My Story

I grew up in a small town in the southeastern United States. Alcohol was simply part of the culture. Births, Christenings, birthdays, holidays, graduations, weddings, showers, funerals, weekends, parties ……days ending in y…..…. It was something that “grown-ups” did for fun and relaxation.

My Father (and other family members) struggled with alcohol and the label “alcoholic” was placed on them. I observed from a young age the stigma and shame associated with that label. Actually, “alcoholic” is an outdated term no longer used in modern medical, psychological and scientific communities. The term is “alcohol use disorder” and alcohol use actually falls on a spectrum.

You can copy and paste the below and take the quiz to see where you place:

https://auditscreen.org/check-your-drinking/

More importantly, the “alcoholic” label divides people into “us” and “them”. It is too easy to point the finger and say “I’m not THAT”. This gives those who determine they are “not alcoholics” permission to travel the path of alcohol use to misuse until they also arrive somewhere they did not expect.

I considered myself in the “us” category. I had no idea I was traveling along the spectrum gradually developing a tolerance and a dependence. My drinking felt and looked as normal to me as it does to many other people. My drinking story is “typical”. I started experimenting with alcohol in my teens, picked up momentum in college through my 20’s, and then moderated my drinking in my 30’s with young children. However, my 40’s were a very stressful time. Using my trusty old tool for handling stress and stringing days together, my drinking slowly ramped up. The real kicker was a combination of: the covid pandemic, turning 50 (as a female), challenges of being a working Mom, a new role at work, and facing an empty nest.

My doctor visits over the years always included the “drinking” question which I answered with “a couple of glasses of wine most nights”. This was always regarded with a nod and the obligatory “Well, if it is just a glass or two that is ok”. It took a new doctor to point out that my “typical” ailments were not necessarily related to my very stressful life as previously advised but were possibly related to drinking. Those included: anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, digestion issues. Unfortunately, all she offered was “just cut back or stop”. That was it….like it was nothing. There was no other support.

I felt blindsided, angry, ashamed, abandoned, and honestly terrified! Which terrified me even more. Why was I terrified about not drinking? How could this be possible? In my mind at the time, the one thing that was helping me hold everything together had to go. I was not someone to have a problem because I am always on top of things!!!! I did not see how I was different from others I knew that drank alcohol. I began exploring sober curious literature and podcasts. This is how I found Annie Grace and This Naked Mind.

I finally saw the third door! The one where you see alcohol for what is actually is. The one where you can no longer understand how anyone would want to drink poison that is a neurotoxin, leading carcinogen and involved in nearly all child and domestic abuse cases.

This Naked Mind so transformed my life that I decided to become a certified coach. This journey-like all others- is not a straight line. There are ups and downs, curve balls and wins. You may try to moderate and fail or you may succeed. So what!? This is about what YOU really want. Move forward with what you have learned. There is no going backwards. Going backwards is actually not possible.

There is only ONE day 1-the day YOU decide who you want to be. The past is always the past.

Would you like to sleep peacefully all night, have low anxiety, feel healthy, energetic, confident and hopeful?

Yeah, me too.

And I have learned the way.