3 Years Sober Today!!! 3 Years that have saved my life…..

This very day three years ago I vowed to never drink again. A vow I had made countless times before and had broken. But this time something was different.

For the first time in recovery, I was able to accept all the things that I would normally use as excuses to drink. I accepted that I had to start from scratch, that I had to rebuild relationship’s, that I was not well, that it was going to take time, and that I could NEVER drink a drop of alcohol again.

I’m sure the key to sobriety for me was being able to accept all these things. Along with talking honestly and knowing what support and structure I needed around me from previous attempts at recovery and rehab.

Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would regain so much of my life in just three years. I had done so much damage through my drinking – to my family, relationships, career and my physical and mental health. Some of which I never thought could be fixed. But it could! And it has!

I didn’t know it back on that first sober day in 2016, but if I just put everything into my recovery and sobriety, everything else that was broken would repair over time. Ultimately giving me a foundation to build the life I always wanted.

My family trust me again and are proud of me. I have rebuilt relationships with friends. My liver is not enlarged or diseased anymore. My anxiety is all but gone.

And I have recently won a national competition to discover top broadcast journalists of the future, meaning I’m making strides towards a fantastic career in journalism.

I have made a news report on alcohol education in schools which has been aired on ITV. Just last week, I was a guest on BBC Radio Kent to talk about that very subject. I’ve now been invited back to do a longer show on my battle with alcoholism.

Later in the year I will be going into several schools to do more talks on the dangers of alcohol and addiction.

I am not writing all this for praise. Trust me, I’ve done far more in my life that I’m not proud of than what I’ve achieved. But that was then, and this is now. The reason I’m writing this is to show anyone who is struggling, no matter how low you get, there is a way back.

You can beat your demons and achieve anything. The mountain will seem like Everest at the beginning, but if you focus on your sobriety, everything else will come in time with hard work.

My addiction to alcohol had destroyed every part of me, both mentally and physically. It had literally landed me on deaths door on a number of occasions. I’m so lucky to still be breathing. So, I’m not going to waste this opportunity of life that I’ve been given.

The only way is up now. That’s all I’m seeing. Obviously, I’m going to have bad days and bad things will still happen. But I won’t let any of them be reasons for me to reach for the bottle. There’s only one place that leads, and I don’t want to go there ever again. I don’t want to die.

The last three years have shown me it is possible to come back from the brink. It is possible to beat addiction. It is possible to have an amazing sober life. Bring on the next three!

Thank you for reading.

Toby

***** You can follow my blog and receive notifications of new posts, by entering your email address in the ‘count me in’ box at the bottom of this page on your phone, or in the side bar on a tablet or computer!