Heart felt in Sobriety

Some of you already know that I no longer drink alcohol. Since last year I have been contemplating giving it up, but I didn’t decide to completely do it until this past April. So, I have been happily alcohol free for over 4 months now. If you want to hear the reason why I made this life decision, it’s posted under the story.

Since I gave up alcohol , I have become a little more observant of my surroundings. I kinda like to people watch. I like to see how different cultures and different people interact with each other.

The other day on the beach, this couple really stood out to me. It was this old Hawaiian man and his caucasian wife. They looked like they were in their 70's. I was watching the old Hawaiian man play on his boogie board while his wife watched from her beach chair. He had the biggest smile on his face every time he caught the wave back to shore.

Then it was his wife’s turn. The entire time he was helping his wife he was so loud, not annoying loud, more like hard of hearing old man loud. It was cute. He had me and a few other beach observers laughing. He was telling her what waves to catch and clapping and cheering for her when she would catch one.

They both were giggling and smiling. They looked like they loved each other so much and were having the best time together. It really warmed my heart so much that I’m writing about it 5 days later. I still smile when I think of them. I wonder if they know how their joy rubbed off on someone they never met.

This scenario makes me wonder what kinds of energy am I putting out everyday. I try to always give positive vibes, but I’m not gonna lie, I have my days. I never thought of it like this. Just my mood could make someone smile or frown, for days maybe. I just never contemplated the impact I could make in people’s lives just by my mood. This makes me want to be better, happier, more positive even when times are not going my way.

Why I no longer Drink Alcohol
So, I have been happily alcohol free for over 4 months now. After going through such a traumatic break up 10 months ago, I realized I needed to feed only positivity into my life and surround myself with supportive people. I had to build myself back up from nothing. So, I cut out all the toxic people, partying, and alcohol; and I started going back to church
It was kind of hard at first because I formed a habit. Every holiday, every restaurant, every get together, every beach trip, etc. I would have at least one drink. If I didn’t have a drink for any such event then someone would ask me what was wrong. They’d ask if I wasn’t drinking cause I was on a diet or on antibiotics. It really is sad how drinking has becoming such the norm.
When I gave up alcohol, it’s like I had to learn how to do life all over again without it. In the beginning it was kind of hard and awkward having to always feel every emotion, never being able to make my self numb when I ran into a problem especially since what I had just went through.
I see so many people using alcohol as the new coping mechanism. Any problem with work, kids, relationships, breakups, illness, depression have driven more and more people to drink. The problem with using drinking as a coping mechanism is that you still have to deal with your problems tomorrow. Alcohol puts your problems off to the next day, but never makes them go away.
Just what I have seen and the stories I have hear from people in Maui over the past week about alcohol makes me despise it. It’s like people are so blind to the fact that it’s poison to their lives and they continue to do it. I have never heard a story that positively impacted someone’s life due to alcohol, but I have heard many many stories of how alcohol destroyed friendships, marriages, careers, and people’s future. I feel like no one sees how poisonous alcohol is in their lives.
Not one second goes by that I regret my decision not to drink. I am so comfortable and happy in who I have become and I love being sober.
