BUZZ OF SOBER LIVING

On December 28th 2017 I (after 14 years of trying) finally stopped drinking and I thought the fun was over, at the age of 41 I believed that I had hung up my fun hat and was destined for a life of dull, grey doom I couldn’t have been more wrong!

The first 6 months were pretty ropey, I was a recovering alcoholic and had to navigate life where everyone and their dog seemed to socialise with alcohol and I legit thought I would enter a bar, jump over and guzzle from the optics!

In the last 5 years my life has been beyond my wildest dreams! I say that cause I never ever thought I could stop drinking. I am now smashing that and full of the SoberBuzz.

The further I got into my life of sobriety the more I was able to see that the last ten years of my drinking were the complete opposite of fun. I lived a Russian roulette of drinking and hoping for a different outcome other than blackouts, regrets, shocking hangovers and rotten mental health.

The contradiction of having fun with alcohol but managing your mental health is to me (now) beyond comprehension. An hour or two of “fun” robbed me of days of fun, peace and stability.

These days I find joy in the everyday and I put a lot of that down to my gratitude practice that I started on the day I stopped drinking. As of today I am 2006 days of writing at least three things I am grateful for as soon as I wake. A stark contrast to waking and starting the day with shame and regret. My gratitude practice doesn’t mean my life doesn’t get tough but it allows me to deal with the tough times easier.

From thinking fun was drinking at home or going to the pub and getting blackout drunk I now travel solo, go to gigs, festivals, raves and retreats I retrained and now support others in finding the SoberBuzz, I volunteer both in the community and in prisons supporting others with more complex needs I truly have to pinch myself that I get to do all this because I stopped drinking

SoberBuzz was started as a microblog to share this buzz and over the years it’s become a community We have run sober events and meet-ups and now we are a Community Interest Company and we plan to raise money and get into the community and share the absolute buzz of sober living! Me of five and a half years ago would never believe this and that in itself is a sober buzz!

Kirsty Mulcahy @ soberbuzzscotland linktr.ee/SkyRoseCoaching

Today I live a life of technicolour! When I look back on my drinking days they were dark and grey and I couldn’t see any future I adore my life now and that is some (sober) buzz!

Let me tell you about my alter ego or ‘Bob’ as I called him.

Bob would hide away during the day but come out to play after the first drink. Even though Will didn’t want him to, he would arrive regardless.

Bob would say we HAVE to have another drink. He would say we HAVE to go to the next bar. He would say we HAVE to buy a gram of coke.

I would be dragged along for the ride even though I had been mentally contesting it all day. Stuck in that persistent and relentless mental battle up until the moment I had that first drink, then I would give up.

As soon as that train left the station there was no stopping it, so why bother trying?

I would disappear and return at 5am to see the mess that Bob has created.

Bob would say we HAVE to have another drink

I’m sat in my living room. Drunk, high, alone and restless.

I am scraping and licking the residue of cocaine off a plate with empty bottles all around me and an overwhelming sense of shame

I pace around my flat, my mind racing about the situation I’m in.

I have a heavy pit in my stomach and my body is flooded with guilt & regret.

He called the shots - and drank them too!

Before I knew it I was right back to pacing my flat as the sun comes up feeling so frustrated that I had no control over my actions.

’Why did I do this to myself again?!’

As soon as the alcohol and cocaine wore off, so would Bob. He would sink into remission and leave me to clean up the mess.

I spent years in a battle with Bob never knowing why it was so easy for me to forget the pain he would bring to my life

I would be tricked by the glamour, the pressure and the ‘you only live once’ talk.

‘If everyone is doing it then it must be okay?’ ‘Why does no one else suffer like I do?’

’Maybe next time I can just moderate’

For so long I played this game of trying to find the right balance of how to regain control of the situation but the one fact that I refused to accept for so many years was that it was always the first drink that lead to Bob returning.

‘No one is coming to save you’ I would tell myself I had to take action.

There was only ever one way to control Bob, and that was to keep him locked away, forever! He no longer calls to be let out but instead slowly starved & disappeared from my mind.

I am back in control

I no longer have a mess to clean up.

I am free to wake peacefully in the morning, breathe deep and feel gratitude for being present with myself.

This is the life I used to dream of when I was curled up on the couch hating myself.

For so many years I saw no hope, no light and no future

This is not to say he could never return….of course he could.

He just needs his fuel - alcohol

Without alcohol he cannot survive.

It’s now been 5 years since I’ve seen Bob and I’m grateful for every day without him

William Armstrong Sobriety Coach

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―PAULOCOELHO

This quote by Paulo Coelho sums up the journey I guide women through with the power of Life Coaching and Spiritual Mentoring

Releasing all that no longer serves you to allow yourself to create and live a life you love. The releasing and the creating take time, commitment, and the desire to be you

Yet each of us embarks on this journey; mine has led me to share it with you today. My sober journey began the moment I took my first sip. Which was most likely a Snowball or a Babycham; it was the 80s

I never loved 'drinking'; I just did it because, well, society programs us to. Celebrate, have a drink, have a tough day, have a drink.

Life threw a few curveballs that made me pause for a bit, yet I always managed to jump straight back in, doubting my ability to have fun or cope without a negroni or two.

Until the perimenopause came knocking, a little earlier than expected, I was 38.

Over the next 4 years, my relationship with alcohol changed. Firstly, for the worse. I began drinking more and remembering less, and it became allconsuming You know you've headed down the wrong path when you have a glass of red as a recovery drink after exercising.

After sitting on the bottom step of my stairs for an hour sobbing and screaming to the universe, I discovered what I wanted from life I had an overwhelming desire to live a long, very long, healthy, happy, balanced and purposeful life. At 102, I aim to be able to do what I can do today and more

For me to be able to do this, there needed to be a shift.

On Sunday, 22nd October 2017, I took my very last sip, and from that moment, I began to remember who I was and discover who I was meant to be.

My WHY led to my passion, and my passion led me to create The Purposeful Life; my purpose is to pay it forward.

For me to be able to do this, there needed to be a shift.

On Sunday, 22nd October 2017, I took my very last sip, and from that moment, I began to remember who I was and discover who I was meant to be.

And I like this person a lot.

I was lost and scared, and I knew I had to make a change

Kate Drummond Dip. FTST IIHHT Holistic Life Coach