#sobercurious

- running away from friends

- hangxiety

- drunk injuries

- working while hungover

- having drinks to decompress from work

- projectile-ing booze

- believing I’m only fun with liquid courage

- talking to sketchy strangers in bars

- drinking because I’m sad

- drinking because I’m stressed

- drinking because I’m angry

- drinking because I’m happy

- having a celebratory drink

- participating in an Irish funeral

- peer pressuring people into taking shots

- playing drinking games

- ignoring my body’s pleas for help

- using alcohol to repress feelings/memories

- willfully ingesting poison

- sending embarrassing drunk texts

- being a person I’m not proud to be

- carrying on generational and genetic curses

- ignoring the truth that I’m an alcoholic

- ignoring the truth that my chronically ill, chronically medicated body that’s missing a few organs just can’t handle alcohol

Sobriety taught me that some people I thought of as friends were just drinking buddies. I haven’t done it the AA way so I’ve done this journey mostly alone. I don’t have a sponsor or a mentor, just sporadic statements of support from the loved ones who’ve remained. And I’m truly grateful for every grain of support from every true friend I have.

I tried to quit drinking for a few years before I finally did, and I can’t say the difficulty ended there at all. These thousand days have been a mixed bag, but many were not easy. I still get offered drinks sometimes, and I wonder when that will stop being difficult — when the scent of wine won’t almost sway my core beliefs. I pray I keep making the right choices for my body and soul, in every similar future scenario, but I know the reality of sobriety is often less linear than that. All I can do is believe in myself and hold onto hope, regardless — even in the moments I have to grip on more tightly.

1. Protect your space. You don’t have time for bullshit anymore. Cut out the people you’ve been meaning to cut out. Make the most space for the people who have chosen to believe in you. Spend less time on social media. I’ve deleted my facebook and instagram apps. It doesn’t have to be permanent but you need to avoid triggers and to an emotionally sensitive person like many addicts are due to Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome social media is full of triggers. It’s shown that social media makes you compare your lives to others leading to a lacking mindset rather than one of appreciation for what you have.

2. Find a recovery group. The important part is making community outreach a regular part of your week. Some people go to meetings everyday. There are plenty of meetings out there. AA, NA, DRA, SMART recovery, recovery dharma… if you don’t like the meetings you have available I recommend going anyway to connect with people. Take what resonates and leave the rest behind.

3. Take it a day at a time. You don’t have to commit to being sober for a lifetime, though hopefully you get there eventually. Just be sober today. 24 hours. And then do it again tomorrow.

4. Be as open about recovery as possible. Shame is a normal part of recovery but the more people you’re open with the more chances you have for increasing your support network. Outside of meetings, a support network is very important. No one is an island.

pomegranate and ginger spritzer (Winter)

Author: @Drizzleanddip

An awesome combination of flavors.

INGREDIENT

Spomegranate and ginger spritzer (Winter)

4oz LyftED Lemonade

1 cup of fresh pomegranate juice (juice from 2 – 3 pomegranate)

2 t lime or lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar (you could add 1/2 cup)

5cm piece of fresh ginger thinly sliced

lime/ lemon wedges to serve

pomegranate seeds for garnish

October ‘22

Hey there.

I started this journey three days ago. I haven't even made it a full 3 days without having a beer. Even as I type this, I am thinking about the fact that I have already cracked one today... it's not even 11am.

I guess I am here to just share my experience. Shouting in the void that is the internet, I figure maybe I will find even just one human struggling with the same things. Perhaps we can support one another on this difficult path to not only sobriety, but self discovery.

I suppose that I will share more about me and what got me to this point in a little bit. For now, I just wanted to say hello.