How to define your relationship with alcohol

How to define your relationship with alcohol

How do you define your relationship with alcohol? 

 

I’m seeing more talk about being sober.  The idea of never having to have a drink of alcohol, to taking a month like January and not drinking alcohol.  The newest sober celebration was Sober Spring.  

 

Before I got involved in the non-alcohol movement, being sober to me meant attending meetings, saying you will never touch alcohol again and being in recovery. 

 

For me, one of my struggles has been the never can I ever, one. The, I can never have a drink of alcohol again and if I did then I failed. The temptation of knowing I couldn’t have a champagne toast at a wedding, have a glass of wine with a fancy steak dinner, having a tropical beverage by the pool for m birthday, or never having a Bloody Mary with a friend a brunch. 

 

Up until recently, the word sober really only meant one thing.  Thankful for the sober curious movement and hype from non-alcoholic beverages because now we have a way to define being sober differently - a time to rethink how you drink and drink differently.

 

Here’s my idea - Instead of celebrating sober challenges like sober spring, dry January and dry July, why don’t we be more mindful of our drinking everyday. 

 

 

And…I also think, you need to do what’s best for you! Whether it’s being sober, sober curious, alcohol free today, or keep doing what you are doing. The only person who gets to decide how you drink alcohol is you. 

 

The sober curious movement started  in 2018. Before that, I personally don’t recall the idea of the option of wondering what it was like to maybe not drink today. It was either all or nothing. It’s taken 5 years for the conversation to become more mainstream. Which means it’s going go take another 5 for things to start to change.

 

Once a sign of class and glamour, smoking is no longer sexy, cool, or even normal. We are headed down this path of change with alcohol.  The shift in public perceptions is important because perception and the social pressure that comes along with smoking has been the driving force behind the decline of smoking over the last half century.  It will just take time.

 

Changing the conversation around alcohol can start with you!

 

In the past, my relationship with alcohol was never a good one. But, I felt like there was only one option - get sober. Now, there’s so many options and they are talked about. 

 

If you aren’t ready to live a completely sober life, come along with us and practice being more mindful of what we drink everyday, not just during a certain period of time. 

 

Think before you drink! 

 

Ask yourself:

Do I really need alcohol? 

Is that drink really going to make me feel better?

What’s really going on? 

Can I drink a zero proof or non-alcoholic beverage instead? 

 

You don’t have to have a never should I ever.

 

I see it on social media - We celebrate a sober win.

But we get down when we relapse, when something in our life has a stronger pull and we give in to drinking alcohol . Then, we feel terrible because we gave in and starting the clock again at zero. 

 

Here’s a different way to think about alcohol:

Relapse does not have to be a thing 

Drinking alcohol can be something that you chose to do 

It dose not have to control you 

But that day it did 

It does not have to continue to control you 

Just because you said yes to it today 

Does not mean that you had to say yes to it tomorrow 

Because you are stronger 

Celebrate that you can say yes and say no 

And when you say yes, 

It’s not the yes from the past 

The you can’t stop yes 

The yes to numb your life 

The yes that leaves you never wanting to touch alcohol again

The what stupid things did I do yes 

Just because you said yes, does not mean you have to keep saying yes 

That means, if you said yes, you stop at one 

That means, if you said yes, your now wondering why you said yes and you need to confront those things that made you say yes 

That means, you don’t have to keep saying yes 

You’ve got this 

You can handle it differently 

And you will handle it differently 

 

There doesn’t need to be restrictions 

There doesn’t have to be a never should I ever.

Again, where ever you are with alcohol, do what is best for you.  This is just my story and it can be the same for you or a different story. We are just here to share and to show another option.

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