Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail Mom

Ep 74 What It Means to Live Authentically Alcohol-Free With Josnelly Aponte

June 18, 2024 Deb, Mocktail Mom Season 1 Episode 74
Ep 74 What It Means to Live Authentically Alcohol-Free With Josnelly Aponte
Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail Mom
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Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail Mom
Ep 74 What It Means to Live Authentically Alcohol-Free With Josnelly Aponte
Jun 18, 2024 Season 1 Episode 74
Deb, Mocktail Mom

Send me a text message about the show!

In this episode of Thriving Alcohol-Free, I’m hanging out with the lovely Josnelly, from sunny Jacksonville, Florida. We first connected at the Mocktail Summit while making some delicious drinks, and ever since I’ve been anxious to get her on the show so I could get to know her and her heart behind living alcohol-free.

In our conversation, Josnelly gets real about her sobriety journey, which kicked off in January 2021. She opens up about handling work pressures, family life, and how the pandemic nudged her towards healthier choices. We dive deep into the world of non-alcoholic drinks, chatting about our favorite mocktails and the creative ways we enjoy them, and exploring how these drinks have made our lives so much more fun and vibrant. 

Josnelly also shares about her spiritual journey, her insights on being present, the mantra that guides her, and the impact living alcohol-free has had on her relationships. So tune in to hear us discuss living authentically and finding joy in every moment, without the need for alcohol!


Get in touch with Josnelly!
Instagram | Facebook

Thanks to Giesen 0% Wines for being our exclusive non-alcoholic wine sponsor!

Connect with Deb on Instagram: @Mocktail.Mom

You are loved. Big Time Cheers!

Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Send me a text message about the show!

In this episode of Thriving Alcohol-Free, I’m hanging out with the lovely Josnelly, from sunny Jacksonville, Florida. We first connected at the Mocktail Summit while making some delicious drinks, and ever since I’ve been anxious to get her on the show so I could get to know her and her heart behind living alcohol-free.

In our conversation, Josnelly gets real about her sobriety journey, which kicked off in January 2021. She opens up about handling work pressures, family life, and how the pandemic nudged her towards healthier choices. We dive deep into the world of non-alcoholic drinks, chatting about our favorite mocktails and the creative ways we enjoy them, and exploring how these drinks have made our lives so much more fun and vibrant. 

Josnelly also shares about her spiritual journey, her insights on being present, the mantra that guides her, and the impact living alcohol-free has had on her relationships. So tune in to hear us discuss living authentically and finding joy in every moment, without the need for alcohol!


Get in touch with Josnelly!
Instagram | Facebook

Thanks to Giesen 0% Wines for being our exclusive non-alcoholic wine sponsor!

Connect with Deb on Instagram: @Mocktail.Mom

You are loved. Big Time Cheers!

Deb:

Buckle up, friends, and welcome to the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. I'm your host, deb, otherwise known as Mocktail Mom, a retired wine drinker that finally got sick and tired of spinning on life's broken record called Detox to Retox. Let this podcast be an encouragement to you. If alcohol is maybe a form of self-care for you where you find yourself dragging through the day waiting to pour another glass, I am excited to share with you the fun of discovering new things to drink when you aren't drinking and the joy of waking up each day without a hangover. It is an honor to serve as your sober, fun guide. So sit back and relax or keep doing whatever it is you're doing. This show is produced for you with love from the great state of Kentucky. Thanks so much for being here and big time cheers. Okay, hey friends, it's Deb. Welcome back to Thriving Alcohol-Free. We were just laughing on. My guest today is the beautiful Josnelly coming into us from Jacksonville, florida, just recently moved from Jackson, michigan, apparently. Maybe the next dog you get should be called Jackson or something. You love that name.

Deb:

Josnelly and I actually got connected at the Mocktail Summit. She and her husband were part of the VIP group that we had, and every night we had a happy hour and I will never, ever, ever forget the very first happy hour we had during the Mocktail Summit. Josnelly and her husband I could see them on the Zoom. There were a lot of people on the Zoom, but I could see them. They made the drink that we made. What did we make that night? We made something with Ian Blessing.

