Tonight we went to our first meeting since moving to Puerto Rico. I have to say, it’s such a full circle moment. Sharing our experience strength and hope to the sound of coquis and the sun setting over the Caribbean ocean. This freaking view man!! Like, are you for real??? This is our life!! This is where we will be going week after week to get in our spiritual fitness??? Sure beats a cold basement in Portland, Oregon sheesh! I feel like everything I have worked for in my sobriety came full circle tonight.

I don’t keep my sobriety or fact I go to meetings private because it works! My career is all about sharing what works for ME in all aspects of my life — I’m a lifestyle coach and when people message me asking how I stay sober I point them to AA. I don’t believe in anonymity because it’s not the 1940’s anymore and honestly alcoholism isn’t a taboo subject! It affects everyone’s life in one aspect or another and it’s a disease and it can be treated! But there’s only one way: one alcoholic helping another. We don’t know WHY this works but it does. I also personally feel people shouldn’t ingest alcohol even if they aren’t an alcoholic. You absolutely can not have a constant connection to the universe if you are under the influence of anything. That’s just my belief though, do with it what you will.

Wherever I live, wherever I move, I have a built in family that knows me! I can walk into a room of other drunks and we can all laugh at each others stories, share where we came from and we can all relate to each other! We are kindred spirits that overcame death and have a common beautiful tragic bond. I am grateful every day for this curse because it has become the biggest blessing in my life! I don’t share about it often because I am not the person you need to go to if you want to get sober. I’ll just point you in the direction of the rooms, so just know that…

All the bread crumbs from the moment I picked up my first 24 hour chip till now has led up to this very moment. To this view. To sitting outside in the tropical lush beauty of the enchanted island of Puerto Rico listening to another person’s incredible story of strength and how they came to find their understanding of a power greater then themselves. It’s in these rooms I was reborn and learned who I really am. The personal you see today is all because of the 12 steps. We have all become a group of spiritually driven people who crave the comfort of another vs hiding behind a drug. Life is amazing you guys and you are capable of so much more!

Tomorrow is a new day to wake up and decide that you are going to do things differently. That’s all I did. I woke up hungover on a Sunday and went to work. I was pouring a beer for a customer when I decided I had enough and went to a meeting that night. I knew if I could get a handle on my addiction then I could do anything. I have carried that belief to where I am now. I know every day when I wake up I have already done the impossible, the rest is cake and the icing on top. I haven’t had a drink since. It’s been 7 years & 2,770 days living my life on my terms and in a constant state of growth. I have the most powerful tools in my tool belt: my higher power, a soul set on fire and the people who constantly remind me where I came from.

That’s all from me, easy does it! xo