It’s been a heavy week. Every news outlet, every social media platform is rife with terror, hate, and unbelievable grief.

Do you find yourself wondering how you’re supposed to stay sober, when it feels like the darkness is closing in and suffocating us? When we’re drowning in fear, sadness, anger, and a sense of helplessness we can just shake?

I know that right now, when you look around, it feels like all you can see is darkness, all you can feel is the heavy weight set upon the world. And I know that when things are dark and painful everywhere you turn, there’s a hard pull to escape in the easiest way you know how. But more than ever before, this world needs you to show up. To find your light, no matter how dim it may be, and hold it high even if it flickers.

Drinking won’t make the horrible things go away. All it will do is make you numb to it – make it not seem to matter anymore. But these things NEED to matter. We need to feel all the things we’re feeling – to give ourselves space to process these emotions, and to take some kind of action against everything that is challenging our values. Alcohol will let you sit back and just take it. And I know that’s not who you are. That’s not who you want to be – even if you wish you could, just for a little while.

Every sober day is proof that you’re alive, awake, and standing for something bigger than fear.

I know that if you look at the grand scheme of how things appear right now, your efforts, your passions, your hopes seem almost petty. But those parts of you are exactly what this world needs. In those things lie the action that will begin to heal you, and begin to heal the world.

The things that light you up.

Turn off your phone. Take a break from all the noise. Go for a walk, and remember how beautiful the earth is. Invite a friend for coffee, and share a hug and smile. Create something beautiful. Make a delicious, nourishing meal for your family, served with all the love for them that your heart can muster. Take careful, gentle care of your self. Fill your cup to overflowing, so you can help others fill theirs.

You aren’t as powerless as you feel right now.

If we, as a collective, choose to let our lights shine – we can brighten the darkness. Even if it’s only for ourselves, our children, our families, our friends. That’s enough. Let that pain be the fuel that makes the brightness inside of you burn even brighter.

Hate, fear, and anger can’t survive in the light.

Maybe there’s a part of you that feels like if you lean into the good, that you’re not acknolwedging the significance of these events. But we don’t have to let it eat us alive to prove that they’re important. We can feel and honor the collective pain – we must – but we don’t have to let it suffocate us.

So don’t give into the desire to run. Don’t give into the tempation to escape. When we drink to escape, we hand our power to the very darkness we wish would go away. Choosing to stay sober, you add your strength to the collective light. You’re not alone – you’re part of the ones who refuse to go numb.

Add your light to the light of the world, and let’s all make it a little bit brighter.

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For Further Reading:

The Real Reason You Can’t Quit Drinking

How to Be Happy Sober: 5 Steps to the Joy You’re Seeking

The Most Under-Acknowledged Emotion Threatening Your Sobriety