RE 595: You Have One Job

Today we have Rich. He is from Sacramento, CA, he is 60 years old and took his last drink on August 8th, 2025.   This episode is brought to you by:   Sign up and get 10% off: Better Help   Registration opens on July 15th, 2026, for our sober travel trip to Morocco which is March 3rd – 13th, 2027.   [02:14] Thoughts from Paul:   If you are in early sobriety or find yourself on day one, your only job right now is to not drink. It isn't time to fix your whole life or worry about being productive and having it all figured out.   By staying honest with your #1 job of not drinking, the body will become incredibly productive in terms of healing. Your dopamine begins to rewire; your sleep system starts to re-balance. All while you are resting.   Even though we sometimes know that not drinking is our #1 job, we can still struggle to keep it this simple. The good news is that every day is a new opportunity to perfect the job and by doing so, everything else will fall into place. Trust the process.   [06:05] Paul introduces Rich:   Rich is 60 years old and lives in Sacramento, CA with his wife of 35 years. They have two grown children and two rat terriers to help fill the empty nest. For work, Rich is a salesman for an equipment company. For fun, Rich enjoys riding his Peloton bike, cooking, and he is an avid sports fan.   Rich reflects that a lot of his drinking came from his inability to control his emotions. He says his home life growing up was great, but there was no discussion or expression of emotions. He was bullied often when he was in junior high but didn't feel comfortable telling anyone about it.   On a few occasions throughout high school and college, Rich realized that alcohol helped him become the life of the party and be able to talk to people he wasn't normally friendly with. He learned that if he drank, he would be accepted and have friends.   After graduating college, Rich was working in the restaurant business as a bartender in a small beach town. He said he had a lot of fun, made a lot of money and met his wife there. After getting married, they started a restaurant that they ran together for several years. Rich says his drin