She Needed a Hero So That's What She Became

I don’t WANT to choose wine over me. I’m celebrating sober one word at a time by smashing the alcohol chains I made with poetry. Here is how it works – I found support that is all about connection, not direction. I let go of my excuses, accepted that I was strong, redefined self-care, and learned that alcohol-free IS free. I write instead of drinking. My journey is all about Sober Poetry in Motion!

Support is Connection – Sober Poetry in Motion

Your path
Your goals
Your grit
Your determination
Your objectives
Your milestones
Your successes
Are all yours

No one else’s business to tell you how to get and stay sober
Support is wonderful
But it Looks different to direction
Support is shared experience
Listening to stories without judgment
Support is connection

Everyone walks this recovery path differently
And that’s ok
There is no one size fits all
We are all beautifully unique

That’s just my opinion anyway and what I tell myself

Let’s get busy and travel this path together!

WHO ARE WE? Online Community Support to Stop Drinking – BOOM!

Let go of the Excuses – Sober Poetry in Motion!

She let go of her excuses
And found herself
Doing the work
She became someone else
The person she was always meant to be
Before her addictions darkened her dreams
Opening the path to different scenes
The ones in addiction failed to compare
In presence there is wonder and precious moments to share
There is such power in being so aware
A different way of thinking here and there

Today is my birthday 🎂 and my gift to me is 555 days alcohol-free. Wow…I’m impressed, I’m allowed to be right. I have a completely alcohol-free body and that’s a reason to celebrate.

It still isn’t easy, I still want to buy wine sometimes….but I don’t.

You are Strong – Sober Poetry in Motion!

I know you think you’re weak now
But you don’t know the truth
You’re stronger than you think you are
So show up
Be the proof! 💪

Want it?
Willing to work for it?
Then prove it
Do it tired
Do it scared
Do it worried
Just take small actions every day
And watch success come into play
The things you want are in your gift
Why are you waiting for tomorrow
When you can do this
Intention is worthless if it stays in your mind
Take one sweet action and another you’ll find
And as your momentum continues to build
Darling you’ll find those needed skills
Stay sober, stay bolder
Don’t run for the hills
Or somewhere to hide and turn the lock
Darling you don’t belong under a rock

Sometimes saying no is easy and breezy and other times I feel like I’m walking a tightrope with no safety net and I daren’t look down.

If alcohol is the wound then sobriety is the soothing balm
If alcohol is the infection then an alcohol-free lifestyle is the inner calm
If alcohol would take everything then that knowledge is the alarm
I will remember this and play the tape forward
Whenever I wonder….where’s the harm?!

It’s all About redefining Self Care – Sober Poetry in Motion!

Self Care is Self Love

It isn’t really chocolate cake
Or bubble baths
Though they have their place
So do movies
And side splitting laughs

It’s dragging myself out of bed
At 3am when I’m bone tired
To clean my teeth
And change my clothes
When I’m exhausted instead of wired

It’s having firm boundaries
That can’t be messed with
It’s not drinking despite the triggers
It’s finding different ways to live

It’s compassionate parenting
Whilst taking less crap
It’s listening to my body
And taking a nap

It’s feeling the anxiety
The strain
The uncertainty
And sitting in it all
Thinking it through silently

It’s relying on my mind
Trusting we can get through this situation
Instead of giving in
To my elephant Indignation

Self love isn’t that glamorous
Sometimes it’s so tough
But it’s the extra reserves within us
And darling that’s enough

How will I know
If I just don’t really try
Wake up and really show up now
Don’t listen to the lie

False promises break easily
And alcohol makes you cry
Show yourself what you’re made off
Tell your dumb crutches goodbye

Alcohol-Free IS Free! – Poetry in Motion

Free to stay sober

Freedom to say no to a poisonous substance
That destroys friendships
Relationships
Families
Children
Frequently
A neurotoxin that hurts our mind
Something we pay for
So unkind
We fall in with the con of buying it
To be blurry momentarily
Then feel like shit
The next day probably a complete write off
A struggling body
Memories lost
Checking the room
To locate a lost phone
Dying for a cuppa
Hurting alone
Needing tea and toast in bed please
Just us tho heart empty
Or so ill at ease
How to be better
Delete messages quick
Then rush to the bathroom
Gonna be sick
What toxic “fun” is this
Sobriety is real freedom
This time I won’t miss
Paying to feel alcohol crap
Omg what a trap

The poems above and the following poems below were written by Floss, author of Finding Balance at 6 Months Sober, How to Stop Drinking and Stay Sober by Telling Your Story and many poetic musings on living alcohol-free

Looking Back to Week One Sober

They Told Me to Stop Drinking …

Day 1 Sober

They told me to stop drinking
How dare they?
They don’t control my thinking
I’ll do what I want

They can’t tell me don’t
Well they can try
But I’ll just try harder won’t I
I’ll prove to myself I can do this alone

Don’t need handholding
Well except by the Witch called wine
And her friend Vicious Vodka
‘Cos I’ll be fine
Won’t I?

Where are they taking me
These trusted friends of mine
Headed towards a cliff?
The end of the line?

Hang on this wasn’t what I meant
I was just looking to forget my troubles and for a little (lot of) merriment

Perhaps it’s time I changed my own mind
And searched out friends that are sober kind

Noone can tell you what to do
It has to come from you
Go sober and go against the grain
It’ll lessen the pain, blame, fear and shame

The darkness ain’t all it’s cracked up to be
It’s not romantic
It’s just misery!

Day 2 Sober. No desire to drink, perhaps an inkling but I’m not going to. My Alcohol Use Disorder score was 3 which works out “Mild” but it’s still AUD so obviously drinking is a bad idea for me. There is something else though, I just don’t want to drink anymore. I want to commit to being a non drinker.

