5 Years Sober Today

It hasn’t always been easy but I’m incredibly grateful for sobriety. The two things that have helped me the most:

1. Facing all my own shit head-on, my past, my trauma, my own bullshit, my relationships, my emotions, my mind, everything. No mask, no filter, just willingness to face all the things that life brings. Truly processing my thoughts and emotions without booze in the way has brought an immense amount of peace. And I’m definitely still far from perfect.

2. Honesty. 100% true, raw honesty was so key for me. I was honest for the first time in my life with myself, my parents, my friends, even my employer that I was an alcoholic and simply couldn’t drink. I was worried about losing friends and relationships and guess what? None of that happened. If anything I’m closer with my friends than I’ve ever been (although I don’t sit at the bar for 10 hours anymore). Honesty liberated me in a way nothing else could.

I’ll always be grateful for sobriety and remain vigilant but it’s truly the best gift I could’ve received. IWNDWYT