Today, July 3rd, I celebrate 5 months of ZERO alcohol!! When I first started this journey and, really, leading up to my creating this blog, I didn’t like the term “sober” or “sobriety”. Honestly, I always associated those terms with only “true alcoholics”. But, now, I’ve come to terms with it and, obviously, even named my blog using those exact terms.

In honor of my 5 month mark, I thought I’d share 5 things that have been most instrumental in remaining alcohol free (AF).

1. Identifying and admitting I had a problem. I had always heard this saying and thought it was lame, because, okay I’ve admitted it but now what??? But once I got into it, and I just started engulfing myself in literature and sobriety groups and research about alcohol, I realized this was the next step. Just learn. I already suspected I had a problem, obviously from my post earlier about drinking in high school and then into my young adulthood.

2. I keep mentioning this, but reading and listening to ANYTHING I could get my hands on. Surrounding myself with books and groups about sober living was CRUCIAL in my journey. I can’t stress this enough!! Sometimes I was reading 2 books at a time!! I also have gone back and reread a few of my favorite books.

3. Journaling. This has been HUGE! I never was one for writing in a diary or journal, but all of the research is pointing to how beneficial this is in improving our attitudes and our state of mind. Frankly, this blog is now my new journal.

4. Moderation. Starting out, I was curious about moderating my drinking. For me, I know now I cannot. It’s all or nothing for me. I had to determine my line in the sand (I’ll post more details about this in an upcoming post). That is, as far as my drinking is concerned, what line won’t I cross? Mine is not having even a sip of alcohol, because that means I have to start my tally over at zero days of being AF.

5. Sharing my story. Recommendations from specialists stated how it can be so helpful to stop hiding and share your stories. For me, I decided to share my story on Facebook and I got such great responses. In addition to several likes, hearts and so many positive and encouraging comments, 2 of my high school friends reached out to me and shared they were curious about this and admitted they were struggling too. This is why I got the idea for starting this blog. It feels so good helping others. And it also keeps me accountable and focused on my journey to sobriety.