1000 days

Later this evening I'll mark another day of No Alcohol in my Streaks app, the same ritual as the last 999 days.

As I shared in my first post a few years ago, there wasn’t any sort of event like a wicked hangover or embarrassing night out or regrettable tweet that prompted me to quit… I kind of just decided it was time. I was tired of being tired. I felt like my family and friends deserved a better version of me.

Once I stopped drinking I started paying more attention to the degree in which our society is oriented around alcohol. Beverage companies spend billions a year to convince (reassure?) people that alcohol is cool and necessary for a good time. Staying sober in the face of relentless societal pressure can feel like constantly paddling upstream. One thing that helped me was knowing I wasn't alone, that there's a community of folks working through the same challenges. When I've posted previously about my sobriety, people have DM'd to share their own sobriety stories, and in return, I've shared more about my journey. I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to reach people who may need someone to talk to.

At 1000 days, I'm happy to report that staying sober has gotten easier for me. My brain now automatically filters out liquor ads as irrelevant, as if they were for perfume or a timeshare. Alcohol smells "mediciney" and off-putting. I've saved a ton of money not buying wine and Scotch (though I probably drink too much Diet Coke now). I've navigated stress, bad news, work Happy Hours, a few cruises, and even the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, and still emerged sober on the other side. It's (hopefully) a long life and I don't know what the future holds, but the more I build up my 'sobriety resume', the more confident I am I'll have the tools I need to stay on this path.