Learning to Live the Life You Actually HaveLearning to Live the Life You Actually Have
Busy Living Sober with Host Elizabeth Chance
Elizabeth “Bizzy” Chance talks about reaching twenty years sober, how her relationship with recovery, wellness and faith seems to have shifted, and what it’s like to live the life she actually has instead of the one she once imagined. Her reflections touch on loneliness, gratitude, God, and staying alcohol-free through life’s unpredictable highs and lows.
21:47•18 Aug 2026
Living the Life You Didn’t Plan: Bizzy’s 20 Years Sober
Episode Overview
- Long-term sobriety can evolve beyond formal groups while still honouring tools learned in early recovery.
- A personal relationship with God is presented as central to staying sober through life’s ups and downs.
- Modern wellness habits—such as reading labels, reducing sugar, movement and sunshine—can replace old coping mechanisms.
- Having even a very small number of truly non-judgemental friends is portrayed as more valuable than many casual connections.
- Sitting with discomfort, rather than using alcohol or drugs to escape it, is described as key to growth and healing.
“Life gets Lifey. It’s not always easy. It’s definitely not fair. But it’s not picking up a drink or picking up a drug that’s going to make us better.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? This solo episode of Busy Living Sober follows Elizabeth “Bizzy” Chance as she marks twenty years without a drink and talks frankly about how different her life looks from what she once imagined. You’ll hear her describe getting sober in 2006 through 12-step meetings, and how her relationship with that style of recovery has shifted over time.
She admits she’s “not a group person” and doesn’t fit neatly into any box, yet still carries one key gift from those meetings: “The best thing that I have gotten from the 12 steps was a relationship with God.” Bizzy contrasts her early sobriety, fuelled by daily Baskin-Robbins runs, with today’s focus on reading ingredient labels, cutting sugar, getting steps in, and seeking sunshine and balance.
She talks about the modern “wellness world”, GLP-1s, sober curiosity, and how much everyday behaviour has changed—from abandoned Starbucks cups in shops to kids choosing marathons over binge drinking. The episode also touches on heavy realities: suicide, grief, the pressure to compare lives, and the illusion that life is fair.
She speaks openly about loneliness, having just a handful of true friends, and the importance of finding at least one person who “is going to love you and not judge you ever.” Through it all, faith and gratitude sit at the centre of her recovery. Her message is simple but hard-hitting: life gets messy, and it rarely follows the script you wrote in your head, but you don’t have to pick up a drink to cope.
As she puts it, “Life gets Lifey. It’s not always easy. It’s definitely not fair. But… you can do this one day at a time.” If you’re wondering how to live the life you actually have rather than the one you planned, this candid reflection might be exactly what you need to hear today.
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