Many people around the world will be celebrating the recent end of Sober October, or they will be planning to go all out over the festive season in preparation for Dry January, but one man has taken to Imgur to showcase the benefits of long-term sobriety.
Thirty-seven-year-old Kenny D is a railroad worker who took regular selfies for the first three years of his sobriety. He took a snap every time he was given a new sobriety coin or chip from Alcoholics Anonymous.
Alcohol-free bars are growing in popularity:In an interview with Bored Panda, he said: "I took a picture of myself the day I got my first sobriety coin, 24 hours sober. I felt so ill and I looked so bad, I wanted to remember it so I wouldn't forget."
"The day I got my 30-day coin, I thought my look had changed drastically so I took another selfie," he continued.
In what is a relatively small period of time, everything about Kenny's appearance looks brighter.
The 37-year-old explained that he first began to drink heavily when he was a student and things soon escalated to the point where he was unable to have a drink without getting drunk.
"I could not drink without getting drunk," he explains.
When Kenny shared the inspiring pictures on Imgur, he was applauded by others suffering from alcoholism.
Prior to his incredible transformation, Kenny had tried to give up alcohol, but he had never managed to go more than a few weeks without it.
It was only in 2016 when things reached a new low that he finally found the strength to turn his life around. At this point, he was consuming between 12 and 24 alcoholic drinks a day, which resulted in three or four blackouts a week.
So he sought the help of Alcoholics Anonymous and their 12 step program. This helped Kenny to not only give up alcohol but make other positive lifestyle changes like taking up exercise, which contributed to his incredible transformation.
"The biggest difference between myself now and three years ago is that today I live my life by a set of spiritual principles," Kenny said. "From morning to night, I run all of my decisions through a sort of spiritual filter."
"I do my best to not be resentful or spiteful or angry, though I am human and I have a tendency to forget sometimes. I'm not a saint," Kenny continued.
"If I have a problem that I can't tackle with stuff in my normal spiritual toolkit, I get on the phone to my sponsor or another alcoholic-in-recovery.
"There is always somebody around to help, I just have to reach out."
