And Why I Suggest You Write One Too.
“You have to let people go. Everyone who’s in your life are meant to be on your journey, but not all of them are meant to stay till the end.” — Anonymous
I was recently asked to be on a podcast by an amazing person,
, who is the founder of World Without Wine and the 66 Day Sober Challenge.
Afterward, Janet asked if I would be interested in writing a Goodbye Letter to Alcohol, as she has asked many of her followers to do as a final farewell to alcohol forever.
It sounded like a great idea, so I said, why the hell not.
To say that this was helpful is an understatement.
I found it EXTREMELY profound at helping me uncover a lot of fears and insecurities as it relates to why I felt I needed alcohol and how giving it up has truly changed my life in more ways than just my sobriety.
For me, it uncovered a lot of the things I was feeling over the past two years, not only as it related to alcohol but also my feeling towards a number of previous friends who I have lost because of my alcohol-consciousness.
It allowed me to say those things that I had been thinking for a while and come to a more acceptable conclusion that the friends I had before my alcohol-conscious journey will not be the friends I will have going forward.
I would highly suggest this for anyone who is already on the journey or thinking about taking the journey to alcohol consciousness to truly get these thoughts out there and get your mind wrapped around what your new life will look like in the future.
Here’s mine below…
I mean…where do I begin?
My man…you help me grow up.
I feel a bit bad because I know you feel that now I think I’m too good for you since we don’t spend time together anymore, and I’m sorry you feel that way.
But the reality of the fact is that this is true…
I finally got to the point in realizing that while you helped me get through so many times in life in which I felt insecure and not confident in my own abilities, you also were the reason that I never truly was able to develop that confidence.
While you never openly discouraged me from chasing my dreams and being the best me I can be, you always provided a bit of a hindrance for me to do the things that I needed to do on a daily basis to build the momentum needed to achieve these things.
Sure…we had TONS of fun, and, honestly, I wouldn’t be the man I am today without a lot of the great and fun things we did together.
However, what I finally realized was that as I was growing and trying to develop into a greater person than I was yesterday, you were NOT and were just holding me back.
You wanted to continue to do the same things day in and day out, and these things were just keeping me in the same place in life.
While I had so much fun with you, I finally woke up one day and realized that I had just outgrown you, and my maturity level was ready to take me to the next level in life that would allow me to achieve the things that I had been working on for so long.
Therefore, I must say adieu to you and our friendship.
From the very first moment we connected and laughed the next day at our exploits, you were a great friend, so to act like this doesn’t hurt a bit is just not realistic.
I will miss the days we had together and will always cherish the memories (and blackouts 😜) that no one can take from us.
I’m excited about these next steps in my life journey without you, but I will never regret our friendship for those years, as it has helped me be so more appreciative of the life I have now and the future I have ahead.
Good luck with everything in the future and thanks for all of the great memories.
I’m glad that it’s over, but I also not sad that it happened.
You took some things from me over those years, but I will never forget all that you gave as well.
Take care, homie…