Let’s Talk Self-Sober: Surviving Sobriety

What does Self-Sober even mean?

You won’t find it in Webster phrased as such. Google switches the terms around, so who knows, maybe as a recovery community of shares and testimonies, we can dialog self-sober right into the web dictionary. 

I define self-sober as the unimpaired mind-state of being—an intense awareness and readiness of the mind. The self-sober is a sword of sound judgment.

I want to note that the opportune word is unimpaired. Impaired is not just about alcohol or mind-mood-altering substances attacking the brain. Anger, fear, and jealousy can also be harmful suspects that cloud the mind and better judgment. The goal is to be clear-minded from unnecessary distractions. I like the decisions I make today with a clear mind. I’m not always correct in thinking, but I’m prepared for any outcome by stepping forward in courage with self-sober.

Let’s look at self first, which is precisely the goal. The self is your naked “being” to everything else in life; your ego, character, person, and spirit. Self is not the mother, doctor, or friend we identify as or the roles that life has assigned us. In particular, the self can be a thinking force, a spirit of forgiveness and kindness, or even anger and fear. I think of self as the collision of my being and its creator, utterly unique to me and for me to own only. In this space, it’s what you would draw from, or cling to deep within, to survive sobriety at any given situational moment.

Now, let us look at the sober end of self-sober. I believe the multitude of relapses on my journey where the notion that If I stay away from alcohol or any mind-mood-altering substance, I’ll be good, and things will work themselves out. Yeah, it is a strong hand but needs to go hand-in-hand with discovering self. It’s tough to stay sober without putting mad work into learning who you are and what that means. The mystery is in the self, not addiction, sobriety, or relapse. If you don’t find the secret within the self, the good, bad and indifferent, sobriety will be hard to catch and hold.

A Thought:

If you are an overthinker like me, sometimes we have to ask God to rescue us from ourselves.

See you back here soon.

Spirit-Filled,

Melinda