#community-support-to-stop-drinking

[boozemusingsandboom]

Guide to your First Month Sober: Why and How to Quit Drinking

I was living in a coma, a series of grey days that seemed to bleed into one another like a charcoal sketch left in the rain. I knew my drinking was a problem, but I had no idea that every single one of my problems were caused by alcohol...

Demystifying the First Month Sober for the Sober Curious I’m nothing short of stunned by the dramatic changes that have occurred in my life over the course of the past 5 weeks since I decided to commit to 3 months of sobriety. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to describe my first month sober to someone else in the early stages of sobriety — someone perhaps, who can’t quite bring themselves to…

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Why I am Grateful I Drank

Why I am Grateful I Drank

I am reflecting this morning on feeling grateful for my alcohol addiction. Wait, what??? That seems crazy, right? Why would I be grateful for something that caused me so much pain and misery? Why would I honor something that stole years of my life through hangovers, regret, and shame? But I am. Because without going through those years, I wouldn’t have had to develop all of the skills I now have…

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Ode to a Genuinely Merry Christmas

Ode to a Genuinely Merry Christmas

To everyone working to stay truly present this holiday season, the BOOM Rethink the Drink Community offers this alcohol-free inspiration from our 2022 archive – Staying sober does not have to feel dry! ‘Twas a Sober December and all through my mindran a list of excuseswhy I should drink wine – Now I know that I promisedthis month I’d be good –I’d quit poisoning my bodyand take care as I…

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Alcohol Kept Me Small - Thoughts on Becoming O.K. or Recovery Through Forgiveness

Alcohol Kept Me Small – Thoughts on Becoming O.K. or Recovery Through Forgiveness

It’s so strange how we all walk around and do all sorts of things when we all have this deep layer of experience and trauma right under the surface. We can tap into it at any time, but we can also willfully ignore and pretend it’s not there. We don’t usually HAVE to tap into it, so it’s easy to ignore for long periods of time especially with the help of alcohol. It’s still there though, bubbling…

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[boozemusingsandboom]

Get Started on Staying Sober Today

I often wonder, “How did I get here?”  “How did I get to the point where I needed to stop drinking completely?”  I think to answer that, it is important to ask, “How did I start?” I grew up in a conservative Catholic home where the mantra was literally “children should be seen and not heard.” We had a formal living room with sofas we couldn’t sit on. It was a general rule that if we had fun…

Get Started on Staying Sober Today

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It's Radical to be Sober!

I remember Prof. David Nutt, the UK’s government advisor on drugs, proving that alcohol is more harmful (and addictive) than most other drugs. He was fired immediately. People don’t like the truth. If you look at the statistics, alcohol is responsible for far more deaths annually than LSD and ecstasy. Alcohol is responsible for more deaths annually than fentanyl and heroin. But suggesting that…

It's Radical to be Sober!

[boozemusingsandboom]

How I Took Back My Power

Today I was thinking about how powerless I felt when I was drinking.  I think I have felt powerless for most of my life. As a child, I had no control over anything.  We moved constantly, sometimes in the middle of the night because the rent was not paid. I went to bed not knowing if I would live in the same place or go to the same school the next day. Things that were important to me were often…

How I Took Back My Power

[boozemusingsandboom]

You are Worth so Much More than Alcohol can Give

On New Year’s Eve, 2023, I started drinking early. We had already thrown four Christmas parties, and I had been in an absolute binge since the day before Christmas Eve. The only thing making the days manageable was more booze. I hated it. I hated that I couldn’t stop drinking. Alcohol was in control. I cried a lot (to myself). On New Year’s Eve that year, I started drinking at work, then left…

You are Worth so Much More than Alcohol can Give