In a couple of weeks I’ll celebrate eight years of being clean and sober. It’s been a good run, hopefully one that will continue for many, many more years until the day I die.
Giving up drink and drugs felt like a big sacrifice at first but, quite quickly, I realised it was the opposite. Sobriety introduced a bunch of brilliant new stuff. Energy, curiosity, fitness, focus, a reinvigorated imagination, a deeper appreciation of the love and beauty that surrounds us and – perhaps best of all – deep, peaceful, sumptuous rest.
Being pissed, high or hungover all the time created a chaotic and stressful life. I was always running late, feeling sick, embarrassed, anxious, paranoid and unable to relax or feel fulfilled without some sort of stimulant inside of…
