Well, I’ve hit the 9-month sober milestone! Me! She who ‘needed’ alcohol as her reward every night. She who felt shite every day. She who’s life was so wrapped around the social ‘benefits’ of alcohol she couldn’t see what it was doing to her and her life and family. The restrictions it was placing on her life. The anxiety it was causing. The needless groundhog days of her existence.

I’m off the hamster wheel now and life is a joy.

It truly is.

By taking alcohol out of the equation I am peaceful, happy, I deal with whatever life throws at me -good and bad- my anxiety has vanished. I am calm and focused and know what I want. And I look and feel better.

And best of all am able to function as I should.

I am proud of me.

I like me.

I am the best that I can be.

I found and joined this wonderful site on 27th December 2013

My first post I lost to cyberspace. I stared at the keyboard and thought Oh Shit -well that’s it then. But something in me made me write it again. This post was harder to write, longer and I wrote it from the heart. When I posted it I struggled, got very very anxious and panicked and tried to delete my account.

Then the comments came.

People replying. ———- WHAT?? WOW

And I cried. The relief was immediate. OMG, I was not the only one in the world ‘like this.’ I was not a freak of nature. Alcohol had many many people in its grip.

From 3am on Thursday 27th December 2013 I would never feel alone again.

This community has helped me to change my life around. But I was ready So ready. I WANTED this more than I wanted my life as it was. So I focused, really focused on ME. For the first time in my life, I put myself first.

And slowly I realised that basically alcohol is a drug. and if I allow this drug into my body I vanish and another person emerges. It’s not rocket science. It’s a drug. This drug is no good for me, my body doesn’t need it, it never did. I had just been conditioned to think that this particular drug was acceptable.

The only drug we have in our society that people question you if you DON’T take.

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This post was written and shared on the legacy site of Hello Sunday Morning on August 27th , 2014 by Zoo who is now an active member of the Boom Community and a regular contributor to the Boozemusings Community blog.

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