Happy Sober Thanksgiving! My first sober Thanksgiving since (well, truthfully I can’t say when) brings with it much to be grateful for. On the heels of my first ’19’er’, I’m looking to extend that to twenty (a ‘Double Dime’) and am staring down the barrel of a ‘Thrice Lucky’.
2x Zero+ ; 19’er ; M: 169 ; C: 131 ; P/U: 2x 90 ; W: 2x 5 mi
Health R.O.S.
- Weight: 203.6
- BMI: 27.5
- Fat %: 20.9
- Water %: 57.7
Grateful to be So Thankful
There’s so much I can be thankful for this year, and I am very feeling very grateful for that. First, I’ve lost almost all of the weight I gained during covid. That’s nearly thirty pounds of thirty-five or 86%!
I’ve gone from drinking 71% of the days in any month to 6.5% (22 days down to 2 days) and I’m drinking a whopping 96.5% less beer in any month (132 beers (est.) down to 6). As I’ve mentioned in this blog many times before, my goal has never been complete abstinence from alcohol, but to find a Middle Way, a healthier relationship with alcohol, should one exist. Maybe I’m getting there after all. But I remain ever compassionate to those for whom there is no middle way.
The real biggie, the complete surprise, is my liberation from my marijuana addiction. I haven’t touched weed of any kind in almost four and a half months! And the strange part about that is, I never set out to quit marijuana. I tell my friends, who’ve known me as a pothead most of my life, that marijuana quit me after a month or so of daily meditation practice. Quitting pot is the gift that keeps on giving for so many reasons!
And There’s More!
If these aren’t enough reasons to celebrate a wonderfully sober Thanksgiving, I have a few more to share.
I’m incredibly grateful to have regained my health and reconnected with my wife, children, and many friends old and new. I’m grateful that my knee, lower back, and shoulder are no longer arthritic so that I can now enjoy my daily hikes pain free and truly appreciate the natural landscapes that surround me (photos of which can be found throughout ReturnOnSobriety).
I am grateful to be so far along with this blog and for the fulfillment and accountability it brings to my life in return for the precious life I dedicate to it.
None of this would be possible without the compounding effects of my daily mindfulness and contemplative meditation practice. I am thankful for meditation’s power to rewire my mind and give me the tools to be fully present, productive, and compassionate in my life.
I will be forever grateful to the authors of the many excellent books I feature in this blog. These inspiring works have expanded my perspective and provided me with critical insights that continue to light and inspire my journey ahead. I thank them for sharing their own personal struggles so that I may learn to better confront and tackle my own.
Without the contributions of so many people who will forever remain anonymous to me, I would be unable to enjoy the bounties of life be they the food on my table, the clothes on my back, or the myriad things I once took for granted. I send these hard working people my gratitude. May they realize the happiness we all seek.
But Mostly…
Mostly, I am grateful for my life of abundance and opportunity, now redefined by those things I’ve listed above. These are what truly matter. Not the pursuit of those hollow material things that dogged me most of my life whose illusion has been shattered.
May you share in the immeasurable blessing of this day. I am hopeful that you will achieve your most treasured aspirations. May you find joy in your life. May you bring joy to others. And may you find comfort in life’s simple pleasures and in the interconnectedness of all things.
Namaste.
Adult coloring books are one of my most relaxing new sober hobbies
