I can’t lay any claim to this fabulous blog post, it was written by one of our fabulous talented Sober Club members Dominque McManus – sharing just how amazing life is at 18 months Sober
OK so what is she on about again I hear you say….Well humour me please if you would because ….wait for it…..drum roll !!!
Today is a sexy number day for me and you know how much I like to share with you all here. Today is 18 months and yes Ding Dong the witch is dead.
The Wine witch is no more !!! she wasn’t so much the wicked witch of the West but more like the two faced mean girl who took delight in my constant demise. She used to arrive about 7pm and take over my body and my mind. sending texts late as night pretending to be me, she even resigned one night on my behalf. She would pick fights and argue that black was white and white was black. She would force me to go to bed with my clothes and makeup still on. She would feed me crap food and insist on replacing meals with more wine and giant size bags of kettle chips.
She made it impossible for me to get up in the morning and while I slept she would draw lines and bags under my eyes and spare tyres around my middle!!
But !!! She is no more and although I would never get complacent, I finally feel like I can skip along the yellow brick road of life confident that she won’t trip me up. Besides with that green face I will see her coming a mile off.
Like everyone here it hasn’t all been plain sailing for me but hey its certainly been a journey and one that I didn’t buy a return ticket for. Because trust me this chick is only going one way.
We all know the booze elevator only goes one way and that’s down. This however is different, this is the path your elephant wants you to take, this is the path that stops the clock and gives you your life back.
This is the NEW path of least resistance. This is where the magic happens.
When I started out on the 18th May 2020 I couldn’t see beyond the end of my nose let alone 18 months later, this was just a pipe dream. It felt like something that only happened to other people. But something happened to me !!! I found my Tribe and the rest as they say is history. But most importantly I found myself and it turns out she is actually more of a friend to me than chardonnay ever was. It takes getting sober to see how things in life really are.
It’s like all that effort Dorothy puts into getting to the Emerald city to meet the revered Wizard of Oz only to find out he is a dodery old bloke behind a velvet curtain. How dissapointed were you when you were a child and you watched the film for the first time. To be sitting on the edge of your seats all the way up the yellow brick Road, terrified and worried for Dorothy and her gang ( and ToTo of course) only to feel very let down when the wizard looked like your best friends grandad and he had no magical powers at all !!
Its all a manufactured image and when you strip its glamorous exterior back its just a dirty secret, just like the booze.
The booze that lied to me all those years but NOT anymore. I can see that the wine witch is all fur coat and no knickers ad my mother would say.
I am 18 months sober and I am happy and healthy and grateful to this safe space. I am grateful too for the non judgemental attitude of everyone here and for the first time in my life I am in with the cool kids.
I have learnt to love myself ( there you go Janey Lee Grace I said it) and I have learnt to value myself.
I celebrated my 18 months sober with my last appointment with my dental surgeon after reconstruction and implant work.
I have spent the last 12 months and more money than I spent on my new car, getting my teeth fixed and getting my smile back.
If I was still drinking I would never have done that because I wouldn’t have thought I was worth it.
I feel confident and happy and have been smiling at everybody today showing off my new nashers !!
If you are new to all this or just struggling please know that I know exactly how you feel , it hasn’t always been easy for me either but trust me when I say stick with it you will be glad you did. I love this new life and this new version of myself.
Life isn’t always easy but you have to make the decision to pull on those Ruby slippers and skip down the yellow brick Road and regain what you deserve and come back to yourself because there really is no place like home.
These days my life is more, let’s go fly a kite than it is follow the yellow brick Road and I am in a much happier place. So much has improved for me beyond any recognition and I just wish I had caught site of this alternative life years ago,
But it’s never to late right ??
Thank you to you all for everything I wouldn’t have made it this far without you and I know I keep saying it but #beinghereiswhatkeepsmehere Being a member of The Sober Club rocks!
Here’s to the next 18 months of sober fabulousness. No on second thoughts here’s to infinity and beyond because in a sober life anything is possible and I dont ever want to go back to the dark side I am a much happier person here in the light !!
Thank you all Love Dom xx
Ps there really is such a thing as sober hair, I am living proof