alcoholaddiction addiction sobriety alcoholism mentalhealth soberlife alcoholicsanonymous anxiety depression getsober love mentalhealthawareness recoveryjourney inspiration loveyourself allyouneedislove changeyourlife dontgiveup faith gethelp inspireothers instalike instapic newbeginnings selfhelp semicolon suicideawareness wellbeing addictionrecovery drugaddiction alcoholawareness
Have you ever had a #label slapped on you that changed the course of your life?
Have you put a self-inflicted label on yourself that leaves you paralyzed?
We look at this picture and see nothing but love, fun, gratitude and beauty.
If you have followed me for any length of time, you know THEIR story.
The thing is, all these dogs have been given labels in their past.
Labels that could have stunted their growth, joy and experience.
Even worse, LABELS that almost cost them their lives.
Pitbulls are the most misunderstood, mistreated and discriminated dogs.
And Frenchies are adorable, we all know that. But they are labeled non-swimmers.
If I had believed what was presumed true about them, they don’t have the happy, joyous and free life they do today.
My pitties are the most safe, loyal and loving, and if you follow my stories, you know I have a frenchie that CAN and DOES swim.
What has been told or implied about YOU that is holding you back?
The labels I wore for DECADES, robbing me from so much were:
“Piece of Shit”
“Unworthy”
“Unacceptable”
“Incapable”
I have worked extremely hard to change those replaying tapes in my head.
WHO and WHAT are you listening to? You cant take yourself off the hook, because we are often our own worst offenders.
Those labels always lead you down the #Shame Lane, and trust me, the traffic in that lane bottlenecks so bad, there is rarely any relief.
Just anger, fear, worry, sadness, and isolation.
Your Enviroment and who you allow into it can rewrite your story, and even remove every single label ever put upon you.
What do you continue to let influence you?
Pittbulls are the most underrated dogs. Frenchies are a lot smarter than they get credit for.
And YOU, beloved, are magnificent beyond measure.
More loving, smart, funny, worthy, loveable, loyal, fierce, strong and beautiful that you even know.
Lets start chipping away at all that unnecessary and worn out baggage.
Strip off the Masks.
Your Life is Waiting for you.
You deserve it ALL
.
.
.
#Soulsurgery #LifeInterventions #UndertheInfluence #SmashtheMasks
Listen to Stevie Nicks. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
She knows best⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#familytherapy #addictionspecialist #melbournecounsellor #recovery #addiction #therapist #recoveryispossible #alcoholaddiction #recoveryrocks #substanceabuse #addictionstigma #askforhelp #connection #drugrehab #cleanandsober #couplestherapy #relationshipcounselling #selfcare #youmatter #alanon #movingforward #helpishere #mentalhealthawareness #change #healing #healthyboundaries #psychotherapy #addictionquotes
The More You Know.
.
Let's all stay in our lanes and respect each others journeys.
.
Let's also make growing, healing and evolving just as important as not drinking or using.
.
I don't care if you have one year, five years, 10 years, or 20. Arrogance is not growth and being unkind is shallow.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#retiredwino #sober #soberaf #teetotaler #alcoholfree #sansalcohol #sobermom #motherhood #nohangover #womeninrecovery #alcoholaddiction #selfcare #mybestlife #soberlife #addiction #recovery #empath #midlifesober #soberwarrior #healthyaf #inspiration #positivevibes #cleanandsober #mindful #livingpresent #spiritualgangster #beavoice
Stress. Anxiety. Boredom. Loneliness. Lack of confidence. Unhappy relationships. Unpromising work. Discomfort of all varieties. These are the common reasons people drink.
First, it starts off as this fun thing to take the edge off the discomfort, just like the movies, memes and magazines tell us to do.
Then, we train our brain that alcohol is the solution to it all by consuming it as a response to our stimulus of feeling unfulfilled, and eventually drinking quietly morphs into a habit we unconsciously just do, a compulsive addiction of varying degrees.
Over and over, we repeatedly use alcohol as the antidote to whatever version of unhappiness we’ve been masking with it “for fun” until what was once fun, isn’t anymore.
