I wouldn’t consider myself a master of recovery. Actually, for a long time I thought of myself as hopeless. For the last 10 years of my life, I've gone back and forth with sobriety and using. I have had the desire to stop for a long time but could never manage to put more than one or two months together of continuous sobriety. After countless therapy sessions, ten plus trips to rehab and thousands of meetings, I knew the steps it took to stay sober, I was just never truly willing to surrender to the fact that I was an alcoholic, and therefore could never drink or use like a normal person. Even now it hurts me to think about. I've put things in place to remind myself of that fact, and certain things I will need to do on a daily basis to protect myself from picking up that first drink. The biggest thing for me right now in my sobriety is my connection to others. Knowing I have people I can count on to show up for me in times of need has put my mind at ease. Reaching out when I'm in a bad place or want to use has started to lift the obsession for me, and a new found connection with God helps me to remain grounded and grateful. While I know everyone's journey is different, these are a few things I've implemented to help me stay on the right path.