I’m 85 days alcohol-free today, not for the first time, but in this second try at staying sober long term, I’m starting to feel a little different. It’s a bit odd but welcome. I feel like I’m finally walking the walk in my sober shoes. Like a step has been removed from my path to alcohol or something.  Does that make sense? It’s not willpower keeping me AF this time, it’s seeing through the harmful bullshit of drinking, which I didn’t really want to acknowledge before as being potentially applicable to me. I had the mindset that I’d never drink that much or be as bad as that.

I watched a comedy last night “Life as We Know It” from 2007. It wasn’t made that long ago but long enough for alcohol jokes to be supposedly charming.  When I watched it before I probably thought yeah that’s funny, a Dr prescribing a bottle of red or white to cure the new mums anxiety. Watching it again last night I just thought the booze jokes dated the movie and seemed a bit stupid and ridiculous. So anyway, I enjoyed the movie and thought the bit where the baby was toddling drinking a bottle of baby milk, being followed by the father in his pants drinking a beer was cute, but it would still be cute if he was carrying an af beer, coke or coffee.

I feel like I’m becoming one step removed from alcohol which is great. I don’t know if it’s the right analogy, it probably means one step closer but to me it feels like a link in the chain has broken. I could fix that chain again but I don’t want to. Perhaps that’s a better way to think of it. I’m like a million chain links removed from cigarettes over the years since I quit and now I know I’m on the same path with alcohol. 

It’s a good feeling tainted with a bit of – I wish I could drink wine – but I’m staying on the alcohol-free path because the message that alcohol is okay isn’t fine.

I guess we really only need to break one link to break the chain and that is to decide that we won’t choose alcohol.

I could easily fix the link and make that chain good as new with my chainmaking tool ( old faulty mindset) but the thing is I’m planning on throwing it away pretty soon as I don’t want to keep it anymore. Last time I put it in a velvet box for safekeeping like it was something precious, this time it’s becoming redundant and will go in the bin. All that glitters isn’t gold right? And I am realising that beneath the gilt is harmful lead.

No-one wants a chain of lead, or a lead weight heart or a chain to alcohol at all right? Like a bird with a chain on it’s foot, how could it ever fly and reach it’s potential?

I wish my cravings would go away but little by little they’ll reduce every day. I’ll just keep walking the walk in my sober shoes because the only way out is through.

“Patience Prudence” is what my Dad used to say oh and ” You’ve got the intelligence, use it!”.

Gotta love my Dad’s straight talking I guess ❤

---

Have you ever heard the phrase The Only Way Out is Through? Here are some of the Sober Shoes that we wore from 27 days into the alcohol-free adventure to well over 5 years sober- If you’re drinking too much too often and want to take a break or stop, come walk the walk with us in the BOOM Rethink the Drink community. We are firm believers that everyone’s journey, and the shoes they walk the walk in, are as unique as the authentic individuals we all become, when we stop buying into booze culture, and break free of the status quo –

---

My sober shoes (just like my sobriety) are not very exciting at first glance but for me they provide:

Strength (my body and mind have strengthened since finding these two)

Comfort that goes beyond just feeling good

Sense of adventure of where they can take me

Independence and freedom ( worn by the author of Grateful for the Gift of Desperation )

---

Our sober shoes may be flashy and celebratory at a year alcohol-free – Here are my sober badass shoes! Today is one year sober and I am thrilled. It has been the longest and shortest year of my life! My anxiety is way down, I sleep so much better and mornings without hangovers will never get old. I can handle more, I can get more done, I can think/feel my way through life without feeling overwhelmed all the time. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been worth it. One foot in front of the other, which we as drinkers on the whole, hate. But patience is such a key in being sober, patience with the process, patience with ourselves, and sometimes patience with time itself. ( worn by the author of Demystifying Sober – Survival Guide From My First 10 Days Alcohol-Free )

---

At 27 days sober! these are my new magic sober shoes I gifted myself !! ( worn by the author of An Ode to Freedom From a Newly Sober Mum )

---

At day 47 alcohol-free I’m in no hurry in my sober studio shoes – Today, I don’t have to prove anything. I don’t have to impress myself or anyone else. Today, I get to just be. I don’t have to give in to fear or temptation. I don’t have to pine for the past, prep for the future, or wallow in sorrow. Today, I get to just be me. A me that’s evolving and in no hurry. A me that has no agenda, save for one thing; Today, I get to be just me alcohol-free. It’s a good day to be me. 

