1000 days

It’s a strange time to be in the world. For me, it feels like everything has changed. But not quite. 

Yes, I have lost pretty much all work until August. Fortunately, we have savings and we are not stressed about that. (Yet) And yes, school is now “distance learning”. So, we are all home together. We spend a lot of time during the week working on class assignments. But some things are still the same. Thankfully we are able to spend time outdoors so I am able to ride my mountain bike. And family game time is a lot of fun. 

And thankfully, I am still sober. Today marks 1000 days without a drink. It is not a year or month marker so it is not celebrated in AA but it feels like an important milestone. For me, it took over 2 years to internalize the idea of being sober. For it to become more than an a break from drinking. To realize that although it is a daily choice, I have chosen to make it every day for the rest of my life. And to realize that AA has a whole set of tools for living that make that possible. Most of those are available to anyone who seeks them out in the world. Many of them I have been using long before I got sober. But AA puts them all in 1 place with a support group. And it took me until recently to appreciate that.

Now that I feel like sobriety is in me I am trying different things that made me uncomfortable. When I 1st got sober one of the things I missed the most was the beer culture. I was pretty deep. I knew a lot about beer and many of the people who made it. I enjoyed knowing so much about craft beer and making my own. Until recently I was afraid to try NA beer based on other people’s stories. But I have my own story. After doing some research I discovered there are craft breweries that make only NA beer. And some of it is 0% alcohol. I was surprised to find multiple craft breweries dedicated to making NA beer. Even more surprising is that some of it is good! I tried multiple brews. I won’t mention the ones that were not good or average. There is one that I found exceptional.  Juicy Mavs Hazy IPA from Surreal Brewing Company.  There are still some I have not tried yet because they are not available locally. I look forward to trying Athletic Brewing offerings. They brew with the idea that you drink the beer at the end of a run and it is actually good for you. What a concept! 

I realize that for some that the idea of drinking an NA beer is “too close to home”. I  understand and respect that idea. That is not my experience. If you are in recovery then you should do what is best for you. This is just my experience.