Ep. 82 - Reflections on Seven Years of Sobriety

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Seven years ago, I stood at a crossroads – one path leading further into the dark familiarity of alcohol, and the other towards a life of clarity, sobriety and purpose.

This episode marks not just a personal milestone of sobriety, but a testament to the transformative power of change, and the message that You are not alone in your struggles.

Join me as I reflect on the journey from those early struggles to the rewarding clarity that sobriety has brought to my life. From shedding 45 pounds to gaining better control over my emotions, the changes are profound and lasting. I am a more present (and better) father, husband, and friend.

Through sharing my story, I aim to kindle hope for those struggling with their own addictions, affirming that a new life is achievable, one day at a time.

I produced two other podcasts about my sobriety at my 5 and 6 year marks, and both times, I've had people reach out to me to talk about their desire to leave their addictions behind. So, I felt it was a good and useful idea to continue that trend and to offer encouragement and some resources for this looking to take that next step of sobriety in their own lives...


Alcoholic Anonymous:
https://www.aa.org

Narcotics Anonymous:
https://www.narcotics.com/na-meetings

988 Hotline
At the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, we understand that life's challenges can sometimes be difficult. Whether you're facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or just need someone to talk to, our caring counselors are here for you. You are not alone.
https://988lifeline.org/

National Institute of Mental Health
Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 (para ayuda en español, llame al 988). The Lifeline provides 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

Call 911 in life-threatening situations. If you are worried about a friend’s social media updates, you can contact safety teams at the social media company . They have processes to reach out to connect the person with the help they need.




To learn more about George Blitch, visit:
https://www.sonofablitch.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hey everybody, welcome back to the son of a
blitz podcast.
I'm your host, George Blitz,and today is October 13th, 2024,
which marks my seventh year ofsobriety from alcohol.
You know, I've done twopodcasts in the past, one for my
fifth year and sixth year, andI just figured it was a nice
little continuous trend Onebecause it kind of gives me

(00:35):
something to mark off my youknow, a year mark right and look
back on and something that I'mproud of.
And there's times where Istruggled to keep that sobriety.
And, you know, now I feel likeI'm in that mode where I don't
think it's ever going to be anissue for me again.
But every day is still aday-to-day thing and I think
about it consciously and mydecisions, you know, to put

(00:56):
alcohol on the shelf.
As a result, I became a betterfather, better husband, a better
friend and, uh, you know, Ithink, clearer, uh, mentally, uh
, spiritually, physically andemotionally, uh, all around.
I feel stronger uh and moreclear.
And that clarity really, um,you know, it took a little bit
of time for it to kind of uhdawn on me, cause it was maybe

(01:19):
about a month where I still hadkind of the drinking brain going
on my, you know.
But after about a month of notdrinking and you know they talk
about how sometimes having onemonth of you know certain change
can help you stick with it forthe long run.
It really did for me I feltbetter.
I lost a ton of weight.
You know, I think I'm down 45pounds from my heaviest I think
it was like a two 30, myheaviest and just overall I felt

(01:40):
better in every, every aspect.
You know I used to be kind ofquick to anger when I was
drinking, quick to getfrustrated.
Temper would kind of flare up,and now I kind of have a better
control of that, not to say thatthat doesn't ever happen, but
for the most part, you know I'mable to kind of control it and
figure things out.

(02:05):
I did you know the year five andyear six podcast.
Uh, both times I had someonefrom my past who tuned into the
podcast, reached out to me, toldme about their situation.
Um, one was well, both of themwere fairly dire situations and
they really wanted to make achange and wanted to talk to
somebody who had been through it.
Now, I didn't.
I wasn't like theiraccountability partner per se,
but I was like, call me, youknow I was letting them know if

(02:30):
they ever needed to talk tosomebody.
And there were some times whenthey kind of got low and we're
thinking about drinking thatthey called me and we talked
about it.
But you know they went and youknow, sought out professional
help in one case and the otherthey just kind of did it on
their own.
But, um, you know, it wasamazing to have somebody you
know hearing about someone elsethat they knew going going

(02:52):
through it.
It made them it felt a littlemore familiar that, oh okay, I
know this guy went through itand maybe I can do it too and I
can talk to that person about it.
And that was something that Iwas, you know, blessed to be
able to help kind of facilitatethat.
And it was nothing that thatfirst year, when I put this
podcast out for my year fivesobriety, I it was kind of a

(03:12):
marker, five years felt like abig deal and uh, you know I had
a podcast and I thought I'd talkabout it.
And you know the year six waskind of a result because year
five got a phone call and so Iput it out there and you know
I'm doing that again this yearis that if you, um, are
struggling with any kind ofaddiction alcohol, drug related,

(03:39):
whatever it is uh, you know, ifyou need someone to talk to
about it and you kind of want tothrow some stuff on the wall,
and you know, just chat and justkind of say, hey, I've got an
issue and I'm looking for help,uh, I will help to facilitate
any way.
I can you know, by no means amI a licensed counselor or
therapist in that sense, uh, oryou know, any kind of addiction
specialist.
However, I know that there areorganizations and I can, you
know, give you phone numbers and, in fact, on the show notes

(03:59):
down below, I will go ahead andinclude some here so that if you
want to reach out to talk tosomebody and you know, and one
person I did talk to, they wereat the very end of their rope,
they had made some really poordecisions, got them in a lot of
trouble, uh, breakup of thefamily and, uh, it sounded
pretty dire where they were at,and so that was something I was
like I really think you need totalk to somebody, uh,

(04:21):
immediately before maybe youtake a step in the wrong
direction and, uh, you know,make the situation worse or, you
know, leave anybody with a lotof pain.
And you know, when I've beentalking with a lot of different
veterans, uh, and talking aboutpeople who, um, you know they
kind of got to the lowest of thelow and self-harm came into the
picture.
You know, when you look atthings like alcohol a severe

(04:44):
depressant, and you already havethings emotionally going
downhill, a lot of bad decisionscan be made and a lot of them
that can can have permanentscars on you or your family or
both.
And so I really just feelcompelled to let people know
that you know, if you're lookingfor help, there's help out
there and that if you know youwant to talk to somebody who's

(05:06):
kind of gone through it and hasbeen on the other side of the
struggle, you know I've gonethrough the struggle and now I'm
in a place where I feel verysolid about my sobriety and that
that's something that I'm goingto keep for the rest of my life
.
Um, and that's you know it'snot always easy.
There's a lot of times whereit's been difficult, a lot of
days where there may be a realstressful time, and I'm like man

(05:28):
, I could really use that drink,but that crutch never made
things better.
It actually crippled me moreand for me, you know, that's
just my situation.
I know a lot of people who candrink alcohol and they're fine,
you know the next day.
They don't have any long-termlasting effects.
For me, it was something thatit never made things better.
It always made it usually adegree worse or many degrees

(05:51):
worse and I wouldn't feel goodand I'd have excess weight and
heart issue problems could come,you know, when you continue to
have that kind of life andlifestyle.
And so for me, it was just avery strong decision about
wanting to be a better person inmy own home uh, for my family
and for myself.
And when I made those moves andmade those changes, I saw all

(06:14):
the benefits very rapidly.
And so, again, I'm not trying topreach right, you guys do what
you do, but if you, if you'relistening and you have any
struggle, if you have anyaddictions, if you have some
dark thoughts and you want totalk to somebody, I highly
encourage you to reach out tothem and, um, you know I'm
fairly easy to get a hold of.

(06:34):
So if you need to talk tosomebody, I'm happy to help
facilitate a, you know,intervention in the sense of
like getting you in touch withpeople who can do this on a
professional level Because,again, I don't claim to be that
professional helper but I canhelp find you that person.
Because you know, we just needto move forward the best we can
in our lives and there's a lotof struggles that we all go

(06:56):
through, a lot of anxiety, a lotof pain, a lot of depression.
You know, no one's free fromany of those things.
But you know, when we admitthese things or we admit that
addiction is there and that wewant to go ahead and make a step
forward and to face it and totry to move through those
challenging times of gettingsober, getting better mental

(07:18):
health, then I think that that'ssomething that we should all
applaud those efforts, and thatobviously you can be on the
other side of things lookingback on it and realizing it was
all worth it.
As much struggle as it could beto make that change in your
life, it's worth it.
So, again, I just wanted to goahead and have a quick little
podcast about it.
As much struggle as it could beto make that change in your
life, it's worth it.
So, again, I just wanted to goahead and, you know, have a
quick little podcast about it.

(07:38):
Uh, you know, 2,555 days soberand wouldn't change it for
anything in the world.
Um, for me it's what I neededand I'm really glad I did it.
I'm glad I had the support ofmy family and friends around to
help me see through some ofthose dark times.
And, uh, you know, I'm standinghere and saying that, hey, you

(07:59):
can do it too.
If I can do it, you can do it.
Anyway.
Everyone, have a beautiful,blessed day.
Thank you so much for tuninginto the podcast.
If you like this, if you knowanyone who needs to hear this,
please pass it on.
I appreciate all the folks whoare subscribing and following
this and, uh, yeah, I'll see youguys around soon.
Y'all take care.
Thanks again.