Day 177 (5 Months, 24 days):
Last week I spent a week in Florida and connected with some of my closest friends from high school/college at Anna Maria Island for a day. One of my friends (who lives in Washington DC) was visiting Florida with his family, rented a house, and hosted a few of us for a day of food and fun.
It was a stark contrast to the gathering this time last year where I was drinking, barely remembered my interactions, his children, leaving, or the fellowship with my friends (who I rarely see as I live in NYC) throughout the day.
This time, I was present, able to be optimally engaged, had genuine conversations with his two young children, and even enjoyed abstaining while they had cigars and drinking a special scotch he brought for the occasion.
I’m still impulsed, still experiencing urges when I’m in the presence of others drinking. I even still pay attention to liquor stores as I pass them 
(An illustration of how deeply ingrained my relationship with alcohol is to my being).
That said, I’m forging a mountain of self-trust within me that is serving as my new foundation for the new framework of me. I’m building a case against the consumption of alcohol that is an essential part of my new way of thinking.
One of the aspects of this journey that I appreciate most is the opportunity it provides us to learn about ourselves in ways that we otherwise may not have. Wherever you are in your process, you likely have discovered insights into yourself that, rightly-integrated, will serve as a gateway to a next best or improved version of you.
Am also appreciative to have become an unexpected ambassador/living example for sobriety. The way people question me when I share where I am in my journey serves as a catalyst for them to examine their own relationships with alcohol/substances. I couldn’t have imagined this a year ago.
Sending light and encouragement . . . One foot after the other, moment by moment, day by day. Rooting for us all . . . 
