The Clear Horizon

From oblivion of alcoholism into the light of sobriety

writing

  • Reward vs quick fix

    Will I never doom scroll again? Or have a beer? Or buy something stupid on Amazon? The answer is (in the correct order): Maybe, no, yes. Here’s why: Doom scrolling has nothing of worth to me in terms of a reward in terms of “Oh, I have had such a stressful day, I am going… Read more

  • Helping those in need when I was in need myself

    How was I able to help people in need, regarding disorders, family problems, domestic violence and substance abuse while I needed help myself getting off alcohol? I have been working in a social and education job all my job life. It alway was, s, in one or the other way, related to helping or supporting… Read more

  • Insights of hands free February, pt 1

    The first quarter of February has passed, and I am quite happy with my interim result. Although I had already deleted all of my Social Media accounts, it became still obvious, that taking out my smartphone on every occasion I felt a vibration resulted in a micro spike of happiness, and leaving the mobile phone… Read more

  • My midlife crisis – Or is It…?

    When my mid – 40s hit, I had the feeling something went horribly wrong in my life. I hated my job, approached my third burnout and I had the feeling I had taken the wrong turn somewhere in my life, although I have always told myself and everybody I wasn’t into a materialistic lifestyle. Interestingly,… Read more

  • Toxic positivity in consumerism vs real life improvement

    I recently listened to commercials on the radio, and it suggested to “live your dreams” and “be individualistic” and “free your mind”, “be yourself”. It sounded like some sort of lifestyle coaching tips, but in the end it was only an advertisement for a car, an SUV, that superficially suggests an independent lifestyle, outdoors, with… 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

  • 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

  • Surfing the emotional Wave – But where to start?

    It’s just one of these evenings on which I used to have a drink after work: Stressful appointments, traffic jams, frustrating weather, dark when coming home. The catch: I don’t drink anymore. So, the gloomy and depressive emotions come, and if you don’t have anything to distract you from them, or you don’t want distraction,… Read more

  • Social Media and alcohol

    Sometimes ideas or conclusions or insights strike like lightning or appear a long time afterwards. I want to share one I had today about my own relationship with social media and alcohol consumption. I don’t mean an abusive way of consuming social media after quitting drinking, in which I compensated for my alcohol consumption with… Read more