What Happens When You Choose Yourself for the Very First Time | Shannon's Naked Life | EP 894

This Naked Mind Podcast

Annie Grace

Education, Self-improvement

4.7 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Breaking the nightly drinking habit can feel impossible when alcohol has been “normal” your whole life—so what happens when you finally decide to choose you? Shannon grew up with alcohol in the background, avoided drinking for years, and then slowly found herself becoming the “drinking buddy” in a marriage where beer was everywhere. When the boys moved out and her drinking escalated, she hit a gut-check moment that made her realize she felt trapped—and she wanted out. In this episode, Shannon shares how a TNM masterclass sparked hope, how she signed up for support on a day she truly didn’t want to go home, and what it looked like to rebuild her evenings without white-knuckling. She also opens up about the quiet kind of pride that comes from learning you can count on yourself again—and how she’s navigating boundaries and communication with a partner who still drinks. Shannon discusses: What it’s like to grow up around alcohol—and not realize how much it shaped you Why Shannon didn’t drink much early on, and what changed later in life When “just beer” turns into a nightly routine you can’t ignore Breaking the nightly drinking habit when cravings feel automatic after work How shame keeps people stuck—and how awareness helps you get free What surprised Shannon after she stopped drinking Building self-trust one choice at a time—without needing a dramatic moment Holding boundaries at home while staying connected in a relationship Why worry can feel like love—and what it costs you Learning to approach hard conversations with more safety and less panic And other topics… Episode links: nakedmindpath.com Related Episodes: Overcoming Shame and Embarrassment After Drinking - Reader’s Question - EP 722 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-722-readers-question-overcoming-shame-and-embarrassment-after-drinking/ Using Alcohol for Stress Relief - Naked Life Story – Allison B. - EP 715 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-715-naked-life-story-allison-b/ Learning to Trust Yourself Again - Alcohol Freedom Coaching - E746 - https://thisnakedmind.com/learning-to-trust-yourself-again-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e746/ Ready to take the next step on your journey? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to This Naked Mind with Annie Grace.
0:14.5	Hey everybody, welcome to The This Naked Mind podcast. I am Cole Harvey, filling in for the
0:19.9	amazing Annie Grace. And today you get to listen
0:22.0	in to a naked life story as Shannon tells her journey around alcohol. Hey, Shannon, how are you
0:27.8	doing today? I'm doing well. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for being on and just being willing to talk and
0:33.1	tell about your life and how alcohol has been a part of it and what you've done and overcomes.
0:38.3	We really appreciate it. So why don't you just start from the beginning and just kind of tell us.
0:42.5	Oh, the beginning. The beginning was in utero, actually. Both of my parents were alcoholic from day one.
0:51.3	And I grew up in that environment. And it was always normal for me. I don't think I
0:56.3	really put much thought to it as a child growing up. It was just something that was there every day.
1:01.3	Dad would come home from work and march up the stairs and put those ice cubes in a glass and
1:06.1	start pouring whatever was there and my mom would join him and yeah it was just totally normal. I think
1:12.5	when I started to become a little bit more conscious around 12 or 13, I started noticing things that
1:19.0	bothered me, things like conversations that would happen in the evening and they wouldn't be
1:23.2	remembered in the morning by my parents and promises that would be made and they wouldn't come through.
1:29.2	They wouldn't follow through. And by the time I was in high school, I was pretty fed up and I didn't
1:34.5	want to be at home. So I got a job really early. I was 15 and went to work and was going to high
1:40.7	school. And I did not do alcohol in high school at all. Maybe the occasional
1:45.7	beer, but it wasn't something that I gravitated to. I was just pretty angry about my father because
1:52.8	I adored him when I was little. And as you get older and you get to know these people that you're
1:58.5	growing up with, you get to see the other parts of them that
2:02.8	aren't so nice. And he was not a nice, it was not a nice drunk. And my mom always felt like she
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Annie Grace, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Annie Grace and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.