Braunwyn Windham-Burke Celebrates 500 Days Sober with Inspirational Message for Those Struggling

Getting sober and staying sober are two very different things with their own challenges for people, but Braunwyn Windham-Burke is celebrating a milestone in her own sobriety with an inspirational message for anyone struggling.

The reality star first opened up about her alcoholism in the Season 15 premiere of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" in 2020, and now she's celebrating 500 days sober.

Leaning into the common Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve Steps notion of simply taking things one day at a time, Braunwyn took it a step further by saying the hard thing that some people need to hear and understand.

The important thing is that while it may be a hard thing to hear, it's also a hopeful one because it promises that what may seem so hard in the early going does ease.

"For those of you struggling to get sober, the beginning is definitely the hardest part," Braunwyn captured her post, an image from a Twelve Steps app that tracks her time sober in years, months, days and hours.

"The first three months are tough, I can’t sugar coat it," she wrote. But it also promises that fighting through that one day at a time doesn't mean it's going to feel like that forever in the early going, which is so important to hear.

"It gets easier," she promised. "Then it gets amazing."

In October, Bruanwyn touched on another aspect of getting sober that she thought of before she took the big step to change her life for the better, telling Glamour, "I was scared I wouldn't be fun anymore, that my life was going to be boring."

"I really thought alcohol made life enjoyable, and that's sad," she continued. "Nine months later, I realize that's not true."

In fact, she said the opposite has proven to be the case, as she's enjoying her sober life far more than she did with alcohol.

"Honestly, I dance even more now because I can stay awake. I sometimes used to pass out at, like, 7 p.m. because I had been drinking all day," she shared. "So yeah, I actually have way more fun now."