This weekend I had the pleasure of hearing a wonderful talk about mindfulness by a local female entrepreneur who I deeply admire. In her work, she often speaks to corporate offices whose team members would benefit from interrupting their daily grind with a bit of mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness can help you to re-wire your brain and shift the way you respond to everyday stressors.

I believe that everyone can benefit from mindfulness practices and that it’s so valuable to have our minds open to new and healthy ways of processing our realities. There’s only one problem...I also note that many of the organizations who bring in mindfulness practitioners and other self-care experts tout company kegs, bar carts and frequent happy hours as benefits to being a part of their company culture.

Today is the day - my 365th consecutive day without a single drop of alcohol. No cheat days, no “tastes,” nothing. I’ve written a lot about being sober. A LOT. In fact, if you’ve milled around my blog much, you’d probably think that it was a blog about sobriety, or being in recovery, but it’s not. When I started this blog, the intention was to share my own path to finding a more meaningful life - a life where I felt deeply connected to myself, spirit, and those around me; a life where I allow myself to shine and encourage others to do the same.

I can say, with certainty, that I lived my best life in the last year. I can also say, with full clarity, that the single most important step I took to realize that life was cutting out alcohol. Without the presence of booze I have been healthier, happier, more productive, a better friend, and a stronger person. Have I always hit the mark? No, absolutely not. I’ve had bad days and lazy days and days where I said or did the “wrong” thing. I’ve had days where I was selfish, judgmental, or rude to others. I’ve had days where I was sad, lonely, unsure, or anxious. The beauty is, I found that I was able to bounce back to a space of peace, clarity, and happiness much more quickly without the presence of alcohol.