My #BeReal guest today is Sandy Ramsey.

Please welcome this beautiful lady to the series.  Sandy has written about some very important and deep struggles. Somewhere between her stories I fell in love with her inner strength.

When we realize perfection is a myth we can get on with being real.

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This is me. And my hair. At 6:00 a.m, B.C.

That’s Before Coffee…..

I crave the early morning quiet of my home before my family wakes and my world starts moving and shaking. Even if I really, really want to stay in the warm comfort of my bed I get up because I’ve come to value the time to myself, with myself.

I haven’t always felt that way. There were days, in what now seems like a very distant past, that I couldn’t stand to be in my own company. I spent a lot of time crying in the shower until the water ran cold wondering if there would ever be a day when I would be happy, or maybe just comfortable in my own skin.

I am an alcoholic and an addict. Sure, I’m in recovery but an alcoholic and an addict is what I will always be. Even after I managed to gain some time under my belt without drugs or alcohol, I had no idea who I really was. I spent years hiding behind my addiction, embarrassed by the fact that I was a bad person. Which I wasn’t.

There is a vast difference between bad and sick.

The fact is that I no longer feel like that is all I am or sickened by the stigma of the label. Because I am so much more. I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, a writer, and a sarcastic goof.

That’s the short list because as it turns out that without the all the stuff I hid behind, I’m pretty cool. There are still days when I feel less than and life is not even close to perfect, but I no longer see those days as failures. Those are just the days that I’m a real person being, well…..a real person.

What does being real mean to you?

I have had to learn to accept all the things about myself. Perfection is bullshit. It doesn’t exist. As soon as I let that idea settle in, I was able to get out of my own way and evolve into the person I was meant to be. If there is something I don’t like, I try to change it. When I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong. When I feel I’m right, I stand my ground. I no longer apologize for my flaws. They are a part of the whole.

How do you think people see you when they only have an image to go by?

I have absolutely no idea. They probably think, ‘Man, that chick likes Photoshop.’

And I do. Why not?

What do you think people are most surprised to discover about you?

I’ve been told that my tendency to stand back and watch and not really engage until I’m comfortable makes me seem unapproachable. The words ‘snob’ and ‘bitch’ have been thrown out a time or two.

I’m not at all. I’m extremely down to earth and, like I said, goofy. Maybe even funny, if you appreciate a dark sense of humor. I guess I’m still a little guarded after all these years.

I’m also super intuitive. I see things in people and I feel things deeply. I will always try to help someone who is hurting, feeling alone and desperate. There is no selfish reasoning behind helping someone who needs it but it does help keep me humble; I will never forget the road I’ve traveled.

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Sandy is the voice behind An Honest Sinner, where she writes without a net about her addiction, character flaws, things that make her life unexpectedly amazing, and any other thing that flies out of her head and onto the page. She’s fun like that.

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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All opinions welcome – it’s about being real, after all!

To help spread the message, read and share one another’s posts.

And remember – be YOU! #BeReal.