It’s a strange thing, being addicted. At first, it’s just something you do after a long day. Then it becomes a morning habit. And before you decide to get sober, you’re convinced you need it to get through the day.
I’ve gotten sober from everything including caffeine. It was rough and I wanted to give up on sobriety plenty of times when I couldn’t sleep and my head was killing me. But now that I’m on the other side of it, I’ve learned something.
First, is that addiction is like eating cotton candy. It’s fast, easy to consume, and leaves you empty but wanting more. It convinces you you need it. It makes you fight for it, waste money on it, and ruin your life just for the next fix.
Sobriety, on the other hand, is like a steak dinner you make yourself. You need to go to the butcher. You have to read about how to cook it then learn yourself. It requires patience and skill. It’s not something you get right the first time. You may have to ruin a few steaks until you get it right. But once you do, it satisfies in a way cotton candy never will.
I’ve spent a lifetime chasing the cotton candy high. Thinking if I just got enough, I would finally be satisfied. That’s the trap I fell into. Looking back, I feel so foolish that it took me until now to see it.
The cool part about all this is I don’t know what I could do with a sober life. I’ve never been sober. I won’t change the world. I won’t start a movement. But maybe I can change the man I am today to who I can become in the future.
It sucks getting sober. In a world that pushes substances at me at nearly every turn, it makes me feel like an outsider. A loser. A creep. A dude that doesn’t belong anywhere.
I wonder what I can do with a completely sober life. Maybe I could write another book. Maybe I could become the speaker I always wished I could be. Perhaps I can finally lose weight and keep it off.
Even though there are times I don’t want to stay sober, I know for me it is the only way I have a shot at being successful. I’m not the kind of guy who can drink one Busch Light and not shotgun the rest of the six pack. For me I’m either all in or I don’t bother.
I hope I can do some cool stuff with my life. The work is on me, of course. But I would like to help people with my words.
Don’t let the cotton candy trick you. It’s tempting and delicious. But the steak dinner is always worth it. Take care whoever is reading this. If I can get sober, then there’s hope for you too.
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