The Effects of Giving Up Alcohol

Who the hell ARE you anyway? This is what my coach said to me not long ago.  I’ve had conversations like this before but this time it hit differently. I feel like I’m really at a crossroads, a turning point, a midlife pivot adventure, maybe?

I’m sure you’ve had discussions that have gone something like– When you’re 100 years old, sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, looking back on your life what do you feel?  What do you see?  

What can you do today to shift your life so you’ll have no regrets when you’re in that rocking chair?

When the conversation ends- most of the time we go back to our same ways of being and thinking and living…and never (or super slowly) take the steps to wholeheartedly live with no fucking regrets.

For me it was getting and staying sober. 

It was incredibly hard and I tried to quit drinking over and over again for many years.  I remember a time in 2007 when I was deep in my darkness of chasing unavailable men because I felt so incredibly unworthy of love.  Drinking felt like home.  Blacking out felt like restful sleep.  Sipping mimosas in the sun and then slamming beers felt like a full day at the spa.  I needed a pivot then but was far too fearful of what I might find in sobriety.

(more on this in my book that’s coming out in 2024)

I didn’t wanna give alcohol up because I thought I would be giving up fun.

But the truth is-

I didn’t know who the hell I was until I gave up alcohol.

It was like being re-friggin-born.

Like 50 personal development books all wrapped up into one.

But I had to reread them every single day.  Because every day, heck every hour of every day of the last 890 days I actively chose not to drink alcohol.

If this resonates with you and you want to raise your hand and say- Oh my gosh THAT’S ME but there is like some type of little creature inside of you that pulls your hand back and says -You better not say that you wanna cut back on your drinking because the world might think you have a problem…

Just something to think about.

Annie