Hello Sobriety

January 26, 2023. That's the day my dad passed away. Twenty-eight days ago. Almost a month already. Jeesh. It's hard to believe. Even though we knew it was coming, it seems you can never fully prepare for the death of a loved one. Let alone a parent. My dad suffered from Alzheimers. He had been progressing further and further into the depths of this illness for nearly seven years. But it wasn't until he got sick with covid in August of 2021 that his health really began to decline. You see, up until then, my dad could still get around and mostly care for himself. I say that loosely because he still needed quite a bit of assistance, but not like he did after covid. To make a long story short, my dad was hospitalized twice while sick. I was the only one of my entire local family that wasn't sick, so the hospital kindly allowed me to stay with him. My dad's condition would not have understood, nor navigated, this week-long stay in the hospital by himself. And while it w...

13 tips & tricks on navigating the white-knuckle stage of going alcohol free OK, so you’re in the first few days of going alcohol-free. The days where you feel like you’re hanging on, with all you got, just not to have a drink today. I like to call this my white-knuckle stage; because there were truly times I thought I was holding on for dear life! And perhaps I was, until I found these resources to help me pull through. Here are my personal Lucky 13 tips for navigating early sobriety:   PODCASTS! Yes… podcasts. I listened to more podcasts than I can count. A few of my daily favorites are: The Rich Roll Podcast  and Andrew Huberman has a great episode titled “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain and Health. Epsisode 86 Definitely worth a listen!! I also really love sobriety podcasts, including Sober Shares and Keep Coming Back . For myself, it’s always comforting to hear the stories of others. Trust me… you’re not the only who’s done some crazy shit, woke up terrified...

Every year, right around December 27, we start to ask ourselves... what are my New Years resolutions?  And every year, we come up with a slew of things that we resolve to change. Lose weight. Stop smoking. Eat better. The list of improvements goes on and on. And most of the time, these resolutions only last a few days, at best . So what if we shifted our perspective and expectations a bit? What if instead of looking at these as resolutions, we look at these as intentions? Hmmm... let's break this thought down a bit more. According to the Oxford Languages definition, the word resolution means: 1. A firm decision to do, or not to do, something. 2. The quality of being determined to resolute. Now, let's look at the word INTENTION: 1. A thing intended; an aim or plan. And in medicine; 2. the healing process of a wound.  Holy cow!! "The healing process of a wound." How friggin' cool is that?! Already, just by shifting the word, we've shifted our thought towards the...