Stories of Sobriety: Success Stories of the Year

In sobriety I’ve been around all this stuff and I think that’s one of the things people cast a stigma on. My relationship with my wife, both emotionally and physically, was absent. I was unable to participate in any kind of family activity, especially if it interfered with my drinking.

• I couldn’t wait for the workday to end so I could get to my car and have a good dose of alcohol from the bottle under the seat.
• I’ll break down my experience for anyone who wants to know what to expect, like I did in those early days.
• I was looking for more of whatever was available at that time in my life.
• Once I quit drinking on April 12th, it wasn’t like it was all smooth sailing from there.
• My wife, who I believe was also unhappy, frequently left the young children with me for me to supervise while she went shopping or got together with her neighborhood friends.

I recollect, even as a preteen, prior to my drinking career, not being able to feel sorrow at my Grandmother’s funeral, forcing myself to cry just to fit in with the family. I made a conscious decision upon my graduation to stop smoking marijuana because of the possibility of jeopardizing my medical license if I were to get caught. Alcohol easily and quickly replaced the marijuana as I began residency.

Today marks the seventh anniversary of my choice to stop drinking alcohol.

Nothing makes a problematic drinker more uncomfortable than a sober person. Typing that sentence feels absolutely surreal because 365 days ago, the idea of not drinking alcohol for just one week was totally unfathomable, let alone one entire year. On April 12, 2021, I was so in the grips of alcohol use disorder that I truly believed having to remove it from my life was a removal of joy, a removal of happiness, a removal of comfort. As dramatic as this sounds, it felt like a death sentence at the time.

• When she would catch me getting high, she would be irate and I would promise to abstain, only to use as soon as I dropped her off at her parents’ house.
• And the more that I honor the value that I’m bringing to people’s lives, the easier it is for me to stop making bad decisions.
• On a daily basis, I have to stick to a morning routine that includes not looking at my phone for the first hour, journaling, The Daily Stoic, and a long walk.
• Then I would pour half of it down the drain so that I couldn’t drink more than half of a bottle.
• It’s really easy to write off the big things and focus on the small things.

She now understands that her addictive behavior was rooted in negative emotions, and she now knows how to better manage them. Resultantly, Bill learned to love himself and to love life. Bill developed self-worth and began volunteering, working for rehab centers to help young people like him. When I first got sober, I spent the first year finally seeing myself in a way that I had been completely unaware of. And I actually felt a huge relief when I realized what my problem was because I felt like I finally had a solution. The pain that I felt in the beginning when I knew I had a problem but didn’t know the solution was so, so bad.

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There’s little more challenging than fighting cravings for drugs or alcohol while you’re clinging to sobriety. I got sober two months after my mom died very suddenly. I’ve dealt with a lot of grief in my sobriety but I haven’t picked up a drink, and I think it’s because for some weird reason it feels better walking through it and feeling everything.

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I do not wish I could drink.

Bill was able to lay to rest all the guilt, shame, resentment, and abuse that haunted him by addressing his childhood traumas. The therapeutic journey of confronting the adverse childhood experiences that permeated his daily life helped him to reduce their significance in his mind. That way, these ACEs no longer pervaded his negative thought patterns. Facing a potential problem and getting sober is not an easy choice, but for millions of people each year it’s a necessary one.

I swore I would never drink and go to work. I knew that if I did, that would mean I had a problem. If you believe you or a loved one is suffering from drug inspirational stories of sobriety or alcohol abuse, we can help. Call us today to learn more about our drug abuse treatment and to get started. Or click here to see more recovery stories.

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I was what’s known as a high-functioning addict, looking like a relatively normal person to the outside world. “I’ve been on a winding journey trying to find my way in the world since I was 17. As a little girl, I felt different from everyone else.