Turns out... we didn’t need the mask (Ep. 28)

This week, we’re talking about identity. Not today's version of identity. The old version we thought we had to be.For some of us, alcohol made us feel funnier. More confident. More interesting. More connected. For others, it helped us carry the weight of being the achiever, the fixer, or the guy who always had it together.The problem is that after enough years, it gets hard to tell where the alcohol ends and your identity begins.In this episode, we talk about the roles we played while drinking, the parts of ourselves we thought alcohol unlocked, and the surprising things we discovered after getting sober. Some of those old identities were completely false. Some were rooted in something real. And some are still being untangled today.Turns out, alcohol wasn’t who we were.00:00 – Car wash personalities and what your vehicle says about you03:56 – Why “The Mayor” might be the perfect nickname06:22 – Who did you think you were when you were drinking?09:06 – Jake’s lifelong drive to achieve and be noticed14:22 – Brian’s search for deep conversations around the campfire19:32 – The first signs the identity was starting to crack24:13 – Seeing your old self in someone who’s still drinking30:34 – How recovery changed our marriages35:20 – Living impaired versus driving impaired37:20 – Do we miss any part of our old lives?42:47 – Can alcohol be part of a healthy person’s life?46:55 – What are you no longer willing to lose?48:23 – The parts of our identity that surprised us in recovery52:25 – Who are you trying to become now?59:30 – Looking ahead to the person you’ll be at 85Need help? Find your local AA or Celebrate Recovery group. Or email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.