What it Means to Become Sober

"What it means to become sober" is unique to each individual. Here is what it has meant to me:

I have been sober now since August 13, 2008. This is telling in itself; if you are sober, do you remember the date of your last drink? I bet you do. For many people, hitting "rock bottom" is a date that they remember, and it signifies the turning point. The details aren't important, but August 12 was "rock bottom" for me, and so I started this adventure called "sobriety" on August 13, 2008.

For me, sobriety has been a gift from God. I am free from alcohol. I am living a new-found liberty that I didn't know was possible. I am no longer beholden to a life centered around consuming alcohol and then recovering from its consumption.

Alcohol is rather nefarious. It is sanctioned by our culture as a legitimate drug. It is served at meals and parties and various social gatherings as the standard modus operandi. It seduces us with variety and allure. It charms us with sophistication and wonder. Its consumption charts a frequently negative course. First, it lulls us into a false sense of reality by dulling our senses and compromising our judgment. After years of regular consumption, it profoundly damages the body, the mind, and the spirit.

There are those amongst us who are able to drink "moderately." To them, it may seem silly that there are those of us who can't; it may seem to be a personal failure or simply a lack of will power. But for many of us, "one drink is too many and a thousand are not enough."

Sobriety for me has meant a life-giving freedom that enables me to devote precious time and energy to the people I care about. Since my sobriety, I have developed a profound appreciation for the preciousness of life, and I don't want to spend a minute of it under the control of alcohol. The more time I am "awake" (and not under the control of alcohol), the more time I am able to commune with God and live my life with presence of mind. It has forced me to look at why I'd been drinking and enabled me to get to the other side.