Tag: sober lessons

Six Lessons From Six Years Of Sobriety

November 21, 2022

Today I celebrate SIX YEARS SOBER! The old me did not know that this would ever be possible, I couldn’t go six days never mind six years!

I have learnt so many things along the way and I am still learning. My sober life and the sober me is work in progress, and things are always changing. However, some lessons I have learnt will stick with me forever, these lessons have changed my life and who I am as a person, they are now a part of me and what I truly believe in and they have helped me get to where I am today.

ONE – Getting Sober Is a Choice You Make Everyday

Remind yourself that YOU are choosing sobriety every day and feel grateful for that. Unfortunately, we don’t come with a sobriety switch that we flick on and that means we never think about drinking again. Alcohol is all around us, we are a minority and yes at times that’s super tough – but remember it’s your choice to be sober, to be the best version of you and to not have alcohol in your life. Be proud that every day you make that choice. At six years sober I have to be honest and say I don’t feel triggered to drink very often but there are still times and situations that I do and finding that strength to stay true to your sobriety no matter what is so empowering, and something you should feel very proud of!

TWO – Spend More Time Loving The New You Than Hating The Old

If you are reading this you probably have a lot of drinking regrets, I know I do. I’ve got so many memories that make me cringe inside, STILL! But don’t focus on that, work on the new you and have peace knowing that person is no longer who you are. What you will also find is that people love reminding you of the “old you” and the things you did in a drunken state, we;ve all got those friends that remembered everything you did drunk and couldn’t wait to tell you all about it the morning after. You will probably find those so-called friends won’t be your sober cheerleaders and you will get more distant with them as time moves on (more on this later!)

Just remember that drinking regrets are normal, but the more you focus on making that change and building a new you then the less you will think about them. Some people feel like they want to make official apologies, which is fine if that works for you – but I believe in actions speaking louder than words and you can build any bridges if the friendship is something you care about, just by changing your behaviour and showing that person you care. So, choose to redeem yourself, choose to make those changes and choose to create a new you with strong meaningful relationships that the drinking you will not ruin!

THREE – Embrace Your Addictive Personality

Taking away the alcohol doesn’t change the fact that we have an addictive personality! Now if this is harnessed the right way it can become life changing! We are all or nothing personalities, we don’t sit on the fence or go into something half-hearted. So go ALL IN on this sober life, this new you – chase that dream life at 100mph! That will look different for all of you but just make sure that each day you are working towards those dreams – “I didn’t get sober to sit on the couch” is one of my all-time favourite sayings and my life is proof of that- Sobriety has been life changing for me because I decided to go all in!

( I’m also addicted to coffee, shopping, exercise and chocolate too!!!!!)

FOUR -Learn How To Sit With Your Feelings

Just because you are sober doesn’t mean you are jumping on pink clouds every day! Life throws tough times and challenges at us regularly and now we don’t have alcohol to get us through those feelings then we have to sit with them and experience them sober. This can be tough, especially in the early days, that urge to grab a bottle and drown out life can be so loud and it’s learning other coping mechanisms that get us through those times, and that won’t happen overnight.

The main thing to remember is that any feeling will pass, from a feeling of rage to a feeling of total excitement and all of the feelings in-between – it will eventually die down. The feeling of needing alcohol to deal with those feelings is exactly the same and it’s all about finding something else to replace that. For me self-care has been a massive part of my sobriety, and now I will take myself off for a pamper if I’m feeling anxious or stressed and just focus on me, calming myself down and using that time out to put things into perspective and switch my focus. Others may do other things like getting outside, watching a film, calling a friend, making a meal, doing a little online shopping, cleaning up or decluttering, reading a book – so many different coping mechanisms and it’s all about finding the one that works for you. When all else fails just remember that you just need to get through it a minute at a time, an hour at a time and a day at a time. Those FEELINGS WILL pass and your sobriety will have stayed intact – that’s where your sober strength lies.

