I own it, I did that, not proud, but that was me, and when I face it, I take back a little dignity, not looking for excuses, I just want to be free from power. Weakness had on me. Free, free, free, free, free. Hi everyone and welcome to the bubble hour where real people tell real stories of addiction and recovery.

I'm Gene McCarthy. I write the blog Unpickled, where I've been telling my story of life after alcohol since my first day of sobriety in 2011.

I tell my story there and I invite you to share your stories here. Well, it's season eight

episode one and wow, eight seasons. That's amazing. Happy New Year, everyone. It's not only a new season

and a new day and a new year. It's the end of one decade and the start of another.

Today, for some, will be a day of momentous change, and for others, it will be a celebration

of having made it through the holidays and New Year's Eve alcohol-free.

And for some of you, it's just another day because once you get this whole sobriety thing

on a roll, it really does become a day-by-day

thing and the days add up. Well, for this episode, we will hear from a number of women who I recently

met at a She-Recovers retreat in Mexico. I asked each of them to share how they did it, and the answers

are as varied as the women themselves.

I'm going to start by introducing you to Leslie, who, as you'll hear, has yet to maintain her

sobriety. She talks honestly about the mind games she plays with herself, and why she keeps

sabotaging her own success. Now, usually on the bubble hour, we have guests with a minimum of 90 days sober,

but I want you to hear where Leslie was at,

because many of you might be experiencing the same thing.

So take heart and, like Leslie, keep going.

And then by contrast, you'll hear from Mary,

who refers to having a slip in early recovery.

And from both women, they recognize a recovery date when they started to make changes in

their lives and also a sobriety date marking the amount of time since their last drink.

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