What's the first Step to achieving sobriety?

[Dallas]

What's the first Step to achieving sobriety? That's a question that I wanted an answer for, and is a question that I'm often asked by alcoholics that are seeking to find a way to sobriety. I'm sure that each sober person probably has their own answer to this question, because it was their answer.

For me, the answer was: "To achieve sobriety -- I have to first start acting like I'm sober." Regardless, of where I was at in regards to pain and desperation -- or on the path to discover the 12 Steps -- I had to first start "acting like I was sober."

I don't mean the kind of "acting like I was sober" -- all those thousands of times, when I was in trouble -- and it was necessary to "act as IF I was sober", hoping to convince some friend, loved one, a boss, or someone in authority that "I was sober."

What I do mean is: "I had to start DOING THE THINGS that I would do -- if I had already achieved sobriety."

Example? Well, the first thing a sober person does is: They don't drink! LOL. And, "not drinking" is the First Step in Sobriety. Once we achieve the First Step in Sobriety -- THEN, we can move on to the First Step in Recovery, and in learning to live a life of Sobriety.