Season 2: Episode #1 - One Year Sober

This is the face of a person who has just finished writing what has likely been the most significant chapter of his life story to date and is ready to embark on creating the next chapter. This is Me at the one year mark of sobriety. 

A year ago yesterday I chose to break up with Wine. Through my life, Wine became one of the best friends that I could have ever known. This friend named Wine walked the path of life with me over the course of over four decades and was there with me through my entire adult life. My friend named Wine comforted me in times of need, they celebrated with me at the end of the day of hard work and they recognized me when I had a life achievement that was worthy of note. I could take this friend named Wine out with me to meet and do things with other friends. Many of my other friends loved hanging out with Wine as well. It’s nice when your friends get along with each other, isn’t it? It can make living in a world that is sometimes confusing feel a bit more like a comfortable habit than an unsettling, mysterious minefield. My good friend named Wine gave me something to look forward to each and every day no matter what other roads to trial existed along the path. Over time I began to rely on Wine and like any good friend, it became hard to imagine my life without them. 

One of my favorite things about this friend named Wine is that in times when I felt lonely and none of my other friends were around, they would always show up to keep me company, ease my pain and make me feel closer to the Divine version of myself that has always existed inside me even when I had a hard time noticing it myself. Getting a little bit higher each day in some ways fulfilled the spiritual sense of lack that existed inside me despite 30 years of work in the fields of mindfulness and self-development. 

Over the last year I’ve gained a new sense of clarity and I’ve learned SO many things about myself. One of the most recent and most important things is this:

The version of me that built an intimate friendship with Wine over the years was not something that I needed to pathologize. I am not now nor have I ever been a broken, weak little human who lacked the willpower to make a different choice. The version of me who had a sometimes healthy/sometimes toxic relationship with wine was a version of Self who was born out of my intense Spiritual curiosity and a hunger to find a seat that was closer to the God frequency than I was able to find on other pathways and through other portals. 

Let me be clear about something. I am NOT suggesting that the alcoholic should take a drink or that the person who has any other addictive tendencies should feel justified in making choices that are out of alignment with their greatest good. What I am saying though is that we need to look at the reasons for the behavioral choices we make, not just the symptoms that manifest in the behaviors. When we do so we can then approach all of our choices in life from a place of empowerment instead of a place of lack.

I realize that the words sobriety and alcoholism can be very triggering words for many people. I also realize that it is entirely possible for many people to have an entirely healthy relationship with wine or other other substances and/or behavioral patterns in life. I'm just not currently one of those people.

So what’s next for Jim? 

Like all great hero’s journeys, each ending is a budding of a new beginning and a whole new chapter of the story. It’s very much like your favorite series on Netflix or Amazon. I’m thinking of today as Season 2: Episode #1 of Life with Jim Fully Present. Thanks for coming along on the journey. I invite you to binge watch this next season of my life with me. I’m sure there will be plenty of moments worthy of sharing.

Love and blessings to you all,

Jim