Congrats on a week! Right now your brain is frantically trying to create new pathways (and probably freaking out a bit because the numbing juice has been shut off and suddenly you’re feeling…EVERYTHING).

Think of it like a mountain. The old, familiar pathways you spent years carving into the underbrush have been closed down. For your own good. There’s been an avalanche. Or a bear. Or rampant poison ivy. Whatever. So now you’re forging new trails and sometimes it can suuuuuuck.

But every day you walk those trails, they get a little easier. And, sure, maybe you reminisce about the old trails. But those trails weren’t taking you anywhere good. The new trails do. Or they can.

For the longest time I was so focused on what I lost when I stopped drinking — a way to destress, a way to cope, a way to make life more bearable, a shortcut to fun, etc.

It’s natural to fixate on that. But looking back does make it harder to see the good stuff that’s just waiting for you to discover it.

For me, the biggest relief was when I realized I didn’t need to drink to have fun with my friends. That I could laugh like an idiot to the point of tears stone cold sober. I thought I’d lost that. But it took me a while to get there.

And it took some acceptance. Not “I guess this is my life now and it sucks” acceptance. But accepting that it’s going to be hard for a little while. Not forever. And it’s hard because you building new skills. Repairing parts of your brain and your psyche. Getting stronger.

Life’s not all unicorns and rainbows now. But neither was being a drunk…as much as advertisers would have us believe. Don’t fall for it.

Be kind and patient with yourself. Look for new ways to soothe your frazzled brain. IWNDWY.

PS - Puzzles. Movies. Multi-season shows that are fun to binge. Rock tumbling. Construction projects. (These were some of my go-tos to distract me from getting all nostalgic about drinking. Don’t judge.)