Josnelly:

Yeah, so I think it was a strawberry with bitters and yeah, it was a drink that I would have never. It has a fancy name.

Deb:

It was a buck. It was a buck. Yeah, fancy name. Yes, it was a buck. Yeah, yes, it was so good. Now I can't remember. Okay, I think it was a Kentucky buck, right? Is that what we're making?

Josnelly:

I think I can't remember it was. I know I had strawberry. This is the worst introduction to a podcast ever.

Deb:

I'm sorry everybody. Okay, we made a drink together. All I know is that I saw Josnelly and her husband on the Zoom and they were taking pictures and their drinks look beautiful. And then every day you posted pictures and photos and you were like our little photographer of the Mocktail Summit and we'd never met before and this is our first time actually kind of talking, you know, one-to-one, screen-to-screen here. So I'm so excited to have you and I'm really excited because I love following you on Instagram. I want to make sure anybody if they're not following you, they should be. You are livingwithjustnelly. That's your Instagram handle.

Deb:

Living AF, living AF yeah, not just living. Yes, living alcohol free. You can live with me too. Oh, yes, come on down. She's in Jacksonville already. I'll give you the address at the end. Keep listening. Come to the beach yeah, come to the beach Living AF with Josnelly and make sure you are following her, but it's all her. I just love what you share on social about really living authentically free. So we're going to talk about that, but let me give you, let me share about your bio. How's that sound? Thank you, yes, good, okay, good, good, good, okay.

Deb:

So Josnelly is a child of God who identifies with the number eight style on the Enneagram. I'm actually a seven. I'm sure that's a shock to everybody. As an Enneagram type eight, she's centered in the gut. She's strong, independent and straightforward. Love that. She's a natural problem solver who would defend and protect those who cannot do it for themselves. I love that Injustices and lies are her triggers. She's still learning to be patient, to rest and to let go of control. What a good life lesson. She's been alcohol-free since January 2021, and she's on a journey of living authentically free, guided by the mantra confident, curious, love. Okay, well, welcome Shastanelli. Sorry, it was like the longest introduction ever. Thank you, I'm like rambling today.

Josnelly:

How are you doing?

Deb:

I'm doing great. Thank you so much. What an honor to be here with you today and be invited to the podcast. It's amazing. I love you. I love you and I mean it, you and your husband. I'll never forget seeing you guys. You guys were taking pictures. I could see you on the Zoom and I was like they are so cute. You guys were having fun. So how did you get connected to the Mocktail Summit?

Josnelly:

Well, I mean, I've been following the non-alcoholic community since I gave up alcohol of finding being being curious, and that's why it's part of my mantra curiosity actually comes from the head space which you lead with your head when you're an Enneagram 7 and we can talk about Enneagram all the day. But it allowed me to ask the question well, if I'm not drinking which was my go-to almost daily to have fun what can I substitute it with that is still fun, that is still adult-like. I mean, there has to be something out there. And the non-alcoholic movement was just starting.

Deb:

So I found Christine Wayne and her group on the mocks, yeah on the mocks, yay, yay, shout out to.

Josnelly:

Christine, I know she was was amazing. She's still amazing and, yeah, very inspiring. And actually my first right around that time curious elixirs were was running their ads. They were very bald out there and very funny, um, so that was actually my first order. I ordered some curious elixirs and and I was like, well, I mean, this is going somewhere. So I was trying and every night I would try something different. I invited my husband to try and I never looked back. I mean, it has been an amazing journey and that led to many things that happened that have been amazing, including my move to Florida. I think I would have not done this move to. It has been the desire of my heart to come back to a place that's warm, that has sun, because I'm originally from Venezuela Are you Okay? Tropical weather year round. I used to live on an island.

Deb:

Oh, you're like, what am I doing in Michigan? I am lost. Well, I, mean.

