The day I got sober, I made what I thought were seemingly small shifts. What I didn’t realize was how big of an impact they would make in my sobriety journey, and they still do.
So, I wanted to share them with you, because we don’t need grandiose and drastic changes. It’s about the little rituals we create and the tiny adjustments we make in the way we think and the words we speak to ourselves that shape the relationship we have with ourselves.
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BOUGHT NEW SHEETS
I can’t even tell you why I bought new sheets. It was one of those feelings I got and decided to act on it. And I am so happy I listened.
That was the first night in a really long time that I didn’t worry about anything. I just knew things were going to be ok. Yes, I am utterly convinced the sheets helped. Sleeping on new sheets felt like I was really taking care of myself in ways I hadn’t before.
Of course, you don’t have to buy new sheets, but if you do, there’s just something about it. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it’s like you’re paying attention to the little details about your life that will make your life more comforting. If you don’t buy new sheets, at the very least, wash your sheets. You know that warm sheet feeling- even if it’s just for a moment, it’s like your worries melt into the warmth of the sheets.
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DRANK HERBAL TEA
I decided on a whim to buy lavender chamomile tea. I hadn’t drank herbal tea in years, but at that moment, it felt right to start again.
You know those tried and true things you come back to because it makes you feel a certain way? This is that for me. To this day, almost 10 years later, I drink lavender chamomile tea at night. It’s become a ritual I love.
If you find that the nights are the hardest to stay sober, it may help to start a nightly herbal tea routine so you can train your brain to want something other than alcohol. It’s also a great stress reliever, so it’s a really great way to decompress after a long day. The added bonus is that it helps you to sleep.
On a side note- if you’re a DIY’er, and want to try lavender chamomile tea, I find 75-80% chamomile and 20-25% lavender is the sweet spot. Any more lavender, and it starts to overpower the chamomile.
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CHANGED THE WORDS I SPOKE
I’m the type of person that will do the exact opposite of what I’m told to do. So, I knew without a doubt that I couldn’t tell myself, “I can’t drink.”
It took me two days to figure out the specifics, but in the meantime, I refused to say, “I can’t.” When I did figure it out, it made a huge difference in how I approached sobriety. I ended up with, “I choose not to drink because it’s a part of my new health regimen.”
Making sobriety a choice and not an obligation took the stress away and made me feel like I was the one in control. And because I added the health part into it, it made me more conscious of how I was treating my body.
I had no idea back then about the science behind changing our mindset and how the words we repeatedly speak eventually become truths we live by. But, it was something I knew I had to do for myself. And it paid off.
All you need is a small shift in the words you speak to change how you show up for yourself. So, speak to yourself like you have your own back.
I hope these tips help you in your own journey so you can begin to create moments you remember from the mundane.
I’ll see you soon…in the meantime, love yourself so much that even a Hallmark Christmas movie would be jealous.
