5 Things I’ve Learned About Myself and Alcohol in 9 Months of Sobriety

23 years of it since starting in high school seemed like enough

“Face gains” are totally a thing for most people when you stop drinking for a while.

Some stop drinking because of a traumatic life event. That wasn’t me. I wasn’t boozing all hours of the day, or being abusive or neglectful, except maybe to myself.

#1 — Alcohol borrows from tomorrow by giving you what you want today

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

#2 — There’s probably no such thing as “moderate drinking” despite what we’ve been taught

Photo by Justin Aikin on Unsplash

“No safe dose of alcohol for the brain was found. Moderate consumption is associated with more widespread adverse effects on the brain than previously recognised.”

#3 — Executing at my highest ability feels amazing and I couldn’t do this when I was drinking

Photo by Jesse Martini on Unsplash

#4 — The physical, mental, and emotional gains from sobriety were more than I expected

Photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash

#5 — I discovered that I actually can, and do, love myself; flaws and all

Photo by Brian Lundquist on Unsplash

People are free to say whatever they want about me because I’ve already said way worse things about me to myself.

Bonus — Extra time, and an appreciation for time, are the greatest gifts sobriety has given me

Photo by Jiyeon Park on Unsplash

Day 9 of 60 for developing a writing habit.

--

--

Accomplished Father, Leader, Engineer, Writer, and Wannabe Chef. @randomdrake

Get the Medium app

A button that says 'Download on the App Store', and if clicked it will lead you to the iOS App store
A button that says 'Get it on, Google Play', and if clicked it will lead you to the Google Play store
David Drake

Accomplished Father, Leader, Engineer, Writer, and Wannabe Chef. @randomdrake