Amy Annonymous

This time last year I had a full month of sobriety under my belt. This wasn’t the first or the longest time rather the 3rd time attempting to control my drinking. I had a feeling this was gonna be it though and imagined what it would be like when I could say I made it a whole year sober. Every month felt like a milestone, and it was. It was exciting! Around month 10 I knew this was just me now and made it a goal at month 12 to publish this blog and let the whole world know what I had been up to. Well, month 12 came and I announced to the world that I had made it! 365 days of zero alcohol or any substance- not that I had any other issues but I feel like you have to clarify that now. I tired one THC/CBD drink and it made me hungry then my stomach hurt so I decided I’d just stick with the Diet Coke. It was bigger than my birthday in my mind! I was proud and felt accomplished! I even got myself a cake.

The balloon and the candle were left over from my oldest daughter’s 15th birthday just a few days prior. We celebrated as a family, I shared the photos on the socials and by the next day both the news and the balloon were deflated and life went on. So now what?

I’m not sure what I was thinking was going to happen after May 26th 2026. I really hadn’t thought this blog through either. I didn’t know it was actual work that takes hours, sometimes days to come up with a new post! This wasn’t what I had in mind.. I worked hard! Did all the “right” things and it seemed I was the only one who even noticed! But that’s just it. That’s when the lightbulb moment happened- you have to change your life for yourself. Not the kids, not the husband, not the parents you’ve let down so many times in the past. Probably not to start a blog to share your life with strangers. All of these people do benefit from you getting your shit together but ultimately they have their own lives and don’t have time to be all up in yours. Especially if you caused anyone any headaches in your drinking days, they’re gonna be skeptical. People clap and tell you they are proud because they really are, but then they move on. If you decide to make any type of change in your life it can’t be for anyone but yourself because the other people will let you down. Most likely not intentionally but we’re all humans on our own journeys. I believe this is why I failed at staying sober in the past. As soon as something didn’t go as planned I thought “why am I even doing this?” So you also need a good answer for when you do ultimately end up asking yourself that question. This applies to all areas in life, not just sobriety! Not that I am in the business of recruiting people to this side. I don’t earn any commissions for people who decide to quit drinking because I sold them on it! But if you want to send me money I can arrange that 😉

I had to sit with this for a while, maybe like a whole week! I realized I was nervous to push this blog out because the reality is being sober isn’t my whole identity. It is more of an add on that you order off the spa menu when getting a facial. “I’ll add the sobriety feature to the dance committee chair for the PTA, please”. It became something I keep in my back pocket that I know is all mine. It’s actually more powerful knowing not a lot of people know this about me. The amount of people who were genuinely surprised to learn that I was sober was kinda fun but once I told the world it exposed me and something that I hold dear. So here I am. I passed the goal of seeing what life would be like abstaining from alcohol-and other mind altering/numbing substances, for a year. I’m still me…but a better me.

A quote that stuck out to me during one of my Peloton classes “Don’t work on yourself so much that you become a full time project”. Great advice, Robin Arzon!

As I sit here typing this on my 10 year old MacBook getting ready to tackle my messy house while the kids are still sleeping because it’s summer, I am wondering where this is going to go and who is actually reading this lol. Whoever you are know that I am a regular kid mom, dog mom to a giant bloodhound, wife and friend with a dry sense of humor who laughs when I probably shouldn’t.

OH and listen to murder podcasts while I deep clean my house. Any 20/20 True Crime Vault is always a good one 20/20 to get you through the otherwise boring chores

OR if you need some good inspiration, this was a GOOD one about how you can continually change (and should!) throughout life. Don’t let the episodes title fool you, it’s more than that The Secret to Building Wealth from Nothing