I didn’t think I could relax and wash off the day without help from alcohol. I didn’t love myself enough to take care of myself when I was sad or angry or afraid or frustrated. I didn’t know how to support myself, so I tried to escape. But, living without alcohol gave me the opportunity to identify and utilize new self-care tools. And, as I learned to nurture vs. punish myself when unwanted feelings showed up, I found a love I never knew existed. Despite how I used to abuse myself, that love is so darn deep.
Recovery Does Not Equal Perfection
And my therapist actually encouraged me, and this is a great tip when I was talking about, I, I just don’t think that my family’s going to be agreeable to these changes I’m wanting to make. And you know, there is nothing that reminds you that drinking is not harmless and innocuous and glamorous and makes you feel confident as someone who is struggling to get out of the drinking cycle. For instance, the stories about, you know, I went back to it. And then guess what happened?
So, for example, My husband just had a birthday and birthdays have always kind of thrown me for a loop because it’s just. Anything that’s extra always just kind of threw me. And by the way, I love that you’re like anything extra threw me. And then, you’re like, Casey, I want this job on top of my three kids, on top of my life. So I buy the one I’d rush in at the end of the literally 3 minutes before daycare closed and pick up my kid.
The Journey Back to Yourself – A Sobriety Retreat for Women
- Yet my friends remember me being a great dance partner and great company the whole evening.
- I can create joy, without alcohol.
- And I’m so glad that my kids aren’t going to grow up with that.
- It has become part of the necessary routine-building I discussed in my 4-year sobriety milestone post and part of how I give back.
- So, we tried to just make it more casual, which to me makes it more fun.
You’re just following the goodness. And for gold star girls or women who are, you know, perfectionistic or, or people pleasers, like that’s hard for us because we’re like, Living in a Sober House: Fundamental Rules I have to know what the end is. I have to know what the goal is. You have to WANT to be sober.
Days: New to the Battle
«Half of my T-shirts had alcohol brands on them,» he said. One of the toughest things for McCarthy was navigating work or social events without a drink. Andrea McCarthy told friends and family when she gave up alcohol on January 1, 2024, that she would toast 12 months off the sauce with a drink to ring in 2025. As that anniversary approached, the Los Angeles-born content creator told Newsweek she had had a change of heart.
Years: Another Lifestyle
Emotional support from others and things can be genuine and usually feels nice, but acknowledging and acting on supporting yourself emotionally is also crucial. You’ll also find it easier to do the same for other people once they’re the company you keep. When you are with people whose joy you can feel, you’ll see the same light in them. Whether we like it or not, relationships are transactional, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with expecting that the people we spend our time with will see our moments of joy and growth. Maybe I was always connected to this.
It is all here for you on the other side of sobriety. This was the first major lesson I learned and remains one of the most important. At the end of my drinking days, I was in an incredible amount of pain, and that pain was what ultimately enabled me to change my life. So, here I am, just a few days after drinking my first glass of alcohol (yes, it was champagne) and sharing the reasons why I made this choice, and how I’m really feeling about it. The idea that there will come a day when you’ll feel ready to “finish” the sobriety journey and never think of it again is unreasonable.
The best part of my job is knowing that we are creating a safe, healthy, nonjudgmental environment where people can come and better their lives. There is nothing more satisfying than helping others learn to live again and piece their lives back together as they become strong, productive members of society. Allison was born in Columbus, Ohio and was raised in South Florida.
And I know you don’t know how I felt or where I was going, but like, you don’t have to know to trust me on this one. And there are some mountains that I have chosen that would have been really bad to lead them down. And I am so glad that I have chosen the paths that I have chosen now to lead them down.
I adored my medications, and I missed them. I missed my pals who utilized as well. Presently, however, I have truly beneficial routines that assist me with remaining calm. I have companions to call if I have a feeling that I’m going to slip. There are these frameworks around me, you know?
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And when I stopped drinking, I didn’t want it to be this, like, okay, I’m not going to drink anymore. And my life, you know, we talked about, this was so boring. And then, I stopped drinking and I was going to downtown Seattle to these dinner parties on Sunday night that were incredible with and the women were just one was an author and one was a stand-up comic. And I also started making some different friends that don’t drink in person in that year and so that was really helpful. One of the things I started doing is we had this whole group of people that just didn’t drink for one reason or another like different reasons and we would just already knew them.