Life and Other Stuff

At this point, it’s just a part of who I am. I’m a person who doesn’t drink. It’s normal. I don’t really think about alcohol as an option. They days tick by and I do the dishes, the laundry, make meals, walk the dog, run kids to things and all the other routine life stuff. It’s just a given. Each year in June, I take the time to celebrate, marking the day with a bit of reflection.

I participate in a sober/sober curious fitness group and regularly interact with folks questioning their relationship with alcohol, sober curious, long term sober and everything in between. It’s a really cool part of the internet. I’m grateful I get to be involved.

One gift about this phase of sobriety is I get to pass on the things I learned to others. I benefited greatly from the wisdom of people further down the sobriety path. Now I get to pass that wisdom, and my own, on to folks just reaching out. That is a beautiful thing.

Another gift is that interacting with people in various points of their fitness/sobriety allows me to stay in touch with what it feels like – viscerally – in the beginning. It could be so easy to let those memories fade as it is not where I am now. Being reminded that it wasn’t always such an “auto pilot” experience is a valuable lesson in humility and extending grace.

As the minions are fully into their teens now – we talk about all this stuff openly. I’m grateful I don’t have to tell them “do as I say, not as I do”. Their bullshit radar is at max detection. They see through our nonsense and I’m so grateful for it. All of it – the mundane, the highs and lows – is where sobriety really shines. Taking life on life’s terms and knowing that regardless of circumstances, we will be here with clear heads and eyes open ready to tackle what comes, and that we always have their back. That’s the best gift I can give them.

Eight years seems long, but time has its weird way of bending and warping as usual. I love the physicality of the number – 8 – it’s infinity turned on its side. Infinitely clear eyed, infinitely grateful. Eight seems pretty damn great.