I started blogging my way sober a bit over four years ago. Sometimes I rant against the alcohol industry for marketing wine, gin and vodka as health and beauty products. Sometimes my posts are about alternative paths to recovery, and sometimes I write about the stigma of addiction that prevents so many of us from
Today is Day 45 being Alcohol-Free. For me, it’s actually a day of particular significance. Why? Because today matches the longest AF period I’ve had in the past 20 years or so. But unlike the last time I reached this point, this time feels different. Allow me to start at the beginning. Or, at least
I had had a taste of some nasty liquor at a spend the night party when I was 12 and my parents had allowed us to sip wine with dinner in our teens but I didn’t drink, I was a good girl and was terrified of getting into trouble and messing up my charmed life.
I can remember being in awe of people who had gone for a long time alcohol-free. I never thought I’d do it. In fact, to be truthful I didn’t think I COULD do it. I’d tried to reduce, moderate, change the drink in my glass, go a month without and start again. When I drank
Sure, there will be bad days when I will ponder the causes of my addiction, but as time goes by they will be fewer and further between. I will be buoyed by the fact that today, I behaved with dignity, today I did not people please, today I did not do something that went against my better nature thus causing sadness and resentment. Today I held my head high and demanded to be treated with respect because I am worth it.
