The Clear Horizon

From oblivion of alcoholism into the light of sobriety

  • Insights true today maybe obsolete tomorrow – how I accept new beliefs without the urge of justifying

    When I quit drinking, I had the conviction that I could go on with my habits like before, only by shifting from alcoholic beverages to non alcoholic beverages, but the amount and the habits stayed the same. I thought that this would keep me from becoming boring in the eyes of other people. Plus, there Read more

  • How to deal with people you don’t want in your sober life anymore – and vice versa.

    There were those days I thought I needed to be friendly, to be everybody’s darling, to please everybody. Yes, there were times when I thought I needed to make a large circle of “friends” on social media. Boy, the times have changed. I always thought it was due to Covid that I had reduced social Read more

  • Should we cry more?

    That may seem like an odd questions for a male to take into consideration: Crying is something for kids and for girls – or so… At least that’s how the truisms or our deeply rooted beliefs tell us. And, yes, these beliefs are deeply, deeply implanted not only in our individual systems, but also the Read more

  • Why all the Disorder Talk – FindIng my Core

    Why am I focusing so much on anxiety, a possible ADHD or depression although this is about quitting and recovery? Exactly because of that. The more I deep dive into my own recovery and the more the Pink Cloud fades (something I will surely post upon later), the more I get to discover more and Read more

  • Bullshit Bingo as social anxiety coping strategy

    I stumbled across a pretty odd tool to deal with social anxiety related to alcohol or depression that gives you a micro or mini amount of feel good hormones in the midst of toxic comments that may make you want to avoid social situations. We all know these statements like: “Cheer up, you always seem Read more

  • Do I always have to make a Failure a success?

    We fail. We stand up. We try again. We fail again. And then? We improve. Recently I listened to my favourite Podcast, and one of the main statements was: “Framing every failure as a success in progress is neo-liberal toxic positivity”. What to make of it? First, I would remove the bias “neo-liberal”, because I Read more

  • AI and alcohol

    In the wake of trying to quit drinking, I often asked myself the question in what way AI might be a tool or maybe a bad influence on habits and addiction. Of course, depending on what you ask the AI, you will get answers that might just give you the approval that you don’t have Read more

  • Two Sides of the same medal – Self Optimization

    Oh, he has cited another self optimization book… I can only imagine the thoughts of some people judging me for using this kind of literature. The problem with self optimization is certainly not self optimization in itself. I think (for myself! Everybody judge for themselves) that hyping self optimization on social media to tweak every Read more

  • Family, ADHD and Alcohol

    I wrote about family, I wrote about habits, I wrote about ADHD. But how does this impact my current state of mind regarding my journey to sobriety? Well, Today I am lying sick on my couch, not being able to do my sports or other activity that normally would regulate my mood and hormone levels Read more

  • How parents influence your alcoholism – habits, belief, mindset, Education

    I am no Freudian psychoanalyst and I am not a therapist, as I said before. But I think I can identify strong relations between my drinking habits and the way of my socialization in my family. That is of course nothing new, but this insight came so strongly to me after meeting my parents after Read more