Then we try to quit, but now we can’t because the brain and chemicals are involved. And now, it’s this thing we can’t control, which leads to shame and guilt about who we are and what this means about us, feeding the loop of discomfort, lack and dissatisfaction.
Alcohol is a symptom of feeling dissatisfied in some shape or form. This is why quitting alcohol isn’t easy. Because it’s not about simply not pouring or taking the drink. It’s about facing off with yourself and your life and honestly assessing where the holes are.
Alcohol is an addictive substance that we are told by ads and media solves all our problems, but in reality it almost always creates more. Instead of dealing with the things that cause us discomfort, we layer an addictive substance over the reoccurring issue that repeats itself because we haven’t dealt with it and then we wonder why we can’t stop drinking.
The alcohol is doing what it’s designed to do. HOOK YOU. The more it hooks you, the more you “need” it and the more money you spend. Alcohol isn’t your friend. It’s a trick that big alcohol companies designed to make money. A brilliant, intricate YET lethal design, might I add.
There is nothing wrong with you. You simply fell prey to believing a lie that alcohol is a solution, when really it’s just a symptom of discomfort. Diagnosing and treating the real issue of unhappiness is far more effective than drinking. ❤️
So grateful for being sober for 1 year today, and I’m so very grateful to all of the people that showed up for me tonight on this special day. .
.
.
Never thought I could do it, but I did. I have a lifetime to go but each day gets easier. Even though life happens it’s how we go through it. It’s about dealing with your stuff...past trauma, hurt, pain all of that. I’m healing one day at a time. I now have the tools to navigate my way through this thing called life. And not to drink about it. I was given a gift from my best friends husband that was given to him 18 years ago when he got sober....swipe over to read it. . . .Thank YOU to the sober community right here on IG! You guys are awesome! ❤️
As someone who has been teaching anatomy and physiology for the past 6 years or so I'm excited to see neuroplasticity is coming to the forefront in the world of addiction.
.
If our brains were set in stone we would never learn anything.
.
Moreover our addictions are not a life sentence we can grow, we can change.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#retiredwino #sober #soberaf #teetotaler #alcoholfree #sansalcohol #sobermom #motherhood #nohangover #womeninrecovery #alcoholaddiction #selfcare #mybestlife #soberlife #addiction #recovery #empath #midlifesober #soberwarrior #healthyaf #inspiration #positivevibes #cleanandsober #mindful #livingpresent #spiritualgangster #beavoice
▶️300 days ago I was the most scared, alone, and lost I’ve ever been in my life
▶️300 days ago alcohol was the only thing I cared about. I was physically addicted, I couldn’t go more than a couple hours without having severe withdrawal symptoms
▶️300 days ago I had permanent shaky hands that I honestly thought were just part of me at that point forever
▶️300 days ago I didn’t know what life would be liked if I couldn’t drink anymore. I was SO angry at the possibility of never getting to drink again and how cruel life was
▶️300 days ago I 100000% believed no one would like me anymore if I didn’t drink because that had been my identity for 14+ years
▶️300 days ago I couldn’t picture the future, nor did I know what day it was… as I had spent the last months isolated and doing nothing but drinking
▶️300 days ago I had spent days crawling on the ground because I was too depressed to stand, I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror because I hated myself, and I felt like a shell of a human being. I wasn’t me anymore.
▶️300 days ago I couldn’t perform the easiest of tasks like brushing my teeth, eating or taking a shower, everything seemed too overwhelming and my anxiety was crippling
▶️300 days ago I felt like an evil demon had taken over me
▶️300 days ago I felt completely and utterly alone, like no one in the world cared about me
▶️300 days ago I came to a blurry realization that if I kept drinking I would die sooner than later
▶️300 days ago I made the best and the hardest decision of my life, asked for help from my parents and checked into rehab.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I post this today, on my 300th day sober, not because this is exactly fun or easy for me to share openly to strangers on IG, but because I want to use my platform to give a face and voice to this disease ‼️ I want those people who were lost and struggling to know there IS HOPE AND YOU CAN SURVIVE ‼️ You’ll not only survive, but you may just end up living a HEALTHY and HAPPY life that you didn’t even know was possible without substances that used to control you ‼️
Thanks for supporting me on my journey. Know I’m here in the comments or DMs if you need guidance ALWAYS!