3 Years Sober

I implore this insight to obviously all those hoping to break the chains of addiction but, strangely, even more so, to those without that burden.

On New Year's Eve 2021, my wife and I sat at our kitchen table enjoying a tin of oysters, a jar of pickled herring, and a box of Triscuits. Given the ongoing fatigue of fresh parenthood and a six-month-old fast asleep, we embraced the newfound joy of simplicity. I had joined her in a hiatus from alcohol throughout the pregnancy but had eagerly partaken in casual drinking following the birth of our son. However, yet to restock a liquor cabinet, the house was dry as we planned an early night to close out the year.

As we raised our glasses of carbonated water, I acknowledged how one spends their coming year as they spend their final eve of the previous—and with a tongue-in-cheek smirk to a spontaneous rhyme, toasted, "alcohol-free 'til twenty-twenty-three." With raised eyebrows while pulling back the corners of my mouth, I made my loose commitment.

I had periodically claimed abstinence for extended breaks from booze since an abrupt encounter in late 2015. Guilt played a large part in the decision-making; I would remind myself of the worst examples of my substance abuse, only to forgive my own actions and slip back into the pattern.

It wasn't realized until months without a drink, but the initial effect was the immediate recalibration of an emotional baseline. For years, what I would have described as a pot-stew of anxiety, worry, and depression soon seemed to minimize. As those responses arose, they could now be followed toward a reason as opposed to some unknown catalyst. All issues that presented themselves also came with the clarity that they would pass. I could recognize and allow them to simply be.

Regardless of its fluctuating difficulty, it was easier to continue resisting alcohol than to begin not drinking again. By leveraging an addictive personality, I directed my urges toward compounding discipline. The obvious benefit of more energy became a game of where to employ it, and since the emotional baseline was at a genuine unity, it laid the foundation for general self-betterment.

The quote that got me was by Socrates:

No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.

That, and

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6

Sobriety is a hack to discipline. What began somewhat as a joke has synthesized into a formula of mind, body, and spirit. My natural inclination is to scream discoveries in an attempt to elevate the lives of those around me, from hearing young songwriters to stumbling upon life-hacks—and herein lies the challenge of checking virtuosity with humility.

With this in mind, having completed another year alcohol-free, I implore this insight to obviously all those hoping to break the chains of addiction but, strangely, even more so, to those without that burden. Just do it. Do it unceremoniously and cold turkey. Be another example of strength surrounding the ones that need it.

You're right there.