STAYING THE PATH
We asked these clean and sober individuals with different lengths of sobriety how they stayed sober in 2025 and how they plan to stay on the path of recovery in 2026.
BY PAULO MURILLO
HAVE FAITH
“I try to make three meetings a week. I just remember that if I lose connection with my spirituality, as long as I keep showing up, I’ll get that connection again. It can be challenging what’s going on in our country, and it can be challenging personally as well. We lost a lot of great people this past year, but I have faith that what happens is what is meant to be, and I have hope for brighter days ahead… We are all equal, regardless of where we are with our individual journeys in sobriety, and by listening, I am giving myself some serenity. In 2026, I need to remember that boundaries are important… There can be some trial and error with boundaries, especially in early recovery. I’m grateful I feel like I’m in a safer space and I have more trust of what my boundaries are and that I can still show up for people, regardless of whether they identify as one of us or not.”
—Karl Meyer-Curtis, sober since June 4, 2019.
STAY CONNECTED
“In 2025, I connected more with friends. I kept myself busy, especially with other people. I looked for ways to help others, talking to people and attended social events. Around here, I feel like it’s very easy to just feel connected and stay connected and get more involved. It keeps me out of my own head. I think boredom and loneliness are huge things. And it could mean between what can keep a person sober or not. So just connecting with other people who might be going through the same thing, that’s been how I’ve stayed sober this year. A lot of big things happened in 2025. My career kind of blew up a little bit, I moved a few times and I got more involved. My community and my friends have made it a good year. I’m hoping in 2026 I just kind of keep at it… This coming year I want to focus on helping others to stay sober by sharing my experience, to hopefully help them along in their journey.”
—Jack Arruda, sober since November 26, 2024.
MOVING FORWARD
“I stayed sober in 2025 by remembering the men and women who are alcoholics that have come before me and have paved my way so that I may continue claiming my seat here. I’m one of the lucky people who has many guardian angels watching over me, including my first sponsor, Uriel, who continues to guide me throughout my sobriety. The action I took in 2025 was to continue moving forward, even if it’s slowly, and to not underplay how far I’ve come. I believe that when I got sober, I got sober to live life, and sometimes that’s scary, sometimes that’s exciting, there is the unknown… I’m looking forward to being a part of and making a safe space for people that are discovering their sobriety. In 2026, I’m going to take my own advice and continue pushing myself through the fire, which will include going back to school, seeing where my future career lies in the recovery world. There’s a lot of unknown there, but I’m taking one step forward and being proud of every step I take.”
—Miles Maxwell, sober since November 19, 2002.
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