Walking Sober - Terry Grier
It starts with a walk.
I grew up in south Louisiana. Laissez faire. Let it ride. That was the feeling every day.
The music. The food. The good times. And alcohol at every one of them. There were a lot of unwritten rules.
When my grandmother died, nobody drank in the house out of respect. But after a while, the men went out to the patio, opened a beer and shared stories.
I had my first beer at 16. I called myself a social drinker until 45. I was very social.
Then the questions came. Do I drink too much? Would my marriage be better? Would I finally lose this weight?
So I tried to stop. First I tried one week. I failed, but I didn’t give up. After a while I tried thirty days. I failed again.
Every day went the same way.
Morning: I was all in
Happy hour: I will start tomorrow.
There was no rock bottom. Just an elevator that only went down, slowly. I learned you don’t have to ride it to the bottom. You can get off now.
But there’s no elevator back up. You take the stairs. For me, the stairs started with a walk.
Eight years later, I talk with people who are where I was. On Sunday nights. In men’s groups. In recovery homes. And once a month, on a trail in Cedar Park.
I’m building the thing I needed and didn’t have.
Don’t know where to start? Start here. 14 walks. $9.
→ walkingsober.org/start
Sunday nights. Come talk. A free Zoom call.
→ walkingsober.org/sunday
Want me to talk to your group? terry@walkingsober.org
Connect with me
Terry
Come walk with me. I send a short weekly email on Monday's
