sobriety
noun
1. High seriousness of manner or bearing:
graveness, gravity, sedateness, solemnity, solemnness, staidness.
2. The practice of refraining from use of alcoholic liquors:
abstinence, dryness, soberness, teetotalism, temperance.
My name is Dominic Yarborough. Thank you for joining me on my sobriety journey. I began this journey in earnest in May 2022 after Covid 19 put my addictive personality into overdrive. Basically, I was drinking and smoking pot pretty much every day, I had gained almost 40 pounds, and was beginning to experience chronic health issues. As a husband, father of three, and professional, enough was enough!
In this blog, I’ll be exploring both types of sobriety contained in the definition above, as each has a bearing on my present life’s direction. I intend to drastically reduce or entirely eliminate intoxicating substances from my life. And I aspire to take life a lot more seriously and with increased urgency. Afterall, I’m well into middle age and the clock is ticking!
A Little Background
So, what is this all about? Rather than enter myself into a formalized treatment program (disclaimer: if you or your loved ones believe you need to enter drug rehab or alcoholics anonymous, please stop reading this immediately and go do that!), I decided to explore contemplative meditation in hopes it could help me cope with my addiction. As I write this, my journey is only beginning, yet the transformation I’ve experienced in a few short months has been life changing. Spoiler alert, the real big changes came at days 35 and 126. In other words, this approach takes some serious commitment and determination! It ain’t no ‘quick fix’. And for many, it may not fix anything. There are no promises, no guarantees. Just my personal story.
With this in mind, the purpose of my blog is to share my experience using contemplative meditation to battle addiction. I hope others will benefit from the things I’ve learned and continue to learn. A word of caution: this approach is no silver bullet, I can only speak to my personal transformation, and I openly acknowledge that this journey will not be for everybody. If that’s you, professional help is only a click away.
This Sobriety Journal is taken directly from my handwritten journal where I track all manner of metrics, contemplations, goals, aspirations, successes, and failures. I begin this tracking daily around Day 20.
My Return on Sobriety Tracking System
Most entries begin with a number followed by (#) and a ‘+’ or no ‘+’. Essentially, taken together these translate to:
- 0 – I consumed no alcohol or cannabis
- 1 (#) – I consumed either alcohol or cannabis followed by the number (#) of instances. For example: 1(3b) would indicate that drank three beers.
- 2 (#,#) – I consumed both alcohol AND cannabis followed by the numbers (#,#) of each. For example: 2(3b, 2c) would mean I had 3 beers and 2 hits of pot.
- + – A plus indicates that I consumed no refined sugar on the previous day, as in 0+
Other items I track daily are:
- The number of consecutive meditation days: (M:105)
- The number of consecutive days I am marijuana, pot, cannabis free: (C:75)
- How many push-ups I did that day: p/u: 50
- How many miles I walked/hiked: w: 4.5mi
Lastly, I track my weight, BMI, and Fat percentage since I’m trying to lose my beer belly and munchies gut.
Consecutive Sobriety Days
In the same fashion, I’ve come up with a way to track my alcohol and pot free streaks. You will see these used at the top of each Sobriety Journal post when I’ve gone two or more consecutive days (also starting around day 20).
These are, numbered in order:
- There will be no entry
- Deuce
- Triple
- Quartet
- Nickel
- Sixer
- Lucky
- Octet
- Niner
- Dime
- Eleventeen (inside joke)
- Dozen
- Baker’s Dozen
- Twice Lucky
- After this, it’s just numbers unless it’s a multiple of seven. In that case it’s a Thrice Lucky, Quatro Lucky, Cinco Lucky, etc (because I like the Spanish numbers after three for some reason).
Well, that’s pretty much it. As always, feel free to refer back to this entry whenever you get lost in my shorthand. I’ve pinned this to the top so it will be easy to find. I hope you find a way to apply what I’ve learned to improve your relationship with alcohol and/or cannabis or end it altogether, if that is your goal.
Thanks for joining me on this journey.
