Episode 489 – The Best Parts of an Alcohol-Free Life   Today we have Chris. He is 56 years old and lives in Beacon, NY and took his last drink on April 18th, 2024.   Registration for our next Alcohol-Free travel trip to Vietnam opens TODAY! This upcoming January 9th-20th, 2025, we’re heading to this incredible Southeast Asia paradise for 10 days and 11 nights with 25 travelers who are done nursing hangovers.   Welcome to our new listeners! We are glad to have you with us. You are in the right place. There is a whole new authentic life awaiting you, which isn’t far away.   Congratulations to Paul and his wife on the birth of their new baby boy!   Better Help:  www.betterhelp.com/elevator - 10% off your first month. #sponsored   [04:10] Thoughts from Paul:   A few weeks ago, Paul asked our Instagram followers what is the best part of being sober or living an alcohol free life. He shares with us some of the responses he received.   The four biggest commonalities he saw were: 1)    More authenticity 2)    Less shame and regret 3)    More energy 4)    More clarity   Think of the sobriety quote “you’re giving up one thing for everything”.   Sober Link   [11:16] Paul introduces Chris:   Chris says he is 56 years old and grew up in northern New Jersey, close to NYC. Cooking is his passion, and he has worked in the food and beverage industry all of his life, currently in a director role. Chris also enjoys the outdoors and currently lives in the Hudson Valley.   Beyond the occasional night of overindulgence, Chris says his drinking was normal. He was around alcohol a lot in the industry he works in. After getting married, he and his wife enjoyed entertaining in addition to traveling to wineries and distilleries and building a collection. Over time Chris began drinking more than just wine with dinner, had booze all over the house and was drinking earlier in the day and more often.   After he and his wife got divorced, Chris found himself drinking more heavily and was less discriminate of what he was drinking as long as he was getting his fix, as he calls it. He was breaking commitments and becoming less functional in his day-to-day life.   Chris didn’t drink heavily around other people but told his family in 2018 that he needed help. He went into treatment and was able to gain 14 months. He was part of a sober community called Ben’s Friends geared towards those in the service industry. Chris was able to gain some sobriety time but had a series of stops and starts with several more visits to rehab as well.   Currently at 34 days, Chris is working on rebuilding his life. He knows time will heal his relationships with family, and he is attending IOP for accountability. He is spending a lot of time outdoors and is grateful that the weather has been nice. He attends AA meetings, Café RE chats, and participates in meetings with Ben’s Friends. Missing meetings is a non-negotiable for Chris and he also makes sure to nurture himself physically and spiritually.   Chris’ best sober moment: being present with his partner while on vacation.   Chris’ parting piece of guidance: stay connected.   Café RE – promo code OPPORTUNITY waives set up fee. RE merch Recovery Elevator YouTube Sobriety Tracker iTunes      Recovery Elevator We took the elevator down. We gotta take the stairs back up. You can do this.