I’m writing this post to anyone who struggles with substance abuse or has a loved one who struggles, which is most of us. I’m writing from a place of shock and guilt, grief and some anger too. Someone close to me, exactly who I won’t disclose at this point, is in the hospital, fighting for Read More
Tag: alcohol
Roads Not Taken: Trusting the Path
As a young, bookish child, I fell in love with the Choose Your Own Adventure series. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are a series of books for young readers who get to choose what the narrator will do at strategic plot points throughout the story. If you choose A, turn to page…, or Read More
If You’re Drinking on the Daily, That’s Your Underlying Health Condition
I had a brief, socially distanced conversation with a friend the other day that I can’t stop thinking about. The conversation was great, blessed socialization, until the end. Her closing comment, delivered in her best one-liner voice, was, “Well, since you don’t drink, I’m drinking enough for the both of us these days…” Haha. The Read More
Expectations and the Guest of Honor
This year, I am greeting the holiday season with an “It is what it is,” mindset. I’ve wrestled with the habit of expectations for awhile now. Through my sobriety, I feel like God is teaching me to lay down my expectations and just be present. With COVID-19 and all the baggage it brings, I think Read More
Voice in My Head
Looking back, I am amazed at the ingenuity—the craftiness—of the addictive voice that controlled my thoughts and behaviors for so many years. It is still there, and probably always will be, piping in unexpectedly and trying to catch me off-guard. It is just quieter now, patient but sporadic, and a lot less convincing. A War Read More
What Did You Want to Be?
Nobody plans on becoming a problem drinker; to let a substance take the driver’s seat and lead them down a road many don’t return from. No child colors a self-portrait of herself drinking her way through life. No teenager sits in front of a computer screen, composing a college essay and writes, “my future plans Read More