Me rejecting wine:
“No thanks I don’t drink”

Friends: “Oh really why? Just have one”

Me: “No thanks, it doesn’t suit me anymore, I’m just not bothered, I’d rather get “drunk” on cake and enjoying my life than craving booze after a few glasses. “

Saturday Wine Witch Misery

She says “Erm excuse me please
It’s Saturday night time for wine
Aren’t you forgetting something?”

We don’t do that anymore i say

WW: “But……it’s the weekend….and it’s Saturday”

Well I’m changing the channel
It’s been a week

WW: “Well you won’t get any pleasure in alternatives you seek
And what about all the current worries on your mind
A bowl or 2 of choco hoops won’t be as kind
Whereas I have the cure all
Admit it
Don’t I?
I soothe your brow when you want to cry!”

Well let’s see now you also lie badly
Repeatedly it seems to me

WW: “Are you sure
Do I?
At least I always make you feel better right?”

Well now that you mention it
You ruin it each time
And If when I’m mad I have a glass of wine
I feel much worse
The thing is WW I’m not the one that’s cursed
You are
Destined to bring misery to all near and far
And though some wine appeals at the moment and looks nice
It’s still a toxic, life destroying vice
I was sober 6 months
I’m gonna do that twice
That’s my intention
So I might as well show you
I might as well mention
That I have the power to remove my attention
Whenever I agree with you
I always end up back here
It’s not worth my health and time
To waste it on wine
Just so we’re clear
YOU AREN’T WELCOME HERE!
Though at the moment you’re shouting
And it’s barely a whisper
I can still hear my heart voice saying
“I want to be a non drinker”

Day 4 Sober

I think my inner child threw a strop
Bought things I didn’t need
Another huge coffee mug bought
Said it was necessity not greed
Another set of earphones
As my cat chewed through these
That’s now the 5th set ruined
Would she stop doing that please
I’ve adulting to do
My sons birthday to plan
But my inner child wants more presents too, she demands
I’ve bought her AF tops, some coasters, magazines, earphones, another mug
It says “coffee is a big hug”
Some Mason jars, a wave ring
Books and more cups
I think for now that lot’s kinda enough
But I just bought an exercise bike too
IC told me getting fit is the thing to do.
Time to put the brakes on
Reign her in a bit
I want a 4th cat
My husband’s losing his shit
But he’ll love it anyway
When he sees how cute it is
Even though
” I don’t want another cat”
Is all I hear him say
I think I’m trying to fill the emptiness here
With everything, including the kitten?
My IC is trying to find her own happiness
Trashing my finances
Leaving a mess
But by the rescue bug
I’ve definitely been bitten

#Rescueisthebestbreed

Day 5 Sober

Ditched the voice last night
Belonging to the Witch of hate
The Wine pusher
She’s a fright
Not a mate
And up close represents a horrific sight

“Your future is right here my dear
Pour a large glass and sit down, come near”
She continues “1 becomes 2, 3 and then 4
It wouldn’t take long for you to start having more
Missed tv shows, missed conversations
A rotating lounge floor
Forget cleaning your teeth
You won’t see the stairs anymore”

High functioning drinker
Sensitive thinker
Not waving but drowning here
In my constant glasses of wine or beer
Defending my high functioning label to the end
When the Wine Witch shows me finally…..
She was never my friend

When you get sober
It’s first and formost for you
But believe me your loved ones will notice it too

Though they’ll be worried
Scared you’ll lose ground
And might still be mistrustful
I bet they’re secretly proud

When they realise how hard you’re working at it all
At how hard you’re trying not to fall
It’ll probably take more time than you want it to
But eventually I think they’ll respect you again too

Hopefully, I mean nothing is guaranteed clearly
But getting sober you start to like yourself again really

When you see your loved ones through your newly sober eyes
Keep going
Eventually your loved ones might return your smile

And trust will be built up
All because you never gave up giving up
You are so strong
And eventually they’ll understand that you were all along

Sobriety starts with and for you
But it positively affects others wonderfully too

Day 6 Sober

Monday….Monday

My life isn’t perfect
But I’m going to choose to be content
And alcohol has no place in it
It’s not worth it
For the “merriment”

Don’t want a course of health reduction, accidents and feeling crappy
Life can be hard enough
Without falling in that trap you see

Emails to answer
School place to seek
Covid anxiety high
Pressure already this week

From under my duvet
I don’t wanna peek
News is depressing
Want some contentment
It soothes me, it sings

Want to find joy amidst the chaos of things
Seeking out the moments of love that they bring
It’d be easier to be overwhelmed and sink into a rut
With alcohol for company
Stuck in the mud

But if I did that I’d miss everything that’s good
Little miracles appear here and there
But stuck in booze muck
We’d just miss it I swear

I’ll give you an example
An animal rescue recently
Saw before and after pictures
A miracle really

It’s amazing what a lot of love and good food can do
I’m convinced angels without wings walk this earth
I think I know a few

If you look closely
And alter your perception
Either a 360° or just a fraction or two
You’ll find the good in each day
That booze doesn’t want you to

Day 7 Sober

Sitting in the emptiness
The chaos, unhappiness, mess
Letting waves of emotion wash over us
In sobriety we try to trust
We deserve nothing less

Our will power alone struggling
We try something else
We must
Find a reason to give up at last
As booze could be taking us somewhere too fast

The game is rigged
But the die not yet cast
Hopefully
We get to decide which move we choose
We can work to either win or lose

It looks more fun in the Winners Circle of Sober
Than blacking out then a hellish hangover
When blocking things out becomes blacking out
It’s past time to kick alcohol out right!?