What helps you stay sober?

i know many people use different support groups to stay sober. why does that solution work for you? others may not use any support group. in that case, what benefits have you found that may include therapy, meditation, etc.
please note this is a discussion not a debate. the most important thing is we're sober or making an attempt to stay sober. there is no right or wrong way to achieve our goal.

i'll start off. i use AA and CBT therapy. there were many issues i had in early sobriety that necessitated my using the two. in the long run tho i feel AA has helped me the most and my T thinks so too. i believe having that group/AA to bond with other people who have had the same challenges has helped me. i've made long lasting friends-a fringe benefit. the continuity of AA helped. i tried doing it on my own and for me that didn't work.
could write more but i need to let others talk about this. i get longwinded.

I attend AA or NA occasionally. I am med compliant. I see my psychologist weekly. I pray. I am active in my community. I have hobbys.

I can answer specific questions, but open ended ones I am not able to at this time.

Good luck. brook

I got sober in AA in 1981. If there had been no AA, I can't imagine how I could have done it.

So that's my anchor. But meetings alone have worn on me over the years, I admit. So I am on call for 12th stepping, when they get calls and there's no one else. I go to a lot of open and beginners and Step One meetings and make myself available to newbies. But I don't sponsor. I will find the right sponsor for someone, though.

I'm also available to my PCP, if he has a patient who's willing to talk with someone from AA. Or if their family needs to talk with AlAnon, I'll connect them. I volunteer with Hospice, working mostly with alcoholics. Many have been homeless and a growing number Veterans. By staying in touch with all these different sorts of us, I stay aware of our community and who I am in it. Alcohol has no appeal for me today, and I try to keep the experience of alcoholism alive for me each day in a way so that that appeal just doesn't come back.

Roadie

AA, The DBT I'm doing, Women for Sobriety, knowing that I don't want to let myself down again.

splitimage

I am a work in progress. AA and NA, therapy helped in the past CBT, group, one on one. I need to find low cost therapy in the mean time I will go to meetings and hang here.

....hmmm, I don't really know?

a huge part of me...a very twisted and determined part of me knows that if I could get away with it, I would be drinking all day everyday and that would be it! drink and eventually die and over and out....like many people have throughout history.

but...there is another part of me that does not agree with that big part of me!
It's not a bigger part of me....it's actually a very tiny part of me....but it's got alot more power and influence.

it just tells me I have to stay sober.

if thats the higher power....then so be it

The solution that has been working for me is along the lines of a DIY program. I construct an unique program suited especially for my use from useful bits and pieces of preexisting recovery programs or wellness plans. I borrow from AA, RR, SMART, CBT, DBT, Zen philosophy and a bunch more to make up my wellness plan and active wellness practice.

VCBH is my mental health provider (Pdoc/therapist). There I addend a weekly group and go to AA meetings to be in live social contact with helping friends. Also there is a Wellness Center near me where I attend groups that focus on overall wellness/fun and socialization skills.

Some of my recovery philosophy's are; 'if it works keep doing it', 'there's no one way to recover that is for everybody', 'take what you need and leave the rest' and 'live and let live'.