How pets can contribute to sobriety

Sometimes all you need to make a big, difficult change in your life is to care about another living thing more than yourself.

I’ve seen countless sobriety stories that detail how people were deep in the throes of addiction before the addition of a child to the family made something click.

In other cases, it’s the threat of subtraction — the threat of a spouse leaving or a family member threatening to cut a brother or sister out of their life — that brings people around.

The act of being responsible for or caring about someone more than yourself can be very powerful.

And that doesn’t just apply to humans.

Pets can have the same effect.

There’s a reason dogs visit hospitals and equine-assisted therapy is a thing.

Animals calm us, bring us happiness, and require our care and attention to survive in the domestic context.

As a living being in our care, they can even inspire us to better ourselves so we can better serve them.

Cheryl Burke and Ysabella

Consider the case of Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke. Earlier this week, Burke posted that she was four years sober, noting that her dog Ysabella is a big reason why.

Burke, who lost her father to alcoholism, hasn’t had an easy road since making the decision to quit drinking.

She’s currently embroiled in a very nasty, public divorce — a situation that would certainly make it tough for an at-risk person to stay away from booze.

As that process plays out, she credits Ysabella for keeping her on the rails.

“Thankfully, I have found reasons to not fall into the temptations of my occasional self-doubt — the biggest being the knowledge that I owe it to myself to live my life as fully as I can, and for me that means a sober life,” Burke wrote on her Instagram account this week.

“The belief that a power greater than myself consistently helps me stay the course when things get hard and I have to give credit to my dog Ysabella for keeping me going a lot of the time. Yep, I’m a full-blown ‘dog mom’ and I’m not ashamed to say it.

“Going through a public divorce, there have been days where I wanted to just stay in bed and hide, and the idea of numbing my emotions with a vodka soda sound pretty appealing.

“But Ysabella has tons of energy and gets me outside to go for walks multiple times a day, she loves me to play with her and I honestly can’t imagine life without her by my side 24/7.”

Caring for creatures

During the COVID pandemic, a very restless, social child in my family was really struggling as lockdowns took away everything that mattered to him.

He was as low as he’d ever been, until one day, an adorable little hamster entered his life.

With something else to love and care for, it took the focus off of all that he had lost. He bounced back big-time after the hamster’s arrival.

Animals are always happy to see you. They love, but they don’t judge. They’re just there, ready to brighten a day or two.

Whether it’s a hamster, a bulldog like Cheryl Burke’s pup, or whatever your favourite creature is, sometimes putting the focus on caring for a little critter can refocus your perspective and be a helpful contributor to the new path.

Thank you so much for reading this story all the way to the end! I hope it inspires you on your own sober journey. If you did like it, please consider giving it a clap or two so others can find it!

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