Ode to Annie
For me it is a day to celebrate because it was five years ago today,
That I made a decision that would affect my life in a most significant way.
I decided that alcohol would no longer have a leading role in my life,
As I finally recognized that daily glasses of wine were causing quite a bit of pain and strife.
You see society had taught me that a drink is necessary for every party or day in the sun.
And without it I’d be labeled as a boring girl who just didn’t have any fun.
So I began to investigate if that was true and the answer was a clear as day.
And God began to slowly open my eyes in a most amazing way.
So on August 7, 2017 I made a decision that drinking was no longer for me.
Chardonnay and cosmos had to go if I was to blossom into my full potentiality.
I enlisted some help and it’s not what you think, weekly meetings would not be my way.
Rather, the answer I sought came in a book that I purchased online that same day.
The book was called This Naked Mind and its author is Annie Grace.
I learned alcohol is a drug, must be handled as such, and has deceived so many in the human race.
It goes down so quickly. You order your drink and then your drink orders another.
And before you know it, it’s the very next morning, “Did I really say that!,” oh brother!
So I set a goal to go one year and enjoy every season with friends and family.
And to savor it all without a drink in hand…. How did it feel…. Actually, I felt quite giddy.
I decided I want my body to be healthy, Lord willing, all the length of my days.
And that decision five years ago has affected my life in so many ways.
I sleep better, think clearer and have so much more energy.
And the person who stares at me in the mirror is the one she was designed to be.
No more guilt, no more shame, how I wish I knew this all along.
But suffering and pain are part of our journey, so says many a song.
So I feel my sadness, I cry at times too and I also feel joy on many of my days.
And I realized alcohol doesn’t help any of these feelings, it actually hurts in so many ways.
So you may ask, well what about now, do you ever indulge occasionally?
Why yes, a cold beer on a hot day or glass of cab with my honey, but the beauty of it all is that the decision is up to me.
More often than not, it’s a mocktail I drink with a favorite recipe I’ve created and use.
Ginger ale, club soda, cranberry and lime, mix it all together, and that’s the drink that I choose.
Well Denise, how do I know if I’m drinking too much, I seem to be just fine.
And maybe you’re right, then this poem’s not for you, so please continue to enjoy your wine!
The question “do I drink too much?” it is not one to ask for another’s introspection.
The only person who knows the answer to that question is the one staring back in your mirror’s reflection.
And if you’re like me, you see life flying by and you want to be fully alive and free.
Perhaps you’ll make the same decision I made five years ago today,
the one I am grateful for….. for eternity.
