#613 days sober and counting :)

[thefrogdalorian]

Going to be very off-topic for just a sec, but given how that campaign is all over my dash, I feel like I can't go on ignoring the emotions it provokes in me. Plus, since this is such a common struggle, I hope that maybe some of you can relate and I want you to know that you aren't alone at all.

If you're also struggling with your emotions over this and you need someone to talk to in confidence, I'm here for you. I understand.

Anyway, warning for mentions of alcohol abuse below the cut:

It's always fascinating to me how alcohol is marketed as this positive thing which brings you happiness and a great social life. When in reality, it often destroys relationships and lives and is, by definition, a depressant. It is a substance which often leaves you unhappier, fatter, lonelier, weaker, sicker, poorer...

And also, do you ever notice how it's never marketed around the taste (because it's literally poisonous and due to social pressure, we have to trick our brains by drinking it enough times that we eventually convince ourselves we actually like the taste of poison)?

It's always about sharing a beer with friends at the beach or enjoying a glass of wine with a meal. Never about how delicious it tastes...

While you may crave the feeling of being drunk, do most people really enjoy the taste and that's the primary reason why they drink? Is that the main reason given at AA meetings/rehab clinics? Do you ever hear alcoholics say: "I couldn't stop drinking that beer because it was just so crisp and refreshing!"

No, of course not. Alcohol is primarily used as a social crutch, or as an escape from one's problems. Dutch courage, social drinking where you feel giggly, giddy and tipsy... until one day you realise you can't socialise without it and it transforms from enjoyment to dependency, hopefully before you permanently damaged your organs...

Anyway, this isn't me being puritanical. I'm not mad at these campaigns or those who star in them, because at the end of the day, celebrities will always take cash from questionable sources. Money talks. Always has, always will.

It's merely an observation on the life this campaign 'sells,' as someone who has decided to break the generational cycle of alcoholism in my family and has been sober for 18 months now.

And a way for me to sort through my feelings and vent my own emotions around these kinds of campaigns. I don't miss alcohol and I don't feel tempted to drink whatsoever, but it's everywhere and there will remain a danger for the rest of my life that I could forget everything I've learned about alcohol. I don't want to lose sight of why I walked away from this destructive drug which is so widely accepted. When the truth is it is far more harmful to you than many illegal drugs.

If you enjoy alcohol, I truly hope you have fun with it in moderation. But I hope you can also stop and recognise the risks involved each time you reach for the bottle. The slippery slope you may be on which there is a danger you don't realise you've been sliding down until you're at the bottom, looking back up. And I hope you realise that what these advertising campaigns show are never rooted in the reality of what this substance can do to you.

If you start drinking that beer, it's far more likely you'll end up with kidney damage than you will ever get to share a cold bottle of it on the beach with that actor you love so much...

[leahnar]

THE ESCAPE.

I’m starting this in Hopes that someday I’ll look back and be able to put together all the pieces.

Im 613 days sober, I use an app to count the days.

I stopped counting after the first week. Counting made me think about it, thinking about it made the urge stronger, the urge stronger made me sick to my stomach, that sick to my stomach feeling always turned into me staring at myself in the bathroom mirror, almost as if I was challenging me, in the mirror....like I was egging my own self on.

Thats addiction for you, or so they say.

Im 45 days married today. I still count the days because it’s my greatest accomplishment.

Isnt it everyone’s? To not be here alone.

To Love, because as humans we have this amazing gift to feel with all of our being.

To feel so much we act and when we act on love, we heal.

My healer is a brown haired girl with Blue eyes and a soft heart.

Shes more than I deserve or so I think.

Its been 3 years since I’ve talked to my father and 3 mins since I’ve talked to my mom.

My father split 23 years ago, I’m 29. I disnt know if it was the affair the drugs or the alcohol that wouldn’t let him go but then I grew up and realize he wouldn’t let them go. He taught me one thing, “just let it ride” 3 years ago when I was on my 2nd DUI,living in his basement. Oddly enough my drunk fathers advice becomes a daily reminder To let things go and to not drink.

My mother, God love her, she’s a saint. A bit obsessive. Don’t worry she knows. If my mother had the time to count all the hairs on. My head and keep track of every strand I lose and how often, she would. She’s in depth, fierce, scary.

Everything I am is because of her, good and bad, you’ll see.

Am I doing this to be understood or to better understand myself.

The question still remains...