Thanks again @MayaBird07. Sorry it took me a bit to reply to you. (Had to work.) Please know that I'm very grateful.
Thanks for the congratulations. It's weird, but after a good chunk of time being sober, people just... don't care. Before I admitted that I had a problem, my only exposure to sobriety was television and movies, so I thought sobriety was a big deal. I thought it meant family and friends rallying to offer support. A couple of people said nice things on my 1 year anniversary, but nobody cared by the time I hit 2 years. It's like everyone just expects me to maintain abstinence and be fine, so at least it's nobody else's problem. It's very lonely, and a lot of pressure.
So, yeah. Thank you for saying something nice about it.
Cheers for the insights from your own life. Really nice to hear that you supported your dad. I'm glad he found comfort that way. I really wish I had someone in my life who took my chronic pain that seriously. I'm glad your dad has that.
Thanks for being here for me.
I am attending an event this weekend. I'm pretty scared of how much pain it'll cause me. I know being negative is a feedback loop which pretty much guarantees worsened pain, but when I'm on my own like this, breaking that loop feels so hard. It's the catch-22 of trying to be outgoing. A lot of the time, I feel like I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't. But I'm trying anyway.
I hope you have a smooth weekend.