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Four years ago this week, Jessica Simpson made a decision that would alter the course of her life.
After waking up hungover the day after Halloween, the entertainer and entrepreneur decided to end her destructive relationship with alcohol.
In the years before Simpson quit drinking, her alcohol abuse had frequently made her the butt of national jokes.
Videos of Jessica slurring her words on television or stumbling out of nightclubs were gleefully passed around the internet as evidence that the wildly successful mother of four was human after all.
In fairness to those who delighted in Jessica’s over-indulgence, the severity of her problem was not clear at that time.
But Jessica was well aware that the situation had become untenable, and on Novmber 1, 2017, she faced her problem head on and pledged to abstain from booze for the rest of her life.
And four years later, Simpson is still committed to a life of sobriety.
On Monday, Jessica celebrated that turning point in her life by posting the photo above, along with a lengthy meditation on her decision to quit drinking and what it’s meant for her life.
“This person in the early morning of Nov 1, 2017 is an unrecognizable version of myself,” Simpson wrote.
“I had so much self-discovery to unlock and explore. I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self-respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity,” she continued.
“There is so much stigma around the word alcoholism or the label of an alcoholic.”
Jessica says she realized that her alcoholism was symptomatic of larger problems, and she would not be able to address these issues until she got sober.
“The real work that needed to be done in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, brokenness, and self-sabotage,” Simpson wrote.
“The drinking wasn’t the issue. I was. I didn’t love myself. I didn’t respect my own power. Today I do. I have made nice with the fears and I have accepted the parts of my life that are just sad,” she added.
“I own my personal power with soulful courage. I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free.”
Though it’s been a while since she toured or released new music, Jessica made gained fame as a singer, and she says music was essential in helping her get clean.
“I didn’t realize all the stuff I had to say until I was actually connected to it through music and writing,” Simpson told People magazine shortly after she got sober.
“So when I started to go through all the depth of the pain that I was experiencing, I realized I was pretty rock bottom.”
Reflecting on that fateful day four years ago, Jessica says she was ashamed upon realizing that she had blacked out the previous night while helping her kids get ready to go trick or treating.
“I was terrified of letting them see me in that shape,” Simpson wrote in her memoir.
“I am ashamed to say that I don’t know who got them into their costumes that night.”
Jessica says she recognized the need for change in that moment, and she’s never lookedf back.
“I need to stop. Something’s got to stop. And if it’s alcohol that’s doing this and making things worse, then I quit,” she wrote.
Jessica added that “it was a long, hard emotional journey” — but thesw days, she feels that “there’s just no better gift.”
Our sincerest congratulations go out to Jessica for her success in getting sober.
We wish her many, many years of health and happiness.
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