The PATH to Serenity
February 28, 2018 - The date is insignificant, yet it holds all the magnitude of a life-changing miracle. That winter's day is the day I took my first step towards serenity. I stopped drinking alcohol.
I would love to tell you; it was spontaneous sobriety (those instances do happen). That's not exactly how it went for me. I'd been trying to break it off with alcohol for two years. I'd tried it all: counting my drinks, counting everyone else's swallows, comparing, arguing with myself. Setting limits, breaking those limits. Cold-turkey days of rock-solid resolve that turned into nights of irresponsibility.
You get the picture.
Once I made the final decision, my mind settled down a bit. The cognitive dissonance (article below) wasn't such an internal battle after I drew a line in the sand. I changed everything, from the way I woke up in the morning, to my nighttime routine.
About ten weeks into this new lifestyle, I found a real miracle; Annie Grace and her book, "This Naked Mind." Annie gets it. She allows us to learn, grow, and change our relationship with alcohol at our own pace. She provides the facts. These facts are turning the recovery community on its head by placing the blame where it should rest, on the substance itself.
I've spent the past year studying Annie's theories and learning her methods. I've also come up with many tools of my own. My focus is on helping women who are ruining their health by trying to drink their stress away.