Sober. The New Curse Word.

So I want everyone who is in my life to know that this post is not meant to be negative towards anyone. I really just want to bring attention to a major issue within our society. I hope everyone will take the time to read the entire message.

I decided nine months ago that I wanted to let go of the things that were not serving me anymore. I ended up deciding that I wanted to prove to myself I could go 30 days without drinking. I had tried to drink less for years. I actually had a rule no drinking when I wasn’t working. I owned a nightclub at the time and seemed to make complete sense in my world. More often than not I would end up drinking on my nights off….a bbq, friends bday, some other ridiculous reason. I found myself waking up a lot of days frustrated that I had chosen to drink. When I got to 30 days, I decided I wanted to make it to 3 months. When I got to 3 months I felt amazing emotionally and physically. My anxiety had chilled out, I was sleeping better. Life was for the first time looking very bright.

As I went through this journey, I decided to share it via social media. I have stated 30 days sober, 3 months sober, 9 months sober...TODAY! Through this journey, I have had multiple people close to me state that I shouldn’t use the word “sober” because it makes it seem like I had a problem. This makes me so upset! (Don’t worry, I still love you guys, it just makes me mad that this is our society we live in!)

I am sooooooo lucky! I was able to stop without a struggle. I thank my angels every day for that. There are so many people who are struggling to stop drinking and they won’t talk about it because of the stigma of choosing “sober”. SOBER IS NOT A CURSE WORD.

I used drugs and alcohol as an escape for 20 years. So yeah, I had a problem. Do I think everyone needs to stop drinking? No. I do think that as a society we need to change the stigma around the word “SOBER”. Rather than acting like I am talking about some deep dark secret, how about congratulating me for being healthy and happy. It is insane to me that people were okay with me posting myself binge drinking with 10 shots of tequila next to me, but they think I should take down my sober posts. If that isn’t a reality check about what is wrong with our society, I don’t know what is.

I want to be a voice for people who need it. I want to bring attention to the fact that SOBER is not a curse word. It means the person is choosing a healthier lifestyle for themselves. Embrace someone around you who needs help. Stop making someone feel bad because they are choosing to not put a chemical into their body that is killing them more than you. 

- Amanda (@missdjlux)