Josnelly:

It was a great opportunity for a job. I've been working with this corporation for 25 years now. It allowed me to do that, move and develop my career, and then now it allows me to continue being with them, but in a different capacity, and now I can do that remotely. Drinking became a form of coping, like for many people, because unfortunately, I had tied my identity to my work role. I didn't feel like I was doing well, especially as a daughter. I didn't have a good relationship with my parents and then with my brother, so family wise, it was always turbulent and I felt, well, I'm, you know, I'm not good at anything but work. Work is where I got my recognition. Work was where I, you know, got the pat on the back and you're great, and so I.

Josnelly:

My identity got tangled up with that. And during COVID, while we were working remotely, my supervisor retired who I was working for him for, like about seven years, wonderful relationship. And then I get this new person who challenged my value. And then all of a sudden I'm wondering, well, who the heck am I If I'm not good at anything? I'm not good, I mean, the one thing that I thought I was good at is no longer there, then who am I? So that kind of led into that down spiral of like well, you know you're home, I couldn't wait until the end of the day to have a glass of wine after work meetings. And then it down spiral from there. Because what I didn't take into account is that I already had a predisposition to alcoholism related to my family, and it just it became a habit, same same, just knowing.

Deb:

Yeah, the pandemic was not good for any of us. Well, it was not good at the beginning.

Josnelly:

Then it was great because people were trying to figure out how to get out of that mode and they were creating all these amazing products, and so it gave us that opportunity.

Josnelly:

So, what I fear the most was to ruin the relationships that I had that were important to me. So, because I didn't have a good relationship with my mom, I was afraid that I was going to do the same with my daughter, and for the longest time. You know, you have a daughter. While they're teenagers there's challenges. So, again, the more I had challenges, the more I was drinking and the worse things were becoming. It's just, it was nonstop until I hit a brick wall. It was a live event that made me rethink what I'm really doing with my life and I literally lost my freedom for a few hours and it really hit me. I mean, it was like I don't want to live this way. Losing my freedom was really the thing that made me like and funny enough, I probably had lost my freedom in many ways to alcohol because it was controlling my life right, like even I'm a blood donor.

Josnelly:

I've been a blood donor for many times and I remember in the last year or so, every time I had to, I decided, well, it's time for me to donate blood. I was thinking, well, I cannot drink. In the last year or so, every time I had to, I decided, well, it's time for me to donate blood, I was thinking well, I cannot drink in the. You know, I shouldn't be drinking the days leading up to blood donation. That actually became a thought that was like shoot, I can't drink because I'm going to donate. I mean, like it was almost like there was already a pattern and a rhythm and I had to break it and it was like I was mortified. So it just wasn't good and for a person who likes to have control, I was giving it up to alcohol. It was insane. So it just wasn't working anymore.

Deb:

Did you find it was like really slow, like a slow takeover of the control, like a slow loss of your freedom to alcohol? Like for me I felt that way, like it just felt like it was like all of a sudden. I was like wake up one day. It's like what is going on, you know yeah.

Josnelly:

Yes, and I did try to moderate. I think at the time, again through the pandemic, there were starting to come up these groups of supportive women, helping women not to drink and all these things. So I did one of the challenges where you're supposed to pre-plan if you're going to an event or meeting with friends. I'm going to only have one drink. But who am I kidding? Once I had the first one and I felt like I wanted more. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, Because at that point it's not you drinking, it's your drink drinking and it just goes on to heal from there.

Deb:

So true, I tried to moderate for so long. Yeah, I was like, oh, just yeah. But yeah, once you have one, it's for me. It's hard to just stop at that point. It wasn't happening yeah. But that was my goal. I was like I just want to moderate, it wasn't happening. Yeah, so it was a life event, yeah, and just that feeling of losing your freedom and realizing like, okay, I've, but beyond that, you had lost your freedom to the alcohol long before that event.

