It bothers me that “victory” and “competition” are linked to one another.  Out in the world are a bunch of former little league players who think that, in order to be victorious, they have to defeat someone else.  That idea is so morbidly unhealthy that it makes my skin crawl.  Not only is it unhealthy, but social media has exacerbated our conditioned competitiveness to a high degree of obsession. 

Being in good physical health isn’t simply about losing weight or gaining muscle or stamina. In fact, with people who suffered from certain drug addictions, gaining weight is the healthy improvement. The areas that need attention are different for each person, but you need to figure out what your body needs and start giving generously.

Drinking may have been a way to get through the holidays peacefully, or to facilitate everyone enjoying themselves to the fullest extent. Either way, being without alcohol is going to be a challenge. You are relearning how to be in room and be completely vulnerable.

The underlying problem is that an addict feels like they are running a marathon every day just by not using. Meanwhile, they are also confronting the hurt, trauma, and uselessness they have been shoving down for years. Also meanwhile, they are slowly realizing and accepting the horrific pains they caused others during active addiction. Also, also meanwhile, they are accumulating stiff consequences to their actions that make their life seem less than pointless- rather like a burden.

Everyone’s experience of getting sober and staying sober is different. Every alcoholic’s experience with alcohol before, during, and after active addiction is unique. The only experience I can speak to is my own and based on the stories I hear from other addicts, mine lacks a lot of the common threads of others’ stories. The variances don’t make us better alcoholics or worse alcoholics, they just make up our individual backstories.

If sweet, fluffy, hard-from-the-street-and-the-shelter dogs can’t be 100% accurate about the content of a person’s character, what on earth makes us, as flawed, jaded people, think that our judgments are always correct?

Family reunions. Office Christmas parties. Blind dates. Middle School talent shows. Outdoor events with Porta Potties. Thanksgiving. Conventions of a tedious nature. Road trips. Business trips. Acid trips. Acid flashbacks. Visiting Grandma at the home. Baby showers. Lonely Friday nights. Concerts. Tuesdays. Look, I get it, there are some things you just don’t want to be sober for- even if you aren’t someone who struggles with addiction.

I’m not embarrassed to be honest about alcoholism. People should be talking about it. More people should be screaming, yelling, and alerting everyone around to the horrors of addiction.