Hello Sobriety

Fair enough. Maybe I didn't need to swear or repeat myself, but I need to be super clear, and sometimes swearing (and repeating) helps. DO THE FUCKING WORK. Okay, fine. I’ll do the work. But first, what does that even mean? "Do the work"? What work? When I first quit drinking, I immersed myself in podcasts, mostly about AA and its members sharing their stories. One phrase echoed repeatedly: “doing the steps.” For me, as a non-AA member (but still a damn, dumb drinker all the same), this translated to “do the work.” But again, what was that? In AA, it’s clearly defined. Everyone knows the steps and the order in which to do them. But if you aren’t in AA and you understand “steps” as “work,” then what? This is my loose interpretation of what it means when someone tells you to “do the work” in early, mid, and forever sobriety. To begin, the meaning of “do the work” changes. When I first quit drinking in September 2022, it meant not picking up a drink today. My “work” was to s...

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...