Josnelly:

That's correct. I mean many things that had already happened that probably should have been a wake up call and I was ignoring it. And you know it got to a point where I mean I look back at the things that I said and did while I was drinking and it was like it's crazy, how could I be so proud to be a drinker and to be and to almost think that this is what I deserve for working hard, for being a mom, for doing all the hard things in life. Then I deserve a drink. It was all backwards. And then you know society doesn't help because everything you know, you look at, shows everybody's drinking. You look at, you know again that mentality and I think you have talked about these of being in the mommy wine club. You're cool if you drink wine after having a hard day and having a fight with your teenager.

Deb:

Yep, I pour the wine into my best mom ever tumbler. That was what I drink out of, yeah, yeah. Yep, I pour the wine into my best mom ever tumbler. That was what I drink out of. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Josnelly:

So, but that is no longer that way, and I don't. You know, I hang out with people who drink. I never asked my husband not to drink, but he naturally started reducing his intake and notice that if he had an alcoholic drink then the next day he wasn't feeling that good. You know, it's it. Just it comes with age too.

Deb:

Definitely definitely changed. We changed how we metabolize. Yeah, yeah, everything, right, yeah.

Josnelly:

So I mean that ability to switch back and forth if he needs to have an alcoholic beer and then a non-alcoholic one. But it's almost non-alcoholic everything that we do. And I felt really touched when my daughter said in my 21 birthday that's coming up here in a few weeks. Her 21st birthday? Yes, her 21st. Her 21st birthday? Okay, yeah, her 21st. I don't know what it is.

Deb:

I was like wow, you do look really young Jess. I know I'm sorry, you do look really young Jess.

Josnelly:

I know I'm sorry, her 21st birthday, not mine. She said I want to have a moment where we celebrate without alcohol because, you know, have a moment as a family where we celebrate the fact that I'm turning 21. But that doesn't mean that we have to go and have a drink, because that's what people look forward to. And I appreciate that because, again, I don't tell her not to drink, not to ever do it. Obviously there are things that you know. If you're going to drink, don't drink a drive, I'll pick you up anywhere, I'll do what I need to do. But you know that that was really it was important to me, so I appreciate that she said that.

Deb:

That is really, really sweet, yeah, to be able to celebrate her 21st and be able to have some time together as a family, without alcohol. Yeah, it doesn't have to be about the alcohol. That's so good. How honoring of her to do that for you.

Josnelly:

Yes, Well, and for herself too, and to know that there are options and then you don't have to fall into the peer pressure. And there's so many options. It's sometimes I mean, I know at some point we're probably going to talk about our favorites. I'm like how can you choose.

Deb:

I know, I know it's so overwhelming. It's interesting, though my daughter, when she had her 21st birthday, there was she's not a drinker, so there was no alcohol, and she just got married a week and a half ago, or whatever no alcohol, and it's just wonderful to be like. I never like five years ago, seven years ago never imagined that we'd be going to her wedding and not having it and not even thinking about it. We were there. It wasn't like, oh, this is a struggle. It was just like it's great, this is great.

Deb:

And the kids were having fun. They were dancing all her and her college friends and it was no big deal. Nobody was worried about it. But yeah, yeah, that's awesome.

Josnelly:

That's awesome. When I was drinking, how am I going to be able to? I mean, if I ever stopped drinking, then this is going to be weird. I mean, like, how do you celebrate without you know a drink and without champagne or sparklies and all of these things? So it was. It was really the question of how it tie it was to good moments in life and sometimes bad moments in life, like if you're you know, if you're struggling and your friends will come over with a bottle of wine and then everything will be solved. Not really, but that's how we thought. That's what we thought, right, yeah, so we thought it's like, okay, it's all fixed.

