Travis Akers
Have you seen great changes within your marriage and loving relationships with family? My marriage was struggling. It was not yet failing but was well on its way. Becoming sober and staying sober has been a miracle for our relationship. It’s opened up doors to complete honesty and transparency, rekindle the lost romance, and drawn us closer than I could have even imagined. In addition, my relationship with my sons has grown deeper as I am able to now live in the moment with them and create memories that will be carried for a lifetime. They have a present father again who can show them the love I was incapable of during my drinking career. What other significant changes have you see in your life without alcohol? My physical and mental health has improved dramatically. Physically I am probably in the best shape of my life, running 100 miles a month, spending time in the gym and swimming as well. While drinking, I was not physically active and it was impacting my life as a whole, including my mental and spiritual health. Mentally, I feel sharp, I feel in tune with my surroundings and aware, and stable. I was diagnosed with depression and in parallel with my sobriety, I also began and continue counselling and take a prescribed anti-depressant. The changes in my demeanour, my outlook, and my general approach to every day has become one where I intentionally seek the good and the beauty of our lives. I can once again feel and give love. What are your sober rituals daily? Pledge? Prayer? Every morning I spend the first 15 or so minutes in mediation, either repeating the affirmation, reading the Bible, or sitting silently to appreciate another day of life. I also do pray quite frequently and maintain a list of thanksgiving, intercession, and praise to help guide my prayer life. Have you found meditation, podcasts, or books helpful in recovery? Meditation has been essential for me. It’s a reset when I’m off course, it’s a boost when I am weak, it’s uplifting when I am beaten, and it’s reassuring when I am on target. I don’t listen to many podcasts,s to be honest and do not read as often as I would like, and when I do, it’s typically a biography or theological in nature. If there is someone reading this out there what would be your top sober tip for them? Create boundaries and enforce them. You have to ensure you are your number advocate. To effectively maintain your sobriety (and sanity) you have to be able to say “no.” Understand that this is not selfish, this is not to the detriment of others, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Protecting your sobriety and yourself is the only way you can be the best you And the best you is what you deserve.
What was the last sober book you read? The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray I really enjoyed this book, making several highlights and notes. I read it under a recommendation from a woman in one of our rooms back home in Florida. She knows that I am very public about my journey and thought it would be good for me to have a woman’s perspective, but to also consume the information on why we drink through the research and conversations conducted by Catherine. I recommend it to anyone in sobriety. heroes/heroines? There are so many people whom I feel could be my sober heroes, especially those who helped guide me along in the infancy of my sobriety. But there are also those whom I admire who are also public about their recovery and sobriety, among them are Captain Sandy Yawn from the Bravo reality television show Below Deck, Ed Glavin, former producer of the Ellen show, and Demi Lovato, who has done wonders for mental health in addition to her own sobriety story, each great role models for both the sober community and those who are sober curious. Do you have any sober Have you found the Twitter community helpful on your journey? The Twitter community has been beyond helpful in my journey. For me, being a public figure and being open about my recovery, is a means to keep me accountable and to embrace the responsibility I have for being an outward recovering alcoholic. Secondly, they are a source of strength and encouragement, beyond what I deserve or even expected. I receive messages every single day from people who have either watched from the sidelines or entered the fight because of my story and sharing, and that in turn fuels me.
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