18 Days of Sober Takeaways: Day 14
Recovery Isn’t a Personality Transplant
I had imagined sobriety would turn me into someone else. Instead, it was still me.
I still had my impatience and insecurities, my tendency to overthink, and my talent for turning a simple situation into something much more complicated.
And there were still the parts of me I liked, along with the parts I was still trying to understand.
The difference was that I no longer had alcohol to smooth everything over or give me an excuse for how I felt or behaved.
Without it, I had to see myself more clearly, which wasn't always comfortable.
But seeing myself more clearly gave me something I hadn't had before - the chance to change.
I began to notice what I was doing while I was doing it. Sometimes I could even stop myself before I made things worse.
It wasn't dramatic, and most of the time nobody else would have noticed, but those small moments gradually added up.
Sobriety hadn't made me a different person. It gave me the opportunity to become more fully the person I already was.
You don’t have to be stuck in a drinking rut, as I discover tomorrow – on Day 15 in my 18 Days of Sober Takeaways from #NationalSoberDay to #SoberOctober.
If you’d like to start on Day 1, you can find it here: 18 Days of Sober Takeaways: Day 1
To further explore any of the topics raised in my 18 Days of Sober Takeaways, or if you’d like support in stopping drinking, please visit:
Substack: Sally Cardy - Transformative Recovery Solutions