---

My sober shoes are new Doc Martens for seriously kicking the wine witch to the curb!

---

I double knot these sober sneakers every day!  ( worn by the author of Once Upon a Sunday Night )

---

Running in my sober shoes keeps me connected to my body, mind, and the ground. ( worn by the author of A Test of Your Alcohol Awareness – What is Normal Drinking? )

---

My sober shoes remind me that I am OFF DUTY ! Taking time for me to get through the early stages of alcohol detox. Finding comfort in the little things, support through boom and meditation. Looking forward to continuing to love life and it’s comforts AF with my daughter!

---

My sober shoes remind me to move towards whatever lights me up. And To be myself. ( worn by the author of You Deserve Another Chance – A Sober Dance )

---

My sober shoes take me back to a time before alcohol was on my radar. Without alcohol I’m as happy and full of wonder as a little girl in Mary Janes. (Here are my big-girl Mary Janes 😆) ( worn by the author of How I Escaped the Trap of Gray Area Drinking )

---

My sober shoes are tough but cool and stylish boots to walk in,  not worn them in yet properly, they still feel new but they feel good. ( worn by the author of Finding Balance at 6 Months Sober )

Worn by the author of Self Care Does Not Come in a Bottle – A Newly Sober Mum Reflects on Loving Living Alcohol Free

---

These are my Sober Badass shoes – it’s all in the attitude that freedom brings! Sobriety Offers Everything that Alcohol Promised – Except the Hangover!

Why should you Rethink the Drink ?

Sunday night, no wine, it’s fine for many reasons, here’s mine.

Some things that no longer serve us
Must in time come to an end
Before we might crash from going far too fast round a blind bend

It’s ok to be upset and cry over something but not want it back
I guess sometimes life is like that

Our feelings are a snapshot in time
In a year I reckon I’ll feel different about wine
Do I still miss it?
Ask me in another months time

Because alcohol to me is starting to represent something different
It’s helping It’s persuasive skills to become more and more insignificant

I don’t want a dangerous fake
Masquerading as self care
I know what it would take
A truth is still true
However unfair

If you feel the stress start to leave you
Going alcohol free
Is that your body
Thanking you really?

The hangovers
Gloomy life makeovers
Mistakes and amends
They all stopped
When booze and I parted friends

What happens when your friend
Is your enemy in the end?

You’re collapsed on the floor
Can’t reach your phone
Or the door
Crying sounds muffled
Hair in your face
What a kerfuffle
Mascara tears they trace
The wine has been spilled
A bottle killed
But no emptiness filled
Wouldn’t it have been better
Just not to pour?

---

If you’re “sober curious”… If you are drinking too much too often and want to stop or take a break…or if you have stopped drinking and are trying to stick to sober! 

Talk to Us. 

BOOM Rethink the Drink Community

More from our Boozemusings blog

6 Months Sober – Self Discipline as Self Care

Self Care Does Not Come in a Bottle – A Newly Sober Mum Reflects on Loving Living Alcohol Free

Start where you are right now
Whether with determination or overwhelming fear
Or everything in between

Tell us your story if you’d like to
And we’ll listen, virtually near
It’s anonymous, a safe space
To say what you need to here

It’s helpful to leave self blame at the door
If its not serving you anymore
From a heavy and maybe weary heart
To a fresh start

You could find out soon
Life could bloom with BOOM

Be proud because you’re taking the first steps
Just do the next right thing
And then the next
ODAAT

You could say it’s like having friends in your pocket
Support on your phone
We’ll be your safety net
You don’t need to do this alone 

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

Don’t let the shame of the stigma keep you from saying

“I think I have a problem with drinking”