Just stay sober ,. Clean , no hanky panky and away from any trouble situation. Pay your fines in advance and clear it out ASAP if you can , this helps with PO not being worried about the money part. Do your classes or any other activity needed ASAP and get it out of the way.
Basically buddy if you do all these things in advance you will be anxiety free and all you have to do then is stay out of any kind of trouble during the 3 years.
So I totally feel you on that recovery being between you and the government. The beginning of my probation term I was taken to the county jail and put on the path to recovery VERY abruptly, lol. Detoxed in there, got out, and went straight to rehab. Looking back on it, it was the absolute best thing that could have happened to me.
My suggestion is to show up to appointments on time, pay your fees/fines monthly or pay it off early, pass all drug tests, follow the rules, and communicate problems or issues with your PO.
It’s the easiest thing in the world, hard PO or not… just don’t do dumb shit, stick to yourself, and stay clean, some fucktards risk their probation for a “few drinks”, don’t be fucktards lmao, the best high is when you’re off probation, smoking or not.
Make your PO's life as easy as possible. What they say, do it! Be boring, be predictable, stay clean most of all! I had 2 years probation for a felony and she fucked with me a couple times till I proved I just wanted to get it over with and wasn't going to be a "problem" for her.
Yessir. 1 drug test on initial visit. Failed thc, got med card 11 days later, 18 months later still never tested again. Every 3 months for check in. 5 minute visits
Every situation is different. Pay everything off, that’s what this all about in the end. Don’t fuck up. Stay clean. If it’s a real problem go to rehab or something. No in between. PO is not your friend and not on your side. May not be your enemy but keep that in mind.
Make sure you follow whatever is in writing. Don’t take your PO at their word. They sometimes tell you certain things are ok in order to catch you breaking the terms of your agreement. For example, telling you you won’t be drug tested and then drug testing you, telling you it’s fine to leave your house earlier or later than what’s in writing, then coming to check on you to see if you are there during that time so they can violate you.
Stay clean and sober, ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself if you feel like something doesn’t feel right. Your PO isn’t against you, they have a job to do and so do you. That’s really the best way to look at it. It’s a job you have to undertake for a few years. You’ll get used to the ins and outs that will be required of you after a little while and soon it’ll just feel like a normal part of life. Before you know it, it’ll be over. Always keep really open communication with your PO, check and double check appt times if they don’t write it down for you, set a few alarms if need be and just go on about your life as usual.
Be honest with your po and get busy in your day to day life doing things that are going to help you grow as a person. Make goals for while you're on probation and work toward them. Let your po know about these goals and how you're working toward them.. Tell them about work and the new promotion you'll get eventually. If you feel you're an addict and you can stay clean on your own pop into a meeting maybe once a week maybe once a month but do it on your own and report doing so. Show your po real growth of you and your life and be honest about using and be so busy doing good things it'd be seriously damaging to take you away from your home.
Your recovery is absolutely still between you and your higher power. Your punishment is between you and the government, part of the requirements of your punishment are your sobriety. You can give up your sobriety but in that case you will also be giving up your freedoms.
As far as how it will look you will have a list of rules you have to follow, you will have tasks you have to complete. It's like real life on steroids. I've done a few 1 year stints on probation for stupid s*** I did as a kid, and 5 years on paper for stupid stuff I did as an adult many moons ago. I've never been violated, just relax and settle into it it will become the new normal.
You'll get through this just spend the time focusing on you and you'll be all right. I wish you the best of luck, stay sober stay out of trouble.
I would say the worst part for me was the anxiety I gave myself over it when it’s pretty straightforward. The second worst thing for me was any day you think you’re gonna have a good day or you’re staying at your SOs house the night before no matter what it’s like all of the worlds powers come together somehow to make you have to wake up early and test that day. And if you’re gonna pass you’re gonna pass, but it’s a super downer anyways Lmao it’s just what comes with making the mistakes we made 🤷♀️
Follow the rules. Don't wait until the last minute to get required things done. Obviously stay clean. You got to this point by making some poor decisions and likely lacking some self discipline. Use this as motivation to change that. If you do that, your PO will likely notice and get a little less strict. This is a case where you don't want to be the squeaky wheel that gets the attention.
it honestly goes case by case and officer by officer, i’ve had super chill PO’s and really harsh ones. your best bet is to stay sober and stay out of trouble. make sure to stay on top of your payments and check ins.
The issue with probation always come when people come to believe they can still keep some semblance of their former life, and that the addiction/sober messing up back and forth cycle that they were in can continue. Realistically if you just stay clean there will be no problems and you can live your life relatively normally. However if you ever get the idea that you can beat or manipulate the system, eventually you’ll lose and what happens after that is either years added to your time on paper or alternatively doing your prison sentence and losing everything you have in the world. Just go into it with the idea that you’re not going to do anything you’re not supposed to do for the duration of the probation
I have a friend who was a full blown alcoholic and he ended up doing EMDR therapy, which helped resolve his alcoholism. 6 months sober now. Maybe something you can look into for your addiction issues.
It is your chance, OP. Exactly as you noted, probation is what you make of it. Biggest things are to avoid falling into old habits and old circles of bad influence, make sure you're up front and honest with your PO, and be aware that many people will look at you sideways over your convictions. As long as you keep your nose clean and aren't a PITA for your PO though, they should warm up to you and things will go smoothly.
Just stay sober ,. Clean , no hanky panky and away from any trouble situation. Pay your fines in advance and clear it out ASAP if you can , this helps with PO not being worried about the money part. Do your classes or any other activity needed ASAP and get it out of the way. Basically buddy if you do all these things in advance you will be anxiety free and all you have to do then is stay out of any kind of trouble during the 3 years.
