300

300

For some reason the 100, 200, and 300 day marks have been the heaviest hitters. It takes 2,399 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds to see the change from single and double digits in days to triple. And then another 2,399 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds to change that first number in the triple digits from a 1 to a 2. Repeating that a third time, 2,399 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds to change the 2 to a 3. At 10:45 pm that 2 changed to a 3 and I had 300 continuous days of sobriety. 7,200 hours of continuous sobriety.

My first AA meeting was day 2 of sobriety. I was so sick and so exhausted the first day, getting to a meeting was impossible. To be fair, the second day I still thought I was gonna die but I was a few steps further away from death than the first day and ironically the third day. My first meeting they were doing sobriety birthdays and there was someone with multiples of years. I don’t remember how long but I know it was 2 years or more. I remember being overwhelmed. I just wanted to be where they were already and the real reason I wanted to be there was because I didn’t think I had the ability to actually get there.

I wanted the payoff of celebrating multiples of years without the struggle I knew accumulating those days was going to bring because I was terrified. Shaking and sweating like crazy, dizzy and sick from not eating for over a day. “How, how, how will I ever do what they have done?”

In my blog post, Better Than Yesterday, I wrote about how there’s nothing new being said, only a moment in time when we hear it at the exact right time for it to mean something to us (It’s one of my favorite posts, so shameless plug, if you haven’t read it you should). On day 300 one of the most simple concepts in AA became real. A concept that I say EVERY SINGLE post. When it was time for it to mean something to me it made me chuckle.

“And with that I will take another 24”. Yep, just 24 hours. Countless people told me, “one day at a time, 24 hours at a time. Do the work Daniel and take it 24 hours at a time.” They promised that before I knew it, I would have weeks, months, and someday years. If you have ever struggled with addiction or some major life change you know that the days can drag on for what seems like forever. Every minute and hour seems like eternity. We are not just counting hours, we are counting seconds.

On day 300, one day at a time finally felt real. I put together 300, 24 hours. Everyone told me it would happen. Everyone with any length of sobriety told me that if I just took it one day at a time I would wake up at some point and be amazed. On day 300 I was amazed. It hit me, I did it one day at a time.

When I was thinking about what I would write and say to those who have been reading or those who someday might read my posts I knew I couldn’t just say the same thing everyone else said. Because why should you believe it when I wasn’t even close to believing it? So I won’t.

Just, well, I guess… I challenge you to be brave and give it a shot! Find anything you have been struggling with and take 24 hours. And then at 24 hours and 1 second… I suppose… decide if you will be brave and take 24 more. At the end of that 24 hours sort out your feelings and decide if you will take another 24. Don’t take my word for it, just see if what all the “old timers” say is true I guess! Just… find out. I challenge you, just… find out!

And with that, I will take another 24