Sober Courage Meets Cold Joy with Libby DeLana / EP 115

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Cold Joy: What Cold Water Can Teach Us About Sobriety, Courage, and Community

How one brave practice can help you rewrite the story you tell yourself

What if your next breakthrough is hiding inside something uncomfortable?

That’s the powerful question at the heart of this Sober & Lit conversation with Libby Delana, author of Cold Joy. On the surface, this episode is about cold water immersion. But underneath it, it’s really about identity, healing, and what becomes possible when we stop listening to the voice that tells us, “I can’t.”

Libby began cold dipping during the pandemic, when life felt uncertain and fragile. Along with the upheaval of the world around her, she was also facing huge personal changes, the end of a marriage, and the end of a long professional chapter. Cold water became more than a wellness trend. It became a teacher.

The Story We Tell Ourselves

One of the most moving parts of the episode is when Libby talks about her long-held belief: “I hate the cold.” It had become part of her identity. But stepping into icy water cracked that story open.

How many of us have done the same thing with alcohol?

“I need it to relax.”
“I’m just someone who drinks.”
“I could never do hard things.”

Cold water gave Libby a way to challenge those assumptions. Sobriety does the same. It asks us to examine the stories we’ve believed for years and decide whether they still serve us.

The Voice of Resistance

Libby gives her inner resistance voice a name: Ruby Dubina. It’s the voice that says, “Don’t do it. It’s too hard. It’s too cold. Stay where it’s comfortable.”

That same voice shows up on the alcohol-free journey too.

It’s the voice that whispers, “Just one won’t hurt.”
It’s the voice that tells you change is too hard.
It’s the voice that wants to keep you safe… and small.

What Libby beautifully models is that we don’t have to hate that voice. We can acknowledge it, thank it, and still choose differently.

Joy, But Softer

What makes Libby’s cold water practice so refreshing is that she rejects the harsh, performative “wellness hack” version of it. For her, cold joy is not about bravado or proving anything. It’s about softness, playfulness, and coming back to life.

She describes women getting into the water together, laughing, holding hands, and discovering a new relationship with their bodies. Women who hadn’t worn a bathing suit in years suddenly feel proud of themselves. Not because they changed their bodies but because they changed their relationship to themselves.

That, too, is an alcohol-free lesson.

Community Is the Spark

One of the most powerful takeaways from the episode is Libby’s reminder that community is where the magic lives. Yes, we can do hard things alone. But when we do them with others — whether that’s cold plunging, walking, knitting, or getting sober — something deeper happens.

We feel seen.
We feel supported.
We feel less alone.

And that is often the missing ingredient in change.

If you’re on an alcohol-free journey, or even just beginning to question your drinking, let this be your reminder: joy is possible. Courage is possible. Change is possible.

Sometimes it starts with one brave, cold step.
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Website for Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Coach Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching
Email: [email protected]

Grab your copy of our FREE WineFree Weekend Guide to help you on your alcohol free journey. https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/WineFreeWeekend