Truthfully, I contemplated writing this post for many reasons - maybe it’s the judgement I have felt in making the decision and I don’t want more it, maybe it’s the fear of someone thinking I had a problem with alcohol, maybe it’s none of the above and it just feels weird talking about it at all. But, after a lot of nudging from the Lord, I wanted to share more on this topic because it shouldn’t feel so awkward.

First, I want to say that if you suffer from addiction - alcohol or otherwise - I am so sorry. I have been surrounded my addiction my entire life (my dad is a drug addict) and I have many people in my family who struggle with alcoholism so I know first hand what addiction does to your life and the life of those you love. It is a hard battle to fight and please just know that from the bottom of my heart I am praying for you.

I think because I have been around addiction my entire life, I never really got the appeal of it all. I didn’t really party in high school and because I had a child so young, I went to college at night after working all day and the last thing I wanted to do was party. I didn’t fall into the mommy needs wine cycle and just truly, it all never became something in my life that I idolized or really even thought about.

Which, I realize reading that probably has you wondering why I stopped drinking and I am even talking to you about this, lol.

Believe me, I would be wondering the same.

I have throughout my life been what I call a social drinker - if we are out with friends I will have a couple drinks, date night or vacation I will indulge but again, it was never something that I thought about or had as part of my daily or even weekly routine.

But, as we have gotten older and as our kids have gotten older, it has been easier to maintain a social life and with that, came more drinking.

I began to notice that whenever I would have a drink my autoimmune issues would flare like crazy. After one drink my hands would swell so bad my wedding rings would hardly fit. I could literally feel the inflammation increasing in my body and I hated the feeling. The next day even after just 1 drink I would feel awful and it would linger for days totally throwing off a routine that I have worked hard to build to keep myself but mentally and physically feeling better (if you are new here, my health has been terrible since 2020, my thyroid is all jacked up and I have so many symptoms from an undiagnosed thyroid problem).

The only way that I can describe it is that I feel like alcohol has been poisoning me, it is so toxic and so bad for you as we all know but I don’t think I ever realized what even one drink was doing to my body until I could see it in the way it made me feel.

So, in February of this year (2024) I decided I wasn’t going to drink anymore. I just stopped, period. And, I know that is easier for me since I didn’t drink outside of social settings but I do want to encourage you that if you feel like you need to stop drinking, you can do it! I believe in you and your strength to do it! I kept saying that it was probably just a short term decision to get my health in a better place but truthfully, I don’t know that I will ever start drinking again. I had a drink at the Justin Timberlake concert thinking one drink after many months of no drink would be fine and nope, same symptoms and you know, it just isn’t worth it to me.

I like to feel my best. I like to have my full days of feeling good and ready to tackle the day. I have enough health problems that I have to navigate everyday that adding this on top of it was just not my idea of a good time even though I love a good spicy pineapple margarita.

It hasn’t been easy in some social settings, mostly because most people don’t understand why I stopped drinking but I will tell you having a mocktail is just as fun! Most bars can make a virgin drink of your choice and the non-alcoholic options like the Mingle shown above are also easy to find and taste great! I think for me drinking was always about the fun flavors because lets be real, I was mostly drinking the fun fruity drinks (lol) and its been fun to be creative with drinks minus the alcohol.

I know it can feel overwhelming and hard but I definitely encourage you to evaluate the way drinking makes you feel and make a change if you feel like you need to. I know many people who aren’t effected by it at all and many people who are deeply effected so judgement and shame shouldn’t be a factor because guess what, you aren’t alone friend. I am rooting for you and here to cheer you on in your journey so if you need support, please don’t hesitate to reach out! You got this!