This was written 11 days ago, so hopefully you now have almost 11 weeks of sobriety. But there are red flags in what you write, despite the overall rosiness of it. And, before you or anyone thinks I'm trying to throw a wet blanket on your pink cloud, save it. Early sobriety is incredibly difficult and nine (or 11) weeks is an accomplishment you should be proud of. Also, all of these new discoveries, while new to you as someone emerging from the fog of alcohol (and/or other drugs), is absolutely worth noting, but virtually everyone comes to these realizations at some point within his or her first year. But make no mistake, you STILL are in early sobriety and the potential for relapse, despite these revelations, is real.

I know, I know, you hit rock bottom this time, you're doing it differently this time, it's for different reasons this time, etc., etc., etc. Those of us who have been doing this deal for years have heard this over and over again only to see something - sometimes something relatively trivial - trip them up and cause another "slip." That word implies it's an accident - relapse is never an accident - one of those red flags. Matthew Perry wrote an entire book about how it was "different this time." Now he's dead.

Look, I know you are sincere. They all are. I know you are super excited about your newfound discoveries. Good, you should be - they are real. But this whole "it's different this time" is a dangerous place to be. It's not. You are still dealing with everything that got you here. Keep your head in TODAY. Stay sober TODAY. When tomorrow comes, do it again. Eventually the days add up and you might be able to look back at 7,352 days (1,050 weeks). And, along the way, you might make a new discovery - it's still not different this time.

Good luck.