Big Law Breeds Alcoholics, and I Was One of Them

Chardonnay.

You might think when I left Biglaw in 2016, the problem would have left me, too.

But it only got worse.

Suddenly, with 24 hours of unscheduled time available to me each day, filling it became all too easy.

Chardonnay.

And by the time covid hit 4 years later, drinking was pretty much consuming all day of every day.

⬇️

But one day—five years ago today, to be exact—when I poured a glass—at 10:50 a.m. to be exact—something happened inside of me.

I drank half and snapped.
I dumped the rest in self-disgust.
I then dumped out everything else in the house.

And then I went on a very, very long, heady walk.

For on that day—May 1, 2020, to be exact—everything had come rushing into clear relief:

I could go only one of two ways.

1/ I could give all alcohol up entirely—not just on weekends or special occasions (I knew myself too well).

2/ Or I could continue to slide further into the deep hole I had dug for myself.

Fortunately, I chose the former.

And I have not drank since.

***
I’ve never talked about this before here, largely because I started on LinkedIn in 2021, and I honestly wasn’t sure I would make it through these years.

But I did. And now suddenly, time has flown by, and it’s already my 5-year anniversary.

***

So I needed to get this out there, because it is a big part of me.
And I’m proud of it.

(For the record, too. I am far from a paragon of virtue in the broader potential-personal-vice department, so please do not think me some pillar of self-restraint to idolize. We addicts tend to be excellent at habit hopping. But with alcohol for me, self-restraint is now on auto-pilot. And for that, I am very proud.)

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done; it was the best thing I’ve ever done.

And I promise you, life after alcohol can still be pretty fun.

💌 Amanda

👉 My new drink of choice is Sam Adams NA IPA.

Have you tried it? It’s really good.

You don’t hold a candle, Chardonnay.