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Hey You, Lovely Beautiful Person on your sobriety journey,
Maybe you’re several hours or days or weeks or years sober.
And then it hits you, sometimes out of nowhere.
You want to have a drink. Like, right now.
Perhaps it’s a random smell that reminds you of your go-to adult beverage (nutmeg reminds me of my favorite, Bajan rum punches on the beach!)
Maybe it’s recollection of a really fun night of drinking that comes flooding back to your memory.
Maybe you saw some folks day drinking outside at your favorite spot without a care in the world.
Maybe you’re stressed out and think that a drink will chill your nerves.
Either way, you want to give up on your sobriety and enjoy some alcohol.
…It’s okay, you can start again tomorrow.
Or is it?
Before You Grab That Drink…
Think about the progress you have made.
Have you made it through one night, one full day, one meal even, sober? How about a few weeks, months, or years of sobriety?
That’s all called progress!
Remind yourself that sobriety isn’t a goal, it is indeed a journey.
We all started with one hour sober, then one day sober, then one week sober.
The decision to quit drinking means that every day, every hour sometimes, you have to make the choice not to drink.
And that’s okay.
And remember, you are not alone in this journey!
Sometimes, weeks or months will fly by and alcohol will be the furthest thing from my mind.
And then, sometimes weeks will pass where I think about alcohol several times per day.
It’s easy to romanticize alcohol and remember only the supposed good times and fun memories that came from a night of drinking…but I also remember having hangovers, having the spins, throwing up, waking up after blacking out, being angry at myself and feeling guilt over my excessive drinking, being nauseous for half of the day, and being too sick to be present for my family…the parts of daily, heavy alcohol use that we forget all too easily…
And I come back to the same mantra each time…
Today, I choose not to drink.
You are strong! You’ve got this…
-Martina