Sobriety during a pandemic

I’ve been saying for many years that anyone who digs deep to get rid of alcohol and learn to live sober is incredibly brave and amazing. And at no time is that more true than at this time of a global pandemic.

Our lives have been thrown into turmoil. Every normal thing has been blown out of the water. Activities have stopped. Jobs have stopped. Going out of the house has largely stopped. People are getting sick and dying. We’re worried about our loved ones. We’re worried about the economy. We’re beside ourselves with grief. And we’re scared.

Emotions have never been so intense, so heightened, so raw. It is literally mind boggling what’s going on and extremely hard to get your head around.

In some ways getting sober has prepared us for this. We’re used to digging deep to tap into our innermost resources. We’re used to sitting with uncomfortable emotions and thinking kindly toward our feelings. We’re used to practicing self-care to soothe our troubled minds. We’re used to reaching out and connecting with others, sharing honestly about what’s going on for us. We’ve dealt with tough stuff before.

But nothing like this.

So what’s a sober person to do at this time of extreme chaos and concern? How can we contend with the shocking reality that is facing us every day for the foreseeable future? What can we do?

The answer is not turn back to alcohol. The answer is this; we keep doing what we’ve always done.

We dig deep to tap into our innermost recources.

We sit with our uncomfortable emotions and think kindly toward our feelings.

We practice self-care – all the self-care actions we’ve ever done! – to soothe our troubled minds.

And we reach out to connect with others sharing honestly about what’s going on in our minds.

We do everything that we already know how to do, being the kick-arse, brave and amazing sober warriors that we are. This is what will get us through. Continuing on the path we’ve chosen – a path that is brave, honest, real, grounding, admirable and good. Because grit, determination and bravery is what we’re made of, and no bloody virus is going to take that away from us.

Love, Mrs D xxx