I refuse to define my present self by my past

Many people will continue to refer to themselves as alcoholics for many years after they stop drinking.

I’m sure it helps them, but it doesn’t work for me.

I used to lean on alcohol as a way of coping with a life that I found unbearable.

Over time, alcohol became essential to simply get through life; it was a coping mechanism for everything.

I got sober when I found other coping strategies. Strategies such as Yoga, deep breathing, and writing about my feelings instead of trying to drown them.

I stopped drinking when I could recognise the harm it was causing me and my life, and knew there was another way.

I’m not the same person I was the day I decided to stop drinking. In the 8 years since that day, I’ve changed so much, I barely recognise the person who made that decision.

I’m certainly not the person who needed a drink in order to be able to meet her friends for drinks.

Or who reaches for the bottle the moment life gets hard. And believe me, life has been VERY hard.

So why would I choose to pin my identity on her?

I got sober by focusing on the positives of staying sober, not by focusing on ‘giving up’.

So why would I identify myself by who I was at my worst? I’d rather be who I am at my best!

It’s a personal choice. I’m not telling anyone else what to do.

But this is why I will never describe myself as an alcoholic. I am a sober person. And as a sober person, I make choices to stay sober. I don’t battle with a need for alcohol, because a sober person doesn’t have that need.

How do you see yourself?