What my first year of sobriety taught me

April 21st, 2024 marked one year sober. One year of clarity, growth, and healing. And I wanted to share a bit of what this milestone means to me.

Getting sober hasn’t been about perfection. It’s been about choosing presence over escape. And while I didn’t do this alone, I had to make the choice myself.

There were a lot of pieces that helped me keep going, and I want to share the ones that truly made an impact:

Paul Churchill’s book Alcohol is Sh!t—a brutally honest, no-fluff look at what alcohol really does to us. His podcast, Recovery Elevator, quickly became a go-to resource when I needed to hear voices that understood. Hearing how many struggle made me realize I wasn't alone.

Johann Hari’s TED Talk on addiction was another lightbulb moment. “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety—it’s connection,” something clicked. It reframed everything. I stopped seeing sobriety as a punishment or sacrifice and started seeing it as a return to myself—a better version of me.

Books like The Untethered Soul helped me understand that I’m not my thoughts, not my urges, not my old stories. That realization helped me breathe through the hardest days.

Therapy taught me how to align my actions today with the person I want to be in the future.

Surprisingly, the Enneagram became a powerful tool. How accurately the Enneagram called me out—with love. It helped me understand the deeper motivations behind my habits, fears, and my addictive tendencies. Knowing my type gave me language for patterns I had been acting out for years without understanding why.

And of course, the support of my loved ones. Thank you all so much. I couldn't have done it without you.

Sadly, I’ve also lost family and friends to addiction along the way. Their absence has been a painful and sobering reminder of what’s at stake. It’s been a wake-up call.

This year has taught me that sobriety doesn’t magically solve everything. But it gives you something you can’t access when you’re numb: clarity. And with clarity comes choice. Without the need to escape—and I’m learning to actually like who I see.

If you’re out there struggling, please know: you’re not broken. You’re not alone. And the life waiting for you on the other side of addiction is quieter, deeper, and beautiful.

One year down. Still learning. Still growing. Still showing up.