Posts Tagged ‘growth’
We Don’t Need No Expectations
“Hey! Anxiety! Leave my brain alone!…” Alright, alright. Anyway. Expectations are tricky. On one hand, it’s important to have standards and boundaries. Not just important, but necessary. It turns out that standards and boundaries aren’t at all the same thing as expectations, though. I used to drive myself crazy playing out entire conversations in my…
Read MoreThe Darker Side of Sharing My Story
“Your story is powerful.” Share your story. Put yourself out there. Be authentic. Be real. None of this is necessarily wrong, but I’ve seen some downsides since I wrote about sharing your story, and it’s been on my mind lately. I write this, knowing full well it’s hypocritical as hell. It’s also purely me writing…
Read MoreA Woman of Extremes
From my private journal, May 10, 2015: “This is the first time that I felt even mildly confident that I could quit, the first time in a long time that I truly feel I’ve just had enough. I’m just done. Any other promises to quit were met with screaming voices in my head. Now, I…
Read MoreDefying The Voice
I want to write. “What’s the point?” Hush. My words matter. My story matters. Doesn’t it? You’re a narcissist. Self-absorbed. Other people don’t have to celebrate making it through life without getting drunk. Other people just deal with their problems quietly, they don’t have to bleed out all over the internet to validate themselves. Do…
Read MoreNo More Excuses: A Reminder to Put In The Work
“Do as I say, not as I do.” I had an epiphany last night. My 9 year old daughter and I had a serious talk about her grades, and the amount of effort she’s been putting into her schoolwork. She’s creative and intelligent, but also not necessarily motivated by “good grades”. Rather than ask for help…
Read MoreIt’s Ok To Just Keep Showing Up This Year
It’s a new year as I write this post. 2018. Somehow, it feels like just another day. Maybe because it is just another day, hm? My biggest achievement in 2017 is that I stayed sober for each of the past 365 days. I’m not one to knock New Year’s resolutions or goals. Anything that kickstarts…
Read MoreI Stopped Apologizing For Not Wearing Makeup
“Sorry I’m not wearing makeup, it’s been one of those days.” I’m somewhat embarrassed that it’s taken me this long to stop apologizing for my face. The last few times I apologized for wearing makeup, it was primarily to men, and I remember them looking mildly awkward about it. Not awkward that I was without…
Read MoreWhen You Miss The Anticipation of The Drink
When you quit drinking, the world doesn’t quit drinking with you. That’s the first hard lesson that I learned over 2 years ago, and it’s a lesson that I still have to remember sometimes. When I first got sober, I often missed the anticipation of the first drink. When I drank, I was always looking…
Read MoreTackling My Addiction to Social Media
“Taking a break” from social media isn’t nearly as intense as it is from drugs or alcohol, but it’s still not easy for me. A lot has been written about the advantages and disadvantages of social media, by people much smarter and more educated than myself. I’m not going to get into the statistics and…
Read MoreHow I Stayed Sober for The First 30 Days
May 5, 2015 was the last day I drank alcohol. I don’t always remember a lot of specifics from my recovery journey, but I do remember the first 30 days. I did a lot of things that I didn’t feel like doing in order to make it through the first 30 days of sobriety. Everything…
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