“To live without regret is to believe we have nothing to learn, no amends to make, and no opportunity to be braver with our lives.” This line from Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart has been sitting with me lately. As I celebrate 5 years of sober, mindful living and I believe that regret played Read More
Category: Sobriety
Clean Living
As I was making my bed and getting ready for work yesterday, implementing my Million Dollar Morning routine, a thought struck me. Before I quit drinking, I would never in a million years been able live the way I’m living today. At this productive pace. At this level of fulfillment. The normal day for me Read More
A brighter shade of gray
Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. John Maxwell It’s safe to say most of us don’t like change. And yet, if stuck in the same rut for too long, we begin to crave something different. When I quit drinking, it was a summoning of courage I didn’t believe I possessed. Blind faith; trust in God Read More
Four Years Ago Today
Hi, my name is Collette, and I’m not an alcoholic. But I did drink too much for many, many years. I did make some really bad choices under the influence of alcohol. I did make hundreds of decisions to moderate, and was unsuccessful every time. And I finally came to the conclusion that the only Read More
Weekend Book Review: Drinking Games
Drinking Games by Sarah Levy My rating: 4 of 5 stars Genre: Memoir/Quit Lit Edition Reviewed: Audiobook, narrated by author, produced by MacMillan Audio Expected publication: January 3rd 2023 by St. Martin’s Press Drinking Games by Sarah Levy is an honest deep-dive into the life of a problem-drinker-turned-sober Millennial. In it, she describes not only Read More
Discomfort and Joy
Here in the thick of the holiday season, I’m feeling the confluence of discomfort and joy. I know it’s supposed to be comfort, right? “Let nothing you dismay…” Well, when you’re sober, you realize just how frequently the holidays present us with situations and circumstances that you’d rather drink away or through. When the old Read More
It was exactly how I thought it would be
My son called from college last night, and I sat down to catch up with him on the past few weeks. Last weekend, he was to attend a social event with his girlfriend put on by her sorority and their partner fraternity. She’d been asking him repeatedly to go to one of these functions but Read More
Does online connection count and other things introverts wonder about…
The verdict is in on connection and the general consensus is that it extends your life expectancy, increases your chances of staying sober in recovery and is necessary to thrive spiritually. Good stuff, unless you’re an introvert. Unless being around people wears you out instead of recharges you. I’ve written about my introverted nature before Read More
Self-Destruction
It’s amazing to me that, while our bodies possess hundreds of survival adaptations, we also carry within us tendencies to self destruct. Physiological and biological processes, along with instinctual behaviors, increase our longevity or help us adapt to changing circumstances. A flight or flight response is triggered when the body senses threat. Fat storage commences Read More
Heartbreaks
Yesterday evening my husband and I were watching a National Geographic nature show with my nine-year-old daughter when enjoyment turned to tears. We got to the inevitable point where the bear catches up to the newborn elk, who had fallen behind the herd, and you know the rest. My daughter ran upstairs crying and vowing Read More