LOVING RECOVERY
We asked these clean and sober individuals what they love most about recovery
BY PAULO MURILLO
LIFE HAS IMPROVED
“The first thing that comes to mind is that I don’t feel like shit in the morning. I’m content with being alive today on the surface level. Internally, I’m not putting myself in positions where I’m hurting myself, whether it’s literally or metaphorically on a daily basis. I didn’t think highly of myself or had a sense of self-worth. So, what I love most about my sobriety is that I am not putting myself out and digging myself in a deeper and deeper hole. When it comes to using and drinking, I spent a long time in my life sort of punishing myself. Life has improved, but it’s still challenging and it doesn’t mean that there aren’t days I don’t feel like drinking because sometimes the gray area, the contentment, is when I mostly like drinking, when nothing really exciting, or terrible is happening. Overall, I really appreciate being able to get through those moments and not enhancing that feeling of feeling terrible about the person that I am. I love being sober today.”
—Gloria Marie, sober June 9, 2021.
DOING THE WORK
“What I love most about recovery is having the power of choice. I love that I’m not like ruled by the drugs and being able to have real friendships and plan for the future. My friendships were all very superficial they were about drugs, drinking and they only called you if they wanted something or if you had the drugs and the alcohol… There were no goals. There was no momentum in life. It was just drugs and alcohol and I alienated my family… Now I work in property management. I’m a real estate agent. I just recently moved into my own place and my life revolves around recovery. All my friends are in recovery. And I’m just planning for life to continue going. I’m starting to date and doing the work I need to do to be able to live independently.”
—Christopher Plata, sober since August 16, 2021.
WORK IN PROGRESS
“What I enjoy the most about my sobriety is the clarity and the peace of mind that I think I’ve been able to get from being sober. My life was tumultuous, it was nothing short of chaos. I think most of us experience this similar narrative prior to us getting sober and recovering. It was chaotic. It was tumultuous, scary, it was depressing. It was very, very tough.
I don’t miss the degrading acts that I’ve had to do to survive, not even just to get drugs and alcohol on my system, but just to survive… I live a very responsible life now for the most part. I’m not perfect. I’m human, so there are things that I could work on. I’m a work in progress, but I don’t miss the capability of not being able to be responsible. I am so glad that I found that.”
—Alexis Gomez, sober since March, 25, 2022.
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