Last Drop Blog

One Day At A Time. This is probably the most common piece of advice/encouragement when it comes to sobriety. You do not need to work on being sober forever you just need to work on being sober today… right now. I am starting to learn the importance of being present in all aspects of my life. I am thankful that my sobriety journey is teaching me this. I am thankful that I am teaching myself this.

I haven’t been the best at journaling lately, I haven’t been the best with my diet and nutrition lately, my workouts aren’t the best, my mental isn’t the best. That’s ok. If you feel like some aspects of your life are out of balance right now, that’s ok. Good on you for being able to recognize this too. Here is why being present is so important. All you need to do is get up at this very moment and make an attempt to journal, or eat something healthy, or take a walk, or go to the gym. Not for the next few months, not for a week straight, not for the entire day. Just right now.

So many times in my past I would get agitated, angry, and upset at myself. I would tell myself I fell off and it’s a longgg road ahead to get back on track. If I bailed on the gym for a week or so, I would find it so incredibly difficult to get myself to go back. I thought I lost the progress I had made, that I was going to have to work for months to get that back. AND if I did get myself to get up and go to the gym after a few weeks off I would carry that same mentality into my workout. Like damn, “Im so weak” “I cant lift what I used to” “My mile time is so slow”. I would think in just one workout or run I would need to make back all that lost progress. That is absolutely not the case and in all honesty a very unhealthy way of thinking. This doesn’t need to be in relation to exercise or working out. Whatever it is you want to work toward… reflect on how you think about your progress. Try your best to keep your thoughts present.

Bringing the future into your thinking (which will always remain unknown) is not necessary. Work on the present. Recognize when you are beginning to get overwhelmed and try your hardest to remember all you have is right now, this moment.

Dealing with all the emotions that have hit me thus far in my sobriety journey has been probably one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life. I would only be making it harder on myself by not being present and living in the moment. If I stressed an event in a month or a week that would be centered around drinking, I would be adding to the pressure.

The truth is some days suck, some days are ok, some days are great. You cant predict or pick and choose what days you want to be good. All you got is today. Do as you please with it. If that means cancelling plans to just lay in bed, do that. If that means dragging your ass to the gym, do that. If that means sitting down on a Saturday afternoon to write this blog, do that. And for tomorrow… who knows?

One thing I am sure everyone can relate to not just people working on sobriety is that Sunday night productivity gameplan that you probably run through your head. “This week I am going to wake up early and go to the gym every day” “This week I am going to cook all my meals” “This week I am going to take a walk before work”. Thennn the alarm goes off Monday morning… you hit snooze 8 times, roll out of bed, and get to work. You probably sit at your desk and think “damn… i’m a lazy POS” “Tomorrow I will get up and do that”. You berate yourself with negative thoughts for no real reason. You thought about your immediate future without factoring in the unpredictability of it.

At this point in my sobriety, I cant gameplan a full week… I cant even gameplan the next hour of my day. Who the hell knows how I will feel or what may happen. So be present, if you wake up one morning and feel great… embrace it, don’t take it for granted and dont distract yourself with different thoughts. If you wake up one morning and feel like shit…. embrace it, ask yourself what can I do right now to impact my thoughts and feelings in a positive way.

You will start to appreciate things that you overlooked before. You will start to learn what makes you feel good and why. You will start to learn what makes you feel bad and why. You will be in more control of your life through being present.