Deb:

Now I can yeah, yeah, either celebrate or, you know, cope with whatever's going on, totally, totally Okay. As you guys know, I love Giesen's 0% Wines. Their Sauvignon Blanc is my go-to on a regular basis, but they recently launched a delicious sparkling brute 0%, which is quickly becoming a fan favorite. I am so proud to have Giesen as the exclusive non-alcoholic wine sponsor of the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. Giesen's 0% Wines are created through the magic of advanced technology to remove the alcohol from their full-leaded wines. The award-winning winemaker Duncan Shuler and his team have done wonders in Marlborough, new Zealand, by creating an entire family of 0% wines with all the flavor and deliciousness you expect from traditional quote full-leaded wine. Their non-alcoholic wines maintain the aroma and the body to create a low-calorie wine that never contains more than 0.5 ABV. Globally available, look for Giesen 0% wines wherever you shop for your non-alcoholic options. Their family of alcohol-free wines include the most effervescent member of the family, the sparkling brute 0%, which is absolutely delicious for any celebration. My personal favorite although I do love them all is the Sauvignon Blanc, coming in at only 100 calories for the entire bottle. And, not to be missed, the other members of their 0% family the Riesling, the Premium Red Blend, the Rose Day, the Pinot Gris.

Deb:

With Giesen 0% wines, there's a de-alcoholized wine for everyone and every occasion. Give Giesen a try and let me know how much you love it. And if you want to meet their winemaker, go back to episode 33 of the podcast, where Duncan Shuler joined me the Giesen story. Okay, so you stopped. So what is it Is today? You and I were messaging a little bit. There was a thing in our Facebook group about like what day people are on, so you're 1242.

Josnelly:

Is that right today? Yeah, is that what you are?

Deb:

Okay, I think I'm 1251, I think so I must just be a few days ahead of you, probably nine days, because it was.

Josnelly:

January 1st for you.

Deb:

It was December 31st.

Josnelly:

Yeah, so nine, 10 days Okay.

Deb:

Okay, when was yours? January 9th?

Josnelly:

Yes, january 9th of 2021.

Deb:

That's the day I started my Instagram January 9th. I was 10 days in and I was like I need to. Just I started making mocktails online, Okay, so when you're so, you stopped drinking and then you bought Curious Elixirs. That was the first thing you tried. I you tried. I love that. I don't want to ask you your favorites, because I know there's so many and you were really into cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. So are there some things that you gravitate towards? Maybe share those kind of like your go-tos?

Josnelly:

Yes, so simple is better, although I like a complex drink. Funny enough, I was a wine drinker. I was not a cocktail drinker, so there were. There are things that I have tried in an alcoholic world that I never tried the alcoholic version of it Same old fashions and all these things that were really strong in alcohol.

Josnelly:

No and so. But I love the non-alcoholic version. But you know, obviously part of my staples are all the bitter. Yes, the lavender, yes, yes, and especially lavender, is just delicious. And then you combine it with some hot water. It's very refreshing, and I'm gonna try to make a drink in here while we're talking, and then anything that is ready to drink is definitely my go to most. You know, most times I don't necessarily have something every day. I don't feel like I need to. I try to drink a lot of water, so I have my cup that actually has a sticker from Amethyst.

Deb:

Oh yeah, I see the Amethyst sticker there.

Josnelly:

Yes, I love their products. Yes.

Deb:

Do you drink sparkling water or flat water? Flat water, just flat water.

Josnelly:

I drink sparkling water like all day. Okay, yeah, so I actually. There's flour. There's a flour in my ice cube here.

Deb:

Okay, Wait, I'm going to take a picture.

Josnelly:

Okay, go ahead yeah because part of the fun is to have either foam, glassware or just the garnishing. So dehydrating fruit. I never dehydrated fruit before.

Deb:

Same, same same.

Josnelly:

So you learned all these tricks right. So I'm just going to add I mean probably lavender sprig would have been appropriate for right. So I'm just going to add I mean probably a lavender sprig would have been appropriate for these. But I'm just going to add some bitters here and just add the hot water, and we can, I can get a refreshing drink.

Deb:

It's hop water. Hop water is what you're adding, right? Yes, hop water H-O-P.

Josnelly:

Not hot water. That has happened in restaurants Like do you want hot water? And he's like hot.

Deb:

Yeah, and they bring you a glass of hot. They bring you a cup of hot water. You're like, no, I don't want hot water. Okay, so you have this beautiful for anybody who's not watching. You have a beautiful round cube that you have beautiful flower in. Yellow flower yeah, and it looks like maybe a Collins glass, and then you put your lavender bitters and some hop water.