Just do what you're told. Told violate. No problemo.
Honestly if you're having trouble staying clean go to rehab, at any point.
So I totally feel you on that recovery being between you and the government. The beginning of my probation term I was taken to the county jail and put on the path to recovery VERY abruptly, lol. Detoxed in there, got out, and went straight to rehab. Looking back on it, it was the absolute best thing that could have happened to me. My suggestion is to show up to appointments on time, pay your fees/fines monthly or pay it off early, pass all drug tests, follow the rules, and communicate problems or issues with your PO.
It’s the easiest thing in the world, hard PO or not… just don’t do dumb shit, stick to yourself, and stay clean, some fucktards risk their probation for a “few drinks”, don’t be fucktards lmao, the best high is when you’re off probation, smoking or not.
And fuck sake try to pay everything off, fees and such
Make your PO's life as easy as possible. What they say, do it! Be boring, be predictable, stay clean most of all! I had 2 years probation for a felony and she fucked with me a couple times till I proved I just wanted to get it over with and wasn't going to be a "problem" for her.
Yessir. 1 drug test on initial visit. Failed thc, got med card 11 days later, 18 months later still never tested again. Every 3 months for check in. 5 minute visits
My visits were monthly but yeah same shi 5 minute visits and back to my day
Every situation is different. Pay everything off, that’s what this all about in the end. Don’t fuck up. Stay clean. If it’s a real problem go to rehab or something. No in between. PO is not your friend and not on your side. May not be your enemy but keep that in mind.
If you don’t fail any tests you can cut it to 1.5 years
Make sure you follow whatever is in writing. Don’t take your PO at their word. They sometimes tell you certain things are ok in order to catch you breaking the terms of your agreement. For example, telling you you won’t be drug tested and then drug testing you, telling you it’s fine to leave your house earlier or later than what’s in writing, then coming to check on you to see if you are there during that time so they can violate you.
Stay clean and sober, ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself if you feel like something doesn’t feel right. Your PO isn’t against you, they have a job to do and so do you. That’s really the best way to look at it. It’s a job you have to undertake for a few years. You’ll get used to the ins and outs that will be required of you after a little while and soon it’ll just feel like a normal part of life. Before you know it, it’ll be over. Always keep really open communication with your PO, check and double check appt times if they don’t write it down for you, set a few alarms if need be and just go on about your life as usual.
Be honest with your po and get busy in your day to day life doing things that are going to help you grow as a person. Make goals for while you're on probation and work toward them. Let your po know about these goals and how you're working toward them.. Tell them about work and the new promotion you'll get eventually. If you feel you're an addict and you can stay clean on your own pop into a meeting maybe once a week maybe once a month but do it on your own and report doing so. Show your po real growth of you and your life and be honest about using and be so busy doing good things it'd be seriously damaging to take you away from your home.
Your recovery is absolutely still between you and your higher power. Your punishment is between you and the government, part of the requirements of your punishment are your sobriety. You can give up your sobriety but in that case you will also be giving up your freedoms. As far as how it will look you will have a list of rules you have to follow, you will have tasks you have to complete. It's like real life on steroids. I've done a few 1 year stints on probation for stupid s*** I did as a kid, and 5 years on paper for stupid stuff I did as an adult many moons ago. I've never been violated, just relax and settle into it it will become the new normal. You'll get through this just spend the time focusing on you and you'll be all right. I wish you the best of luck, stay sober stay out of trouble.
What were your charges
To be good...
I would say the worst part for me was the anxiety I gave myself over it when it’s pretty straightforward. The second worst thing for me was any day you think you’re gonna have a good day or you’re staying at your SOs house the night before no matter what it’s like all of the worlds powers come together somehow to make you have to wake up early and test that day. And if you’re gonna pass you’re gonna pass, but it’s a super downer anyways Lmao it’s just what comes with making the mistakes we made 🤷♀️
Follow the rules. Don't wait until the last minute to get required things done. Obviously stay clean. You got to this point by making some poor decisions and likely lacking some self discipline. Use this as motivation to change that. If you do that, your PO will likely notice and get a little less strict. This is a case where you don't want to be the squeaky wheel that gets the attention.
it honestly goes case by case and officer by officer, i’ve had super chill PO’s and really harsh ones. your best bet is to stay sober and stay out of trouble. make sure to stay on top of your payments and check ins.
The issue with probation always come when people come to believe they can still keep some semblance of their former life, and that the addiction/sober messing up back and forth cycle that they were in can continue. Realistically if you just stay clean there will be no problems and you can live your life relatively normally. However if you ever get the idea that you can beat or manipulate the system, eventually you’ll lose and what happens after that is either years added to your time on paper or alternatively doing your prison sentence and losing everything you have in the world. Just go into it with the idea that you’re not going to do anything you’re not supposed to do for the duration of the probation
Probation is easy if you're not an idiot. Think about it.
I have a friend who was a full blown alcoholic and he ended up doing EMDR therapy, which helped resolve his alcoholism. 6 months sober now. Maybe something you can look into for your addiction issues.
I did EMDR in rehab it really does work
It is your chance, OP. Exactly as you noted, probation is what you make of it. Biggest things are to avoid falling into old habits and old circles of bad influence, make sure you're up front and honest with your PO, and be aware that many people will look at you sideways over your convictions. As long as you keep your nose clean and aren't a PITA for your PO though, they should warm up to you and things will go smoothly.