are you sick and tired YET of being sick and tired?
Today I am going to step aside..and instead I'd like for you to read the following post that I found online. All it takes to quit a habit sometimes is to just make up your mind that you WILL stop! Look round you...see how what you do affects someone else. It's all about walking in the footsteps of another. Yes, I do have compassion for those who drink....I realize it's the influence of an evil source higher than I can comprehend. However, there is also a Higher Power...higher than the evil that threatens to steal away your life. I am hoping that the following message resonates with you today...or someone you know.
7 Things I Learned From 1 Year Without Alcohol
Image: On the left, a peak drinking time / On the right, a few weeks ago, almost one year sober.
Kelly
Fitzgerald is like a lot of people; living a busy and social lifestyle.
However, that all changed on May 6th, 2013 when she decided to take her
last drink of alcohol.
She made an
extremely brave move and decided to go sober. It’s been over a year now
since she took her last drink, and since she has written an extremely
honest report highlighting the drastic and unexpected benefits she has
discovered during her year of sobriety and here are the lessons she
learned:
Wow I can’t
even believe I’m typing this! If you’re reading this it’s because I made
it. I made it to one full year without alcohol. On May 6, 2013 I took
my last drink. I will never forget how it felt. I was sick and tired
of being sick and tired. I was tired of being the party girl, I was
tired of feeling like shit, I was tired of disappointing and
embarrassing my friends and loved ones. I decided I needed a big
change. Trying to drink in moderation hadn’t proved to be the best
option for me. It never worked. Enough was enough. I tried something
that I never did before – stopped drinking alcohol completely.
When I started
this sober journey I wasn’t sure how long it would last and now I can’t
imagine going back to how my life was before. The positives have been
plentiful and the negatives have been slim to none.
Here’s what I’ve learned in one year sans alcohol:
1. MY SENSES ARE HEIGHTENED X1000
Wow I feel
everything with a noticeable heightened sensitivity. This includes
emotions, muscle pain, sense of smell, hearing, and taste. My nose is
so sensitive to smells I am ALWAYS saying “it smells like ___ in here”,
or whoa, it smells SO strong. My emotions are crazy, sometimes I think
this is what it must feel like to be pregnant. I cry at the drop of a
hat, I’m offended easily, and sometimes I am so happy I feel like I’m
going to burst. I actually care what people think about me, I know
those of you who know me are now saying, who are you and what have you
done with Kelly? This ‘feeling everything’ thing can be extremely
overwhelming at times, but I’ve never felt something so amazing.
2. I’M JUST BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND WHO I REALLY AM
I’ve been
learning that there are things I thought I liked that I really don’t
like and things I like that I never knew I did. I’m learning how to
socialize and be myself with friends and family without the crutch of
alcohol. I learned that waking up on the weekend without a hangover,
having a cup of coffee, and going for a run is exactly what I want to be
doing. I’m learning that person who was under the cloud of constant
alcohol black outs for the last several years was not me. I am not the
stupid embarrassing things I did, I am a real person who does not mix
well with alcohol.
3. ALCOHOL WAS NOT FUN FOR ME ANYMORE
I had been
trying and failing for years to regulate my drinking. I’m only going to
drink two, ok three, just on the weekends. It never worked and I
finally figured out why – I’m not a person who can ingest alcohol. It
started out as a fun, social thing for me years ago, but last year I
realized that it wasn’t fun anymore. In fact it was the root of any
type of problem I had. Bad things happened to me when I drank and I
should have wanted to stop sooner than I did.
4. MY LIFE IS MANAGEABLE
When actively
drinking my life was a hot mess and I was comfortable that way. I
fought through the scary first days and months of not drinking and now
being sober is my normal. I’m so glad it is. Bad things would happen
in the past and I always felt like it was the end of the world and
drinking was the answer to everything. Now, I feel more prepared if
something bad were to happen, I am able to handle it in a healthy way.
Additionally, less bad things have happened since I stopped drinking
alcohol which was the cause of many problems in the past. I am now
present and thankful for each day.
5. I AM WORTHY OF LOVE
I’m positive I
have been sabotaging my romantic relationships for a long time. Why?
Now that might take years to find out, but the drinking just helped fuel
this problem. It supported, encouraged, and justified bad decisions of
all kinds, especially those related to men. What I didn’t realize
until the drinking stopped was that I am capable of being in a normal
relationship and I do in fact, deserve to be loved. You see, I had this
way of thinking that since I was fucked up, I was meant to be in a
fucked up relationship. Now I know that is crazy talk. I am lucky
enough to be in a loving, healthy relationship with an amazing man who
has helped show me that I deserve all the love in the world and I am
finally starting to believe him.
6. TOXIC PEOPLE ARE JUST LIKE TOXIC HABITS
This is a big
one for me. Obviously when you stop drinking or doing drugs you
probably need to change some friends you hang out with. I definitely
had to do this and I realized just how little I had in common with some
people. I also realized that I had friends that were completely
different from me, without the same goals and outlook on life. It felt
all too fake. When you make a big life decision like admitting you have
an alcohol problem and decide to to stop drinking, you really find out
who your true friends are. There are those who will love you
unconditionally, those who won’t bat an eyelash, and those who will
still offer you cocktails after they already know you don’t drink. I’ve
encountered all of the above. Getting rid of my toxic friendships
along with my toxic habits just makes sense and I’m learning not to feel
bad about it.
7. I’M NOT PERFECT AND THAT’S OK
Stopping a
nasty habit like alcohol abuse can bring out a lot of guilt, shame, and
regret. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t felt all of the above at
times. However, I am realizing feeling all the emotions I spent years
trying to numb is actually a beautiful thing. Not only am I learning to
feel them, I’m learning how to deal with them, and live a healthy and
successful life. I have made mistakes along the way and I will never be
perfect. Every day I have to make a conscious decision not to beat
myself up. I am a work in progress and I have come a LONG way. There
are good days and bad days. Sometimes I feel like life isn’t fair and I
wish I could just drink alcohol normally like everyone else. Mostly, I
have accepted that this is the way my life is, kind of like having five
knee surgeries, quitting alcohol has become one of my stories of
perseverance.
I never thought
that sobriety would be my preferred way of life, but now I can’t
imagine going back to my party girl ways. I never dreamed I would feel
SO happy, full, and healthy living a life without drugs and alcohol. I
was always that girl who needed alcohol to have fun and now I am a
testament to the fact that you don’t need it to enjoy yourself. I wake
up every day feeling relieved that I never have to feel hungover. I
hope that by sharing my story other party girls (and boys) will have the
courage to put down the drink and live the life they have always
imagined. The best is yet to come.
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