Josnelly:

Yes, nice. Refreshing mocktail, yes, simple. I'm going to give you simple's best. Simple's best. And parched is also one of my favorites. That's so good.

Josnelly:

And, oh goodness, in groovy wines, particularly because of the size. So what I've found? That it was really surprising. But when you look at the science of it, it's just. You know it shouldn't be. When you drink alcohol, then that urge to have more drinks is there. It doesn't. Glass of wine, non-alcoholic wine, with dinner and not need to drink the whole bottle afterwards, which would have been the same thing that I did before. I would have had one before and one after. Same. So what I like about Groovy, even though this is a non-fermented wine. So if you're looking for a completely alcohol-free alternative, this is great. You can just have a couple glasses with that bottle and I add bitters to it normally, or a little bit of a summit vinegar to give it a little bit of more of the depth, and it's good to go Nice, nice, it's really nice. So, but then you can get. I mean, I do have all the other bottles of like you have to make all complicated, complex drinks.

Deb:

I find with yeah, so I have the Groovy. Yeah, so how many? What is it? It's 9.3 ounces, are their bottles? So they're small, which is nice. Yeah, it's like one or two you know glasses, which is perfect, I think. Yeah, I'm like you If I open up a bottle of non-alcohol, typically.

Josnelly:

I'm not drinking the entire thing I wouldn't.

Deb:

Yes, I wouldn't, I certainly can, and it's nice to do that. Okay, big time cheers to you. I'm a big tumbler here. Yes, cheers.

Josnelly:

Okay, Love that you brought it today making a mocktail right here on the podcast. Why not Thank you and then I can go back to work without any problems?

Deb:

Yes, no hangover. Yeah yeah. A little lunch break here and you can go right back to work. Yeah, okay. So if you're out in a restaurant and they don't have a mocktail on the menu or they don't have an alcohol-free beer or not alcohol wine, is there something you ask for them to make for you?

Josnelly:

Yeah. So what I try to do, depending on if we're going out with friends, I typically then will call ahead. If they don't have anything, I usually ask if I can bring my own wine. Usually, wine is what they allow you to bring. They will not allow you to bring any other. There's conflicts with the liquor license, apparently, but they would allow you to bring your own wine and so I bring my wine and my bitters and the whole ordeal and have that. Most likely I will find a non-alcoholic beer in most restaurants. So but I do call ahead and make sure they have something available. If I'm going out for fun, just with friends and things like that, because you want to feel included, if it's just regular, you know I'm going out with my husband just for you know, because we didn't make dinner and they don't have anything. I just ask for water. It's fine. I'm not a pop drinker unless I'm mixing it with, like a rum and Coke or something like that.

Deb:

So that's not my go-to. Okay, so did you drink rum and Coke beforehand? No, you were just a wine drinker. No, I did.

Josnelly:

A little bit, because Venezuelan rum is really good, so it's a drink that is very popular. Have you tried Caleño. Caleño no.

Deb:

Oh, you'll love it. Okay, Is she from Venezuela or Colombia, the founder? I had her on the podcast Caleño and I'll send you that podcast, but her products are delicious. She has a tropical rum that you might love. It's like all the like South American flavors of vanilla and oh, it's so delicious.

Josnelly:

Oh, that might be great. And a pina colada. My husband loves pina coladas, it's fantastic .

Deb:

Yeah, dark and spicy, I think, is what it's called. She's got like a white rum, or like a light rum and a dark and spicy, and it's delicious, like anyway. I don't have the bottle in front of me, otherwise I or behind me, I'll grab it and show it to you, kalenya. Okay, so tell us before we go just about what it means for you to be living authentically free. What does that mean for you to be living this way?

Josnelly:

Yeah. So after stopping the alcohol in my life, it really opened up a world of possibilities. And in that journey of finding who I was because I was lost I no longer had that confidence that I was work. Then I had an opportunity to go on a spiritual journey that allowed me to figure out really who I was, without any role. So what am I bringing to the world that it's just from me, without having any role?