FIVE – Be Prepared To Find Your True Friends

You are changing who you are as a person so you will probably find that your circle of friends and what you value in a friend will change too. After six years sober I have got a lovely mixture of old friends and new. You will find you become a lot more choosey with who you are friends with and who you give your time too, I found I moved away from drama – I had enough to focus on with myself so I didn’t need any extra drama added to it. What I have also found is that true friends will be your friends no matter what, through thick and thin, through you drinking and being sober. I’ve also created a lot of new friendships, online and in person, through my work and my soberglow page – lots of positive and inspiring women who I really am surrounded with every day. I feel blessed to have old and new friends in my life who love me for me – who love the real me not the fake drinking me, that feels like a true friendship and I am very lucky to have that.

SIX – Sobriety Is A Superpower

Yes, I know this sounds dramatic but its soooooooo TRUE!!! Getting sober was something I never believed I could do – EVER! I thought it was what other people did, that rare breed of people that could live life 100% themselves without the need of alcohol because they loved themselves enough to be sober. Knowing that I am now that person is like having a secret superpower – I can achieve anything I want to achieve – if I can get sober I can do anything and having that fire, excitement and believe in yourself will ultimately change your life in so many ways. It’s life changing!

Be prepared to put down the glass and pick up your dream life because that is what happens. You are saying yes to so much more, you start living your dreams and becoming THAT person – THAT girl – who you always wanted to be. And isn’t life too short for anything else!

If you are on day one, day 100 or day 1000 – I hope these lessons have helped inspire you to continue or are ones that you can relate to. I have learnt so much in the past 6 years these are just the main ones, but each day I am grateful in some way for my sobriety and what it teaches me.

This weekend I have been in London with my little family, and what a perfect time to love my sober life! The old me would have spent it sat in bars from lunch time and planning the whole weekend around hangovers and long boozy meals, but instead I was flying around at 100mph and seeing the sights, soaking up the festive shops and being 100% present for my girls. Being the best Mum I can be has always been my ultimate reason why and always will be – it’s above all of the lessons I have learnt, and it’s the core of me now – to show my girls how full a life without alcohol can really be!

What lessons have you learnt in your sobriety or how has it changed your life or you as a person? Let me know in comments

Don’t forget to find me on insta https://www.instagram.com/soberglowgetter for daily inspo and I’m also hoping to be updating this blog more regularly so please make sure you are signed up for notifications!

Big Love

Angie @soberglowgetter

My 2020 lessons of a sober lockdown……..

January 5, 2021

Happy 2021!!

I hope you have all had a fabulous Christmas and New year and have been keeping safe at home with your loved ones. How is your New Year so far? If you are doing Dry January 2021 then please look back through my old posts on here as I share a lot of tips and advice on the early days.

WOW 2020 what a year. As you know I don’t like looking back but sometimes you really need to see how far you’ve come and just take a moment to reflect. It feels like its all been a blur, not in a drunken way like it used to do but in a ground hog day way! But when I look back over past social media post, photos and my journal, it really was something else, a year to remember for all the wrong and right reasons. I can see straight away what I have gained from the crazy year that 2020 was. So here goes, my wins, my lessons and my good bits of 2020!

