Your cart is currently empty!
One Year Sober – Connecting with Myself

If you’re in your first year alcohol-free and struggling with general discontent. If you’re romanticizing the ‘good old days’ of drinking don’t give up. Keep moving forward. I’ll be a year sober tomorrow but I remember exactly how hard it can be. Maybe my story will help.
Months 6-9 were brutal for me. I found myself unfulfilled, despondent, fearful, lost, resentful, lonely. I was neck-deep in the parts of my past that kept me hurting and small. I was always wanting to numb out.
I had to sit in that pain. Just sit, not act. I had to write, cry, not sleep, go inward.
Sometimes I read things that others wrote. I read about their long term sobriety and what it took them to get there. That it really did get better. That it would feel more natural eventually. They promised that I would find my center and stop feeling so horribly lost and regretful. They said just hold on and keep going.
And they were right.
It is a little better now. I feel like I can (mostly) be honest and vulnerable with the world. I’m less fearful. Less stuck in my own head. More thoughtful and patient. Less impulsive.
I still have dark nights. But I talk myself through them. I try to see them for what they are. Sometimes it’s just chemical and will pass. I remind myself of that.
And I remind myself that I’m strong enough to withstand the feelings. I breathe in and out and wait.
Sometimes it’s emotional, deep and old, and I process it. I write, and go down its paths until a crack appears and I can start to take it apart, or something breaks open and I can clean it out. Or reshape it. Or at least be aware of its presence so I can work around it.
Bottom line, it’s a process. A process I thought I either didn’t know how to participate in or was going about really badly a few months ago. Now I know I’m in it. And there’s no end really. Just a gradual feeling better. A little more confident. A bit better at handling what comes up and what life throws at me.
I think about what Johann Hari said, “the opposite of addiction is connection.” I always thought he meant connection to others, less isolation. And it does mean that. But even more it means connection to self, I think.
It was myself that was lost and this process has been one of trying to find my way back. The longer I’m sober ( I’ll be a year alcohol free tomorow), the stronger my connection to my real self and the world becomes. Now that I have it, I never want to lose it.
Wishing everyone out there well!
If youโre โsober curiousโ โฆ If you are drinking too much too often and want to stop or take a breakโฆor if you have stopped drinking and are trying to stick to sober! Talk to Us.
We are an independent, anonymous and private community who share resources, support and talk it through every day. It helps to have a community behind you in a world where alcohol is the only addictive drug that people will question you for NOT using
You can read more about us Here And join Here
community support 24-7 or sign up and sign in here
Donโt let the shame of the stigma keep you from saying
โI think I have a problem with drinkingโ
How do you go Sober?ย ( more reading in blue titles)
How to Stop Drinking Alcohol When Youโve Decided Enough is Enough
The Journey to 3 Months Alcohol Free โ A Sober Momentum Road Trip
Related posts from Inside the BOOM Community :
Why I Drank Last Night
Staying Sober Without AA
Filling the Hole

2 responses to “One Year Sober – Connecting with Myself”
[…] One Year Sober โ Connecting with Myself […]
[…] am a bit over one year sober now and am far from figuring everything out. Iโll keep reading, Iโll keep writing, Iโll […]