500 Days of Sobriety

590 days ago I made the decision to try and give up alcohol. I wasn’t sure for how long. But I knew I had to. Life as a musician had lead me to some pretty outrageous drug and alcohol consumption. Life ignoring my mental health had lead me to some very damaging behaviours. Life putting my family second had made my relationship very tense, brittle and ready to crack.

I signed up here not knowing what I was after. I tried. I stumbled. I tried again. I stumbled. After a few false starts I got to 70 days. I stumbled. But I’d had a glimpse of sobriety. It was good. I reset again. But this time I committed. I put my whole effort into it. Now, at 500 days sober, I can honestly say it was the best decision of my life.

I’m not running ultramarathons, I’m not miraculously better at everything. I still have days where I can’t be bothered to get out of bed. I still have days where I want to drink, to numb, celebrate or just cut loose. But they are diminishing.

I am definitely fitter. I am much happier. Most importantly for me, I’m less resentful and more content within myself. This is rippling our into my world in a way I wasn’t really sure it could 500 days ago.

The early days are really hard. It gets easier. I promise. There’ll always be shit days. That’s life. But alcohol never really makes anything better. It just delays things. It gives us a tool to ignore things. But those things we want to ignore tend not to disappear and tend to come back with interest.

This is a crazy time for the world. Sending you all a big virtual hug and some encouragement that we can all do this together.