They call it "Sober September" and this movement started a couple of years ago with millennials who called themselves sober-curious. It all started where they would take the month of September off to see how they felt when they weren't going out and drinking several nights a week.

This caught my attention because next month will mark 11 years of sobriety for me. I've shared often about my severe generalized clinical anxiety that I started to suffer with when I was 12 or 13 years old and now when I look back at my 13-year-old self, I can see that I started to drink because I was self-medicating. It continued to grow and grow as I went through high school and by the time college rolled around, I think it's safe to say I was probably a social alcoholic. I needed alcohol to feel comfortable in my own skin around the groups of people. But then when I graduated from college, I was a full-on alcoholic.

In October of 2009, the only way I have to explain it was the Lord just took it from me. It was one of the lies that I had kept believing and this is why I want to talk about this is that I didn't think people would like me if I wasn't drinking at parties and things like that. I didn't think people would like sober Rebecca even though I didn't like drunk Rebecca. I hated myself when I would drink and I wasn't the kind of alcoholic that where I started drinking during the day and then just kept on going till I went to bed. I didn't get drunk every time I drank but I never knew when I was going to have one of those days where things just went off the rails and I ended up making a big mess of things the next day that I couldn't remember.

If you're struggling with any kind of addictive behavior, I want to encourage you to reject the lie that this is who you are or that this is what you have to do. I've never been freer and I've never been happier. My friends still like me and I think they like me better. My marriage is stronger and I just want to encourage you that if this is a struggle of yours, you're not alone and help is available.