  • The number one, most important lesson for me that I will never take for granted was mine and my family’s health. I know that so many people have lost friends and family during this time and I am truly sorry for that. Having four years of sobriety under my belt certainly made me feel that my immune system always fighting fit. Although I did test positive for the antibodies , I can only pin point last January when I thought had a bad cough so must have only had it mildly. We know that alcohol depletes our vitamin levels and our immune system so by being sober at least we are keeping our body as healthy as can be. Achieveing 4 years sober was a huge achievement for me in November last year.
  • During 2020 I started to view my health differently. Before lockdown I was teaching Bodypump 5-6 times a week. I had got myself in my best physical shape ever but was feeling pretty run down too. Lockdown gave me the chance to take a breath, gain a few lockdown pounds and whilst I was still doing Bodypump I was mixing it up with heavy weights too. Which has had a nice effect of giving me a curvier shape that I’ve never really had before! Rest days and good food with treats added in will help you build muscle and give you a balance that I now realise I was missing. I feel recharged and reenergised and most importantly, I feel super strong.
  • The therapy of a peaceful dog walk! Dogs have definitely won lockdown haven’t they. I’ve started to appreciate where I live more and just enjoy the peace and quiet of walking the dog. We are lucky to live in a semi rural area and I definitely feel lucky to live where I do and be able to escape with the dog everyday.
  • I have read an endless amount of positivity books, including Vex King, Rhoda Byrne and I’m following a lot of positive accounts on social media. When I quit drinking I naturally became a more positive person, which I think you do as you don’t have the dreaded hanxiety that comes with heavy drinking. I also wanted to start looking into manifestation for a while and 2020 seemed the perfect time to do it! I now read something everyday and I constantly try to check my thoughts and feelings, trying to stay as positive as possible to try and manifest my dreams. I fully recommend it, I know some people don’t believe in it but I say give it a go, worse case scenario it makes you look at things in a more positive light. Be protective of your energy too, don’t let others effect you if they are full of negativity, 2020 made me realise my energy is the most important thing especially at a time when you are working hard to keep it positive. You can distance yourself to protect yourself.
  • My little Tropic business boomed last year! In what I thought would be a disastrous year, as Tropic is all about sharing freshly made skincare products in a face to face environment, it turned into the total opposite! My business has more than trebled, with it totally adapting to online sales and people just generally taking more time to look after themselves. From starting 2020 with myself and one other ambassador we are now over 30 women strong, all sharing the love of Tropic. Plus I have also achieved two amazing 5 star trips to Ibiza and Jamaica, when we can actually go!
  • I realised how important holidays are to me. My first feeling when we went into lockdown was a feeling of claustrophobia that we have to stay in the UK. I have had about 5 sober holidays and I just absolutely love them – they really are so amazing. Being sober gives you chance to experience the culture, the area, the activities instead of just sitting by the pool making the most of the all inclusive bar.
  • Paramount to everything else – I realised the love in my family. My family, my husband, two girls and the dog have all been my support circle. We have shown how we can literally be together 24/7 without any (or very little) drama. Not every day has been all happy families but there has only been a handful of times that we have annoyed one another and missed having our own space. I know deep down that the drinking me would have been a totally different person through lockdown, the wheels would have come off big time and my family would have got the worst of it all. My priority would have been how I felt and how I needed to escape with a bottle of wine or two, or three, but the sober mummy that I am made sure that my family felt safe and cared for during this challenging year.
  • And finally -NEVER underestimate the power of a nana nap, chocolate and Netflix. On the days where it got bad, that’s how I escaped my mind – a sleep, food or tv! Not ideal, but did it work -YES!!!

So in a round about way that’s my 2020 and how it worked out for me. I know in the UK we are enering our 3rd Lockdown but we will get through it jut like we did last year, and we will see better days in 2021. We can see the light at the end of it all we just need to get through this last hurdle.

Let me know how you survived 202 sober. I think for anyone to come through ANY part of that year without using alcohol to escape really is a sober warrior, and it shows a strength that will get you through 2021. FEEL PROUD!

If you are just starting your sober journey and doing dry January then please check out my earlier posts. And contact me direct for any help on a 1-2-1 basis. Plus is anyone is looking to give their skincare a refresh in 2021 or even looking to join me in helping women love the skin they are in, then again contact me by email, message or social media. https://www.instagram.com/

2021 we are ready, we have got this and remember better days are ahead!

( I had written this before the announcement last night of a 3rd lockdown in the UK, but hey we’ve done it before we can get through it again!)

Love

Angie xx