Josnelly:

So that's, you know, a little bit of my bio, kind of reflects that work and looking to live life beyond alcohol, so living free of things that weigh me down and then don't allow me to be present.

Josnelly:

So I think that's the most important thing that I learned by drinking alcohol I was either delaying feelings and things that I had to work on and then not being present, because once I got boozy I was like not me anymore.

Josnelly:

Then I was leaving with regrets of the things I did or said while I was drinking. So that present moment I was missing and that's really my intention to be present and for that, looking for the things that are not allowing me to do that and being free from that. So it could be anything. Even social media can become one thing that if you're scrolling on your phone, you're missing the present moment, if you're reading book after book and not paying attention to what's happening around, so anything that really paying attention to the patterns and the things that are not allowing me to be present, to be with the people I love and giving my all in that moment and then also learning to be more compassionate. I think in this journey I also say that I found my heart. So yes, it's been, it's a double-edged sword, because now I feel right.

Josnelly:

You have a heart, and now I feel things Before they were there, but I was just either masking or just being really oblivious of them. So you know, a lot of my mantra is focused on that, A reminder of, like I'm living in a center of life where my head, my heart and my body are in balance, so taking care of myself and, you know, doing all the things that I needed to do to figure out what was triggering that alcohol consumption. So therapy, counseling, spiritual direction you name it all the resources. I'm blessed that I was able to access all of those and to have a supportive circle going through that journey. And it never ends. There's always things that-.

Deb:

Isn't that true? Yeah, that needs to be worked on. Yeah, it's continuing to discover that authentic freedom, right, letting go of those things that are hindering us, you know, allowing God to do that work in our hearts. Absolutely, and I love what you said. I found my heart. Mm-hmm. Yeah, because, right for so many of us, right, we've lost ourselves. You know we lost our heart. You know it got covered up in, you know, a hangover or a buzz, yeah, yeah no, absolutely beautiful.

Josnelly:

So, but that would have not been possible if I still were drinking. I mean, I knew that I needed to get away from the gray weather because depression seasonal depression is real, and I just couldn't figure out how to do that in a way that would allow me to still support my family and all of that. But once you know timing was right, things just evolved and in about a matter of weeks we made the decision and we were here.

Deb:

And I love how you said I think you said before we started recording that you're solar powered. So being in Florida is like I am kind of solar powered. I might be coming down there. Yes, you're welcome.

Josnelly:

It's beautiful.

Deb:

I love the state of Florida. It's so beautiful. Okay Josnelly you are so beautiful. I'm so thankful to have had this time just to connect with you. Thank you for sharing your story and just sharing things that you love and just what has been happening in your life over the last 1,242 amazing days.

Josnelly:

Thank you, deb. Thank you for allowing this connection. Yes, Thank you. Thank you, it's huge.

Deb:

So, okay, everybody, make sure you're following Josnelly. Her Instagram is livingAF with Josnelly. It's J-O-S-N-E-L-L-Y. Living AF with Josnelly. Make sure you're following along on Instagram. And then your Facebook. You have a Facebook page, right, or Facebook? Is that the same? Yeah, it's same name. Yep, okay, so they can find you there. Thank you, somebody's on Facebook? Yes, okay, thank you. Thank you, so good to chat with you. All right, everybody, we will talk to you guys soon. Big time cheers to you for tuning into the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. I hope you will take something from today's episode and make one small change that will help you to thrive and have fun in life without alcohol. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social, send up a flare or leave a rating and a review. I am cheering for you as you discover the world of non-alcoholic drinks and as you journey towards authentic freedom. See you in the next episode.

Intro
Meet Josnelly Aponte
Getting Connected With the Mocktail Summit
Coping With Work and Family Pressures
The Difficulty of Moderating
Celebrating Without Alcohol
Quick and Easy Mocktail Recipe
Discovering Alcohol-Free Alternatives
Living Authentically Free