Breaking Free Before Breaking Down: An Honest Warning About Addiction
Sobriety isn’t about shame, it’s about strength and trauma.
Most addicts wait until the collapse to admit they have a problem.
I want you to realize that you don’t have to break yourself before you start the repair process.
The DUI.
The fights.
The broken marriage.
The lack of motivation the next day.
The inflammation that makes you look puffy.
The ruined event in front of family and friends.
The messed up stomach, headache, shakes, and shits.
Waking up and needing another drink to clear your head.
The hours and hundreds of dollars spent to get inebriated.
The unregulated/hyper-amplified emotions that get released.
The mornings after waking up, wondering what you did the night before.
The eruption of self in front of your kids, who now look at you differently.
The morning after, with that impending feeling of doom hanging over you.
The inability to have fun without drinking something that will “give a buzz”.
The cycle of knowing you need to be better, but going back to self-destruction.
All of it, every single thing listed, along with the hundreds of other things that alcohol has brought to people’s lives, is entirely preventable.
And yet, people wait until they’re broken before even considering breaking free.
You can choose freedom before the wreckage piles up, and that’s what this article calls you to do.
Sobriety isn’t about weakness but courage; it’s about you having the courage to face life unfiltered.
Sit with stress, anger, and doubt without drowning them in a bottle. When you choose to refuse to run from pain and instead transform it into power, that is how you finally heal from what drives you towards your vice in the first place.
Addiction is not about pleasure; it’s about coping and pain.
I don’t write this as a man untouched by addiction.
I know the pull…
I know the nights where you swear “just one more” and the mornings where you realize “one more” is the lie that keeps you chained.
The way it worked for me was, “One was too many, and 20 wasn’t enough…”
The truth?
Alcohol doesn’t fix your problem; it cements it.
It grows roots so deep they choke out everything else in your life, like your health, your confidence, your relationships, and your purpose.
And here’s the most challenging part to admit:
It isn’t just about you.
All addicts think they’re just doing it to themselves, but the reality is, every drink ripples outward to your kids, your wife, your friends…
They feel the weight of your choices, whether you want them to or not.
My Current Tracker:
That’s why I built my sober community on Telegram.
Not because sobriety is a “trend” or because I had extra time on my hands. But because the only people who understand addiction are those who’ve been addicted.
We need a circle where honesty isn’t mocked, setbacks don’t mean shame, and strength is built through accountability and connection.
If you’re tired of feeling like alcohol is in control, if you know deep down that the path you’re on leads to destruction, you don’t need to wait for the crash, and you definitely don’t need to hit rock bottom.
You can choose to stand up today; you can choose to break free before you break down.
- Zac Small
PS: I created a FREE Telegram community for sober folks to join, man or woman; the only requirement is that you work to get sober.