Hi Everyone!  It has been a while since I posted in this blog.  There have been a lot of changes in the last few years.  In 2020 I finished my Air Force career of 20 years as a clarinetist in the band career field.  At the same time Covid 19 hit the US causing economic and social upheaval as you well know.  My husband and I moved back to my hometown in Tennessee.  Many people including myself started dealing with a lot more anxiety in these covid times.  This was right before my retirement which caused even more anxiety.  You veterans know how getting out of the military is much more complex than entering it haha.  I relieved my anxiety by focusing on my new found art of painting with acrylics.  I had previously been doing a lot of crocheting, and randomly decided one day to try my hand at painting following the Bob Ross tutorials.  I quickly realized this took my anxiety levels down to zero!  It was great!  I’m still painting a lot and love it.

In the years before my Air Force retirement I used to wonder if I would start drinking again afterwards.  The Air Force helped me stop drinking with their rehab program, and making sure I knew that I would be separated if I did not quit.  I loved being a musician in the Air Force and it would have been terrible to throw my career out the window due to my alcohol addiction.  I also wanted to be physically and mentally healthy.  As I hit my retirement date, I wondered if I could still remain sober and the answer is a big YES!  It’s not to say I have not been tempted out of curiosity more than anything.  I came to the conclusion that it just would not do anything positive for me.  Oh, the many reasons to not start drinking alcohol again…let’s see…

1. My family and husband would be shocked, angry and disappointed…
2. I would also feel ashamed and disappointed with myself in letting everyone down.
3. There would be no fun in drinking at social gatherings since everyone knows me to be sober, so I would end up drinking alone for no reason which is no fun.
4. My physical and mental health would deteriorate and I don’t want that….its already aged me.
5. It would hinder my productivity and zap all my initiative to do any of my creative past times such as painting and playing my clarinet.

So with all these reasons there simply would be no point for me to drink alcohol again.  Where would the fun of it be?  If you are interested in trying out sobriety or drinking less check out my other blog articles or message me.