Every year when Dry July rolls around a huge part of me (and everyone around me) thinks thank god because I’m truly ready to dry out by then, 50 days sober last year was the longest I’d gone without an alcoholic drink in my adult life.
If you know me AT ALL, even met me ONCE on a night out, you’d know I’m cruisin’ for a boozin’ more than most.. Over the last few years especially I’ve used alcohol as a way to decompress after work or numb myself because I wasn’t ready to do the really hard work on myself and heal because familiarity is a comfortable hell. The easiest thing to do was stay stuck in a negative loop because as detrimental as it was to my health, mind body and life it felt safer at the time than taking a step forward.
In May last year I decided to go all in on stripping myself back to build myself brick by brick into the woman I was supposed to be which has been ruthless at times but so worth it. Going to therapy every week, exercising every day that I could to clear my mind and give back to my body, sitting with myself long enough to figure out what part of me is screaming for help and tending to that in a positive way. 50 days of sobriety when I’d already taken those steps meant that by the time I could drink again I’d changed my brain chemistry, routine and source of happiness from alcohol into caring for myself. This has led me to a year where there’s not much point in doing Dry July because I can’t give up something that doesn’t have a grip on me anymore. For the first time in as long as I can remember I don’t really drink alcohol, who would have thought!!!!!!!
Despite all that I can’t seem to let go of wanting to raise money for the Dry July Foundation though, the evolution feels like loss in a way. Over 5 years I’ve managed to raise over $6000 from my sobriety that goes directly to cancer patients in our hospitals and community to support their difficult journey through illness and end of life care.
This year I’m asking you to donate to me just for that cause, not because I’m not going to have a drink this month but because every single one of us loves someone who has been affected by cancer. And I’m sharing my personal journey because if there’s just one person I can inspire to take the step forward by doing that then I’d rather hold a light for them than have them feel lost in something that I once was.
I still think there’s 2.5 glasses in a bottle of red, I still think a bath, candles and November Rain at full noise is a soul reset and I’ll never turn down a schooner even if it’s 9am but I also know I can leg press your body weight and there’s so much more out there for all of us than getting pissed.
Every year when Dry July rolls around a huge part of me (and everyone around me) thinks thank god because I’m truly ready to dry out by then, 50 days sober last year was the longest I’d gone without an alcoholic drink in my adult life.
If you know me AT ALL, even met me ONCE on a night out, you’d know I’m cruisin’ for a boozin’ more than most.. Over the last few years especially I’ve used alcohol as a way to decompress after work or numb myself because I wasn’t ready to do the really hard work on myself and heal because familiarity is a comfortable hell. The easiest thing to do was stay stuck in a negative loop because as detrimental as it was to my health, mind body and life it felt safer at the time than taking a step forward.
In May last year I decided to go all in on stripping myself back to build myself brick by brick into the woman I was supposed to be which has been ruthless at times but so worth it. Going to therapy every week, exercising every day that I could to clear my mind and give back to my body, sitting with myself long enough to figure out what part of me is screaming for help and tending to that in a positive way. 50 days of sobriety when I’d already taken those steps meant that by the time I could drink again I’d changed my brain chemistry, routine and source of happiness from alcohol into caring for myself. This has led me to a year where there’s not much point in doing Dry July because I can’t give up something that doesn’t have a grip on me anymore. For the first time in as long as I can remember I don’t really drink alcohol, who would have thought!!!!!!!
Despite all that I can’t seem to let go of wanting to raise money for the Dry July Foundation though, the evolution feels like loss in a way. Over 5 years I’ve managed to raise over $6000 from my sobriety that goes directly to cancer patients in our hospitals and community to support their difficult journey through illness and end of life care.
This year I’m asking you to donate to me just for that cause, not because I’m not going to have a drink this month but because every single one of us loves someone who has been affected by cancer. And I’m sharing my personal journey because if there’s just one person I can inspire to take the step forward by doing that then I’d rather hold a light for them than have them feel lost in something that I once was.
I still think there’s 2.5 glasses in a bottle of red, I still think a bath, candles and November Rain at full noise is a soul reset and I’ll never turn down a schooner even if it’s 9am but I also know I can leg press your body weight and there’s so much more out there for all of us than getting pissed.
Thanks for reading x
PS. RIP Richo you legend ❤️
PPS. I’ve lost almost 30kg slay