Quitting drinking is the first step towards sobriety. Quite frankly it's the easy part. The hard part, living a sober life and staying away from alcohol for the long haul takes time and work. Since we (us folks struggling with alcohol) are drawn to alcohol so easily when faced the inevitable day to day challenges it becomes important that we work on our recovery daily.
Alcoholism is a disease and if you are not sure you have alcoholism, you may want to click on what is an alcoholic to find out more. The good news, there is freedom! I am living proof, and I can point to many other examples.
Every day, I spent time reflecting and writing. I read a lot about recovery and meet with many people struggling with alcoholism. The peace and contentment comes with the work so I encourage everyone to reach out, ask for help and start your amazing journey to freedom without alcohol. Listed below are two critical points we need to understand about alcoholism:
Alcoholism is a disease. Understanding alcoholism is vital since there is a great deal miscommunication and misinterpretation about the disease. Alcoholism is not curable. It is not the result of weak willpower. Well intentioned people (just like me) thought I just had to try harder and exercise more willpower to manage my drinking. Alcoholics try to quit. Alcoholics fail. Alcoholics make promises and really try to keep their promises to cut back, slow down, moderation or quit, but they can't. Alcoholics continue to disregard the fact, they cannot quit on their own. Alcoholics continue to justify why they need to drink. For example, a stressful day, death in the family, financial problems, relationship problems, I deserve a treat. Anything! An