Living Unshakable GRIT in a Shaky World

I told my wife the other day that our world feels a lot like early sobriety to me. Every day is packed with uncertainty, guilt, shame — and the big one, fear.

This is how life feels right now, shaky and scary, just like early sobriety.

Back then, I was fighting not to pick up a drink while the world around me didn’t give a damn that I was hanging on by a thread. I wanted to scream, “Tread lightly around me. Please be kind. I don’t even trust myself right now.” I wished I could’ve worn a sign that said: I’m in recovery. Handle with care.

The truth is, before sobriety, my whole life was just reacting. I never paused. I let the world dictate my actions, decisions, and choices. If someone said something that cut me, I lashed out. If life felt too heavy, I numbed it. Zero pause. Just reaction.

And isn’t that what so many of us are doing right now? We’re living in a shaky world, and most of us are reacting to it instead of pausing, breathing, and asking: What part do I have in this?

GRIT has taught me a different way:

• Growth — Stop blaming and start asking what I can learn.

• Resilience — Stand back up when fear or shame wants me down.

• Integrity — Let my actions line up with my words, even when nobody’s looking.

• Tenacity — Refuse to quit today, even when I want to.

The world may stay shaky, but I don’t have to be. I don’t get to control politics, the economy, or even the people around me. But I can control me.

That’s how you live Unshakable GRIT in a shaky world. Not by demanding the world tiptoe around you, but by choosing every day to stand in your truth — with pause, with strength, with GRIT.

If this hits home for you, I want to invite you into the 30-Day GRIT Challenge. Each day gives you one question that forces the pause I never used to take — the same pause that saved me.

Start with Day 1:
What part of my life have I been pretending is okay, but deep down, I know it needs to change?

Sit with it. Write it out. Be honest.
Because when you stop reacting and start reflecting, that’s when you take your power back.