There Is No Perfect Time

I quit drinking almost 2 1/2 years ago and it changed my life.

I get it, it’s funny to lots of people, the copious amounts of alcohol people are drinking during Shelter-In-Place orders. It's easy to get booze delivered and you can start drinking at any time of day. Virtual happy hours abound. Drinking memes are floating around: "Coffee, Run, Wine, Repeat".

The truth is that for some people, the pandemic is a nightmare of a different scale. People who were already struggling with over-drinking or binge eating are now forced into a situation of isolation that must seem inurmountable. Others who were on the edge are headed down a dangerous path.

Thankfully, I have had many “dress rehearsals” for this unprecedented time that we are living and figuring out as we go. Little did I know that the hardest trials of my life: significant loss and grief, trauma, divorce, and getting sober were preparing me for this very moment, where I am able to offer support to people who are struggling.

What can you control right now? Certainly not Donald Trump. Or Coronavirus. Or what other people do or say.

You CAN look yourself in the eye and make a decision. Are you going to be the person that emerges from 2020 moving forward and getting closer to the best version of you?

Or, will you put it off until “after COVID”?

I can tell you with absolute certainty there is no perfect time to quit drinking or drugs, or sugar, or compulsive shopping or whatever “the thing” you do. There will ALWAYS be the promise “I’ll do it after such and such”… and next thing you know, another year has passed.

I can also tell you with certainty that staying the same and self-medicating “all the feels” will NOT make things better. It may, in fact, make things a whole lot worse, when it’s time to emerge from our cocoons.

Asking for help is the first step. Let’s do this, together!