My Sobriety Journey (7 months and counting)
My sobriety journey started back in September of 2021. I've been sharing my journey on YouTube (see below) and Instagram, but wanted to revisit and share updates, as I'm approaching 8 months!
Initially, when I started this journey, I was feeling like I was giving up something. Like I was 'missing out', to be honest. I knew it would be good for me physically and mentally, but socially--not so much.
Boy was I wrong as wrong can get! I have been even more social than ever, in real life LOL. I have so much energy, so much focus and it seems like as soon as I put the drank down, my brand shot up!
It was like a switch went off in my head and I just became so focused, more strategic and proactive with my days, nights and weekends.
I've been super transparent about how God spoke to me over and over and I tried to ignore the super direct words "Get sober" and "Quick drinking" that I kept hear play in my head as soon as I woke up in the mornings leading up to me actually doing it.
So, not being sure how to be a grown person that did not partake in the adult beverages, I did what I know how to do--read a book about the subject. The book I read wasn't great. It seemed to talk at you about not drinking, drilling it in a super repetitive, almost irritating way, but not giving any guidance on how or why.
So I just kept on praying and talking to God. Every single day was easier than the last and after a few months, the urge to want to drink started to just go away. I was too busy with ideas for this blog, my Instagram content, caring for my mom, wife-ing and mom-ing to realize I wasn't even drinking or thinking about drinking!
Also, something that made this transition super easy, is my circle was not only supportive, but most of us quit drinking around the same time and stopped for slightly different reasons (you can basically say "health" overall). So there was no time when we were hanging out that alcohol was even a factor.
Something that helped me so much during this transition, was to replace an evening/weekend alcoholic beverage, with a non-alcoholic one (outside of my tea and kombucha). I tried several non-alcoholic drinks and many of them were either too expensive, hard to find or just tasted nasty/not good.
This is where Petal comes in. I got an email from Petal, a woman-owned, local to Chicago, non-alcoholic botanical beverage, a few months into my sobriety journey. They offered to send me some to try and to be honest, I was looking forward to trying it, but did not have the highest hopes.
Once I got it, I cracked one open and oh my damn. I was like "Oh wow! This is really yummy and the can is super cute". So I tried some of the other flavors and they were ALL GOOD.
I love that Petal is caffeine-free, has only 10-15 calories a can and only 3-4 grams of natural agave (sugar) per can. Baaaaybeee that is a win!!! My favorite flavor is Peach Marigold Basil, but they are really ALL good! I finished the case in a few weeks and knew I had to work with them.
I was so happy to respond to them like, "Look, I really love this product! How can we work together?".
Not only did I want to tell people about Petal, I thought it would be a super dope way to kick off Alcohol Awareness Month (April) and share more of my sobriety journey. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen the Instagram live the founder, Candice Crane and I did, where we shared our journeys and relationship with alcohol.
I got some really awesome feedback from so many of my followers/readers that were also feeling the pull to quit drinking or reduce their alcohol consumption. I also started getting pics from people that picked up their Petal from Mariano's and happy selfies next to their Petal cans. It really warms my heart that people are receptive to this sobriety thing and open to trying new things.
All in all, I am SO EXCITED to see what the future holds. I am getting so much confirmation that this was not only the right move, but some HUGE things are in store.
If you'd like to try Petal, you can use my code: PBTAMIKA for 30% off your online order! They're also carried at all Mariano's locations and several other stores! Check their site to shop or find where Petal is carried near you.
This post was sponsored by Petal.
