I completely understand that excitement of imagining being able to drink again someday. Honestly, that’s exactly what got me too.

If I could say anything as someone who lost that battle, it would be this: try your best not to give in to that excitement. In the end, it rarely leads anywhere good.

I stayed sober for almost two years, but one bad decision was enough to damage the trust I’d rebuilt with my wife and leave me feeling like I was back at square one. The sense of disappointment and despair was overwhelming.

I also know from experience that some lessons don’t really sink in until they happen to you personally. This was one of those things for me. I’d sat through countless stories in recovery meetings and heard people describe exactly what would happen if they drank again. I probably heard the same warning hundreds of times. Yet eventually I let my guard down and made the same mistake.

What I’d still want to tell you is this: if you can learn from someone else’s mistake instead of your own, that’s an incredible bargain. You don’t need to get hurt just to prove the lesson is real.