Today marks my 1.5 years of sobriety from the bastard poison alcohol. I hadn’t been thinking about it all lately and it just kinda crept up on me. Maybe I need to take that to mean that it’s so far gone from my life and mind that it is no longer even a thought.

There’s a very thin line between an addict and his addiction. As much as it’s all in my past, the temptation does exist. And if I succumb to the temptation I will be right back to where I was and that can’t happen. So as easy as it is to not go to the liquor store, all it takes is a blink of an eye for me to relapse.

I do miss the ritual, for sure. Imbibing that strong toxin. Feeling the warmth as it goes down. The strange comfort of a cigarette. And the filling of another drink, and another. I did this every night for many years and though it holds no other charm, this ritual was the selling point for me.

With my present path of pursuing Addictions Counseling, I can’t afford to fail. What kind of a counselor would I be if I had this skeleton still in my closet? And there’s no way I can put that garbage into my body any more. I’ve worked so diligently hard at dropping excess fat and toning and building muscle. One snort and I’d feel it’s been all for naught.

So I raise a glass of h2o in celebration of this no small feat where I find myself today. Being on a current extremely low carb and no sugar meal plan, I can’t even toast myself with a Pepsi. There is no success without the work. We must always keep going, and keep putting in the effort. Good things are ahead. Good things are afoot.