January 19, 2025. I remember that date like it was yesterday, even though a full year has passed. It's funny how certain moments in life become permanent markers — before and after. That was one of those days.
I won't pretend the journey to sobriety was a straight line. It wasn't. There were false starts, broken promises to myself, and moments where I genuinely didn't believe I had what it took. But looking back now, one year removed, I can see something I couldn't see in the middle of it: God was working even when I couldn't feel it.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." — Jeremiah 29:11
One year sober. That's 365 days of choosing differently. 365 days of leaning on something stronger than myself. 365 days of discovering that the life I was numbing myself from was actually worth showing up for.
What's changed in a year? Everything, honestly. My relationships are real now — not managed from behind a fog. My emotions are mine — felt fully, not suppressed. My faith is alive in a way it never was when I was trying to carry everything myself.
But the biggest change is this: I know who I am now. Not the version of me that the world expected, or that I performed for others. The real version. The one God made. And that guy — the one standing one year sober — he's worth knowing.
If you're somewhere in the middle of your own battle right now, I want you to know: one year feels impossible from day one. I know. But you don't have to do a year today. You just have to do today. And you don't have to do today alone.
The anchor holds. I'm living proof.