Grab Back Ahold Today!

January marks a new year with the possibilities of growth and new, fresh ideas about life. We humans seem to gravitate to markers like these more often than not. In January most of us are excited to focus on opportunity, on hopes for what’s to come, and plans on how to get there. But what if you’re struggling with the commitment you made to stay alcohol-free back in the beginning of January?

Please don’t give up! This struggle to stay sober, the slips and slides, the stops and starts, are more common than most people think. Grab back ahold today! Commit to starting fresh today. There simply is no special day that is better than another to get started on an alcohol-free life. The present will always be the best day because that’s really all we have to work with. The future hasn’t happened yet and therefore (at present) it’s merely a dream. A hope of things to come.

I had a lot of trouble getting and staying alcohol-free. For years my sober journey followed a path littered with a lot of starts, stops, slips, and slides. But finally, in early 2022 I did an exercise that helped make sober stick. I created a clear vision of what could be and recognized and owned what was. My intention was to be able to actually see the possibilities of what my life could be alcohol-free. To show myself whether or not it would be worthwhile. Trust me – it was!

The best way to make something happen is to visualize it and be as specific about the vision as possible.

When I set my intention to stay alcohol-free there’s only so much I could prepare for, so I did what I could. I could start getting out in the fresh air every day even if just for short periods. I could start making specialty drinks that would fuel me rather than put me down for the count. I could stop berating my food choices, my body, and my overall self. My character.

Questions I gave myself to think about:

What would life be like without alcohol?
What would I be doing differently today if I’m not drinking?
What do I physically look like in that reality?
Who am I surrounding myself with? Who do I want to be surrounding myself with, and how would I make that happen?
What do I do during my downtime and time off?
What activities do I engage in now that I simply couldn’t do when I was drinking?
Where do I work?
What dreams can I finally make come true?
How much money have I saved and what am I doing with it?
What relationships have I repaired?
What bonds and new friendships have I created and with who? What are they like?

Once I answered those questions, then I decided to get even more specific with my vision.

In my non-drinking reality, Am I:

Tending to a new garden? Joining a gym, or a yoga class I’m really enjoying? Am I walking every day and how does it feel to be doing that? Have I learned about meditation and begun the focus to do it? Am I traveling to that faraway place I’ve always dreamed of going to? Did I find that special person who reciprocates building me up and vice versa?

Did I put my passion where my mouth is and start that new career that I’m now passionately involved in? Am I retiring with a new hobby I absolutely love? Have I mended those relationships that were struggling? With who? Have I become part of the solution? Started that renovation I have always dreamed of? How does my place look? And what am I doing in my new place? Am I in the midst of writing that book I always thought about? Is it a bestseller?

Am I healthy? How do I know I’m healthy and how does it feel to be there?

Not all of the things I asked myself were things I wanted to do. It was just a “popcorn” type of place to start a dialogue with myself. Hard pass on joining a gym or writing a book, and it’s way too soon to retire in my case.

The main focus of this exercise was to create a solid vision of myself. To have a clear picture of who I am in an alcohol-free life based on who I want to be. To actually know, and be completely clear on what it looks like, and who I am within it. I believed that the stronger and more detailed the picture I created, the more likely it was to become a reality. And for the most part, It is my reality now.

The picture above contains a book I was given. It is the book that I actually wrote my vision for an alcohol-free life in. Just recently I went through what I’d written in the book and checked off all of the things I was able to make happen during my journey without drinking. We truly can be living our adventure

I’d love to hear about the vision you have for yourself in an alcohol-free life if you’re willing to share it. The inspiration can go a long way for all of us no matter where we are on the AF path. This will always be a continual process regardless of sobriety time. Inspire us…inspire me more. What does AF you look like? What are you doing in that life? Who have you become?

Walk With Me Into Lasting Change