1. No More Hangovers – I wake up in the morning clear and free. No headache. No dehydration. I can actually get things done.
2. I Can Finish a Tube of Chapstick – This may seem small, but it’s actually quite a big accomplishment. When I was drinking and using, my chapstick would always be lost. Along with my mind, and my wallet, and my phone, and my keys. Now that I am sober, I can finish my chapstick til the very end.
3. No Chance of A DUI – If you don’t drink and drive, then you won’t be pulled over. You won’t have to face all those nasty consequences. The chance of getting a DUI is literally reduced to 0.
4. You Don’t Have to Worry if you Smell like Booze – When I had a long night of drinking, I would show up for work full of perfume and lotion and mints. I didn’t want the booze seeping out of my pours. I was always so worried that I reeked of booze and I imagine I often did.
5. No One Night Stands – When you are sober, you don’t lose your inhibitions. You grow self-esteem. You don’t choose the wrong people and you value and respect your body.
6. The Ultimate Beauty Secret – When I look at my skin when I was drinking, it was puffy and red. I constantly had dark circles under my eyes. Now that I am sober, I look at least 10 years younger.
7. No More Apologizing for Drunken Mistakes – Wake up sober and you know exactly what you did the night before. You don’t have to apologize to your friends or your partner or your family for getting out of control. You can rest in the knowing that alcohol will no longer be the cause of torn relationships.
8. You Keep Your Commitments – When I was drinking, I had a lot of excuses for why I was late or for why I didn’t show up to your baby shower or your birthday. Alcohol made me irresponsible. I couldn’t keep my promise. Now, I can.
9. No More Mysterious Bruises – I used to be covered in bruises, constantly. I had no idea how I got the bruise but I was pretty sure I did something stupid when I was drunk.
10. You Have More Time – As soon as you get sober, it’s amazing how much more free time you have in the day. You can make time for yoga, meditation, working out, family, friends, reading, cooking. You can literally make time for anything you love. There are still 24 hours in one day – it’s just when you were drunk, you never made time for the things you loved.
11. You Save Money and Pay Off Debts – Wait, do you know a normal drink costs like $10? Isn’t that insane? Especially, when you are drinking six of them a night. You also don’t have to spend money on replacing things you lost – like your phone, or your sunglasses, or your wallet. You aren’t buying a glass of wine to relax and you don’t ever need alcohol at the supermarket. You literally save thousands of dollars by not drinking. You now have the money to start paying off your debts and you have the potential to live debt free.
12. You are Proud of Yourself – Getting sober is no easy feat. It takes strength, determination and commitment. It is one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life and overtime, it will become the one thing you are proudest of.
13. Your Family Relationships Improve – Before I got sober, I adored and loved my family. However, I didn’t truly understand unconditional love until I saw my family show up for me in ways no one else would. I speak with my parents weekly and if we lived closer, I would see them much more. My family is my number one now.
14. You Finish Books – I forgot how much I loved to read when I was drinking. As a child, reading used to bring me so much joy. Now that I am sober I have finished hundreds of books. Literally, hundreds! When I was drinking the only books I would finish were my college textbooks (and I even had a hard time with those.)
15. You are Awake and Present for your Life – You don’t numb yourself anymore. You experience everything. Joy and pain. You are present for the tiniest moments in your life. You live in the now.

ABOUT LARA

Lara Frazier is a truth-teller, a sobriety warrior and a writer. She is a FIERCE believer in the power of owning our stories and is a strong advocate for addiction recovery. Lara shares a story of healing: in sobriety, through addiction, in life and love, and in all the other big huge moments of fear and magic that we rarely talk about, but we should. Find more of Lara’s work on her website at www.larafrazier.com or follow her on Instagram @sillylara.