Ryan Hodgson - Ryanintheus

I’m one-year alcohol-free! ✅

It wasn’t easy at times. The first three weeks were incredibly not easy. Parties, birthdays, anniversaries, dates, camping trips with the guys, not easy. Bad days, really not easy. Now that I’ve passed the one-year mark, not easy.

Now what?

I still want to drink. I don’t think of myself as having a problem. I chose to stop drinking because I started to want to drink more than I thought was healthy. I wanted to re-establish a more healthy relationship with alcohol.

But now I’m asking myself, should I stay alcohol-free? Or could I start drinking lightly again now and not fall into that old habit? Did I really have a problem? Are these the thoughts of someone who was able to stop drinking cold by himself for a year and can manage to drink only socially again, or are these the thoughts of someone who does have a problem? Am I overthinking it?

Where’s the roadmap to success for this stuff? What does success even look like?

The journey continues… we are all a work in progress. 🙏🏼

📸 Vanessa Angel

This is the truth about love! You can be in love at times, yet it's not good for you. It isn't right. Because being in love is not enough. Both people need to want to meet on the bridge. And both people need to have the skills to meet on the bridge!

This is why working on yourself, working on your self-love, is so crucial. To meet your partner on the bridge, you BOTH need to know and love yourselves and have the emotional intelligence to communicate your specific needs and boundaries. You BOTH have to intentionally and calmly respond rather than react to each other, so your relationship isn't damaged by harmful words. You BOTH have to know your triggers and preemptively ask for help navigating tricky waters as a team.

If you have love but don't feel like your partner is meeting on the bridge, the message here is true. There is a greater love out there for you, and that love will be ready!

The past three years have been quite challenging for me physically and mentally. I've had melanoma skin cancer removed from my back, requiring 20 stitches. I have had the virus not once but twice. I've had two back injuries flare up regularly. A calf muscle injury that knocked me out of hiking for a season. And last but least, I stuck a crampon in my calf and ripped a 6-inch tear down it, requiring 25 more stitches!

As someone who thrives on being physically healthy and fit, maintaining my mental health has a new approach, it's been a journey of patience, resolve, and growth. As I fight my way back to total health and fitness, I've realized that through these experiences, I've learned to find joy in other areas. The frequent recovery times have given some space in my calendar and slowed me down, creating space (and a need) for me to explore new things.

The experience has underscored the belief that things do happen for a reason. I've learned not to resist setbacks but instead to seek out the opportunity they provide. Our path in life can seem not to make sense until it does!