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There are things that will get you sober, and there are things that will help keep you sober. I needed rehab, meetings and a 12-step sponsor to get started on my sobriety journey—hardcore nuts and bolts stuff.
But once I got sober, I had to find the things in life that light me up. And one of those has been pets. Specifically, cats. I love cats!
I was reminded of this the other day because I saw a sign that said, “Be the person your dog thinks you are.” On the surface, that’s just a funny throwaway line. But I went deep with it, because I do think it captures something about me—and us, really—and what we are striving to be.
The thing I love about my cats is that I treat them well and they think I am the greatest person to ever live. They crawl up on my lap no matter what. I could have been a jerk to someone at the gym or a colleague on a work conference call, and they just see me as this wonderful saint who just walked through the door. That sounds silly, but some days, that’s as good as it gets.
Let me be clear, though: Getting a cat or dog was not the answer for my alcoholism. I actually think that that list of things to avoid the first year—getting into or out of a relationship, dating, making huge decisions—could maybe include pets, too, because it’s such a commitment for people who often aren’t great at making commitments yet.
But I do think a furry buddy is one of those things that bolsters sobriety, that reminds you of the good in the world, that makes you want to stay sober. At the end of the day, it was important for me in my first few years of sobriety to stockpile reasons to keep battling this incurable disease. So hobbies, pets, foods, etc. are all nice little reinforcement mechanisms for why a sober life is a better life.
All right, I have to go. My flock of three furry friends are all staring at me, the greatest person to ever live, and I think they might be hungry…
This newsletter is a place of joy and laughter about the deadly serious business of sobriety. So, as I will often do, let me close with a joke:
HEARD AT MEETINGS: “I stopped drinking and got the monkey of my back, but the circus is still in town.”
(Credit: AA Grapevine, May 2003, Chuck B. from Berea, Ohio)
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