I’ve been reading posts through the various sober groups that I’m a part of and whenever I see someone say “I’m back to Day One again” I cringe.
You see, you’ll never ever be back to that same day one. Every day is new and you are not the same person you were yesterday. In reviewing my journey that started back in 2013, I could try to count the numerous times I re-started my AF efforts… but instead I choose to focus on my progress.
Since I started tracking my AF days, I have marked the days where I was AF with stars in my calendar. More recently I started using Sober Time – but when I reset from a streak – I keep count of my totals. I find this more empowering and less defeating than having the mentality of starting over again at DAY ONE.
What I see is progress in some of my stretches through the years… from only being able to string along a couple of days, to 30 days, to 100 days, to 173 and my last longest stretch of 277 Days AF. I see years where I only had 65 Days AF to finishing another year with 306 Days AF!
Each year I kept count of my totals. And I’ve been sharing the year by year review in my groups (the Lose ‘da Booze – The Other Way secret s and the Living AF Age 50+ group). If you would like to join one of these FREE groups, message me via Facebook or by email at info@losedabooze.com
This has been a process to really take a good look at alcohol as part of my life, and after about 8 years of working on longer stretches, I believe I’ve finally come to a point where I can confidently say I’ve retired the habit.
No matter what though – the process was part of my progress and success. The year 2020 has been rough for so many due to the pandemic and I fell off course in January but picked myself back up and going strong! My head is not constantly filled with thinking about drinking. In its place now is my focus on health and wellness and supporting my clients to reach a point where this can happen for them as well!
So please, if you’re on this journey to #LoseDaBooze, be gentle with yourself. Each time you go back to booze – it’s because there’s a lesson you needed to learn. Until you’ve learned that lesson the pattern will keep repeating. The KEY to breaking the pattern is creating new behaviors and habits. Replacing the bad habit with a better one! You will NEVER be back at Day One Again!
There are many quit lit books that have helped me along the way including Alcohol Explained 2, This Naked Mind and The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, but if there’s ONE book I can recommend to you is the Little Book of Big Change by Dr. Amy Johnson. I’ve listened to this one 3 times over and each time I walk away with a new understanding. What I loved about this book is that it wasn’t just about booze but in general about letting go of habits that no longer served you in your life!
If you are starting a new day AF, I encourage you to stay the course! Arm yourself with some #SoberTools like the groups I mention or consider joining one of my private groups to have a more intensive one on one experience with me as your Sober Coach. For more info about my paid programs visit: Alcohol Freedom