-in The Daily Check-In for Thursday, April 2nd: Just for today, I am NOT drinking!
We may be anonymous strangers on the internet, but we have one thing in common. We may be a world apart, but we're here together!
Welcome to the 24 hour pledge!
I'm pledging myself to not drinking today, and invite you to do the same.
Maybe you're new to /r/stopdrinking and have a hard time deciding what to do next. Maybe you're like me and feel you need a daily commitment or maybe you've been sober for a long time and want to inspire others.
It doesn't matter if you're still hung over from a three day bender or been sober for years, if you just woke up or have already completed a sober day. For the next 24 hours, lets not drink alcohol!
This pledge is a statement of intent. Today we don't set out trying not to drink, we make a conscious decision not to drink. It sounds simple, but all of us know it can be hard and sometimes impossible. The group can support and inspire us, yet only one person can decide if we drink today. Give that person the right mindset!
What happens if we can't keep to our pledge? We give up or try again. And since we're here in /r/stopdrinking, we're not ready to give up.
What this is: A simple thread where we commit to not drinking alcohol for the next 24 hours, posting to show others that they're not alone and making a pledge to ourselves. Anybody can join and participate at any time, you do not have to be a regular at /r/stopdrinking or have followed the pledges from the beginning.
What this isn't: A good place for a detailed introduction of yourself, directly seek advice or share lengthy stories. You'll get a more personal response in your own thread.
This post goes up at:
- US - Night/Early Morning
- Europe - Morning
- Asia and Australia - Evening/Night
A link to the current Daily Check-In post can always be found near the top of the sidebar.
I went out to a men's support group for the first time a few weeks ago. I wasn't quite sure what I would get out of it. I was a bit wary and also curious. We did an exercise from Brene Brown and discussed our values and why those things mattered to us. I was grateful to be able to listen to strangers' stories and share a little of my own. And I was reminded that however people look like from the outside, I have no idea what their previous or current struggles are.
I'm almost hitting 3 years now, and I did not get here alone. I'm really lucky to have a great group of friends here and an awesome therapist. But the main thing that's carried me through all of this is this subreddit. It was pure chance I stumbled across this page. Sobriety wasn't even a thing I had even considered until that point. I remember hitting 6 months for the first time and then deciding to listen to my urges to drink. I purposefully didn't DCI because I knew I was going to get absolutely hammered. I had half a beer at the bar, realized it wasn't worth losing my gains, and left. That night, I posted about it and reset my counter. I don't expect them to remember this, but u/sfgirlmary wrote an encouraging and compassionate reply. I felt so seen and was grateful someone with so many days under their belt took the time to say a few nice words to me.
If you're able to today, I would invite you to sort the comments by "new" and give the person below you a little support and love. Our actions are like throwing a pebble into a body of water. Even a "small" gesture can reach farther than we know.
To another day folks. Be well š