Dear Laura

Whenever we make a big leap, we're going to have people who cast doubt and concern about our decision. Here's my response for how to deal with that and stay focused on the important thing you're doing.

How did you find the strength to leave behind a steady, high salary to venture into what might be even failure? How much of a nest egg did you have that gave you enough comfort to make the leap? Did you downsize your life, or was trust in the universe what made this work for you?

If you're thinking about making a big leap, these are the three most important things you can do to get going.

Early sobriety is hard enough, but going through the holidays and managing family can be ninja-level hard. In this post, I address a woman who is nervous about how to manage her mother-in-law’s niggling questions about her not drinking at Thanksgiving.

Saying “no” to drinking alcohol can cause some serious anxiety. Here are three common scenarios and how to approach them.

Now, for various reasons, I’m not sure I want to do it anymore. I’m not sure it’s a good fit, and I feel like other things are becoming more important to me. But I’m afraid to stop because 1) what will God think? And 2) what will other people think? I have many religious friends an I worry that they will judge me if I leave. I also hate calling attention to myself and change will do that. But I don’t want to be a prisoner of other people’s judgments.

I mean, you know that commercial with the staples button that says "that was easy.” Getting sober is the hardest-best thing ever, but is there ever a time when you can hit cruise control and sit back and enjoy it? I know I'll never get to push that staples button, but can I at least get one that says, "It's getting easier?”

This is basically the reason I started to drink in the first place, and I’m pretty sure it’s the reason people have drank since the beginning of time: to feel more comfortable in their skin. Now, they probably didn’t quite use that language while sitting around the fire or dinner table or watering hole (I’m sorry, I have to pause here: imagine Jesus saying to Luke, I don’t know, I just feel so…uncomfortable in my own skin sometimes, man.) but that’s why. Alcohol lowers our inhibitions and smooths the chatter of our minds and some of our minds are really, really loud and mean.