[Insert Clever Title Here]

Now that I have completed the first 30 days I plan to start giving my blog posts a title with words and not just day counts.  I'll throw in an occasional day count as I reach certain milestones I'm sure.

I can count on one hand (5) the number of people I know in my personal life who are non drinkers.  Yesterday at the gym I ran into one of these people and she told me to send her my email address for something totally unrelated.  As I was sending it to her I thought to myself, "You know she doesn't drink, why not ask her about it? It might be good to reach out to another sober person.  Maybe she has some tips."

So I did.  I told her I'd stopped drinking about a month ago and did she have any tips for me?  We exchanged a few emails back and forth and not only did she open up about her non drinking, she also opened up about other addiction related things that have shaped her life. 

Her story is interesting to me because she was apparently not at all a heavy drinker and had just one bad experience with drinking and then decided to give it up.  She shared that it has been very difficult socially, which of course was not a surprise. 

This person and I are Facebook friends and during our email exchange she said something along the lines of "I don't know if you know this about me...my Facebook is not me".  I have thought about this before and discussed it with other friends.  It's rare, if at all, that anyone's Facebook is the real them.  Wouldn't it be crazy if we all put our real shit out there for everyone to see!?!

Whenever I hear someone else's story of sobriety I inevitably find myself comparing my story with theirs.  Often times I find myself saying "I wasn't that bad".  In a way that makes me feel better but it is also dangerous because it can lead to thinking things like "I wasn't that bad, maybe I don't need to stop", etc.  In this case, My drinking was obviously worse than hers, yet she chose to quit.  Therefore my quitting is definitely justified. 

Blogging has been a fantastic release for me and I get so excited that people are actually visiting my page and even more excited when they leave a comment.  I am also finding that each time I tell someone in my real life I feel a small amount of relief as well.  I think both are important.

Day 26

Twice over the past couple of years I've been talking to someone when they said "I don't drink".  Both times I was surprised and felt a sudden sense of envy.  I also had lots of questions but didn't ask because I just wasn't sure if it was appropriate.  My response both times was "I drink too much", followed by a little chuckle.

I remember very clearly wanting to be just like them.  I wanted it to be just that easy to say that I don't drink.  I'm hoping in the future I can drop that in a conversation just as easily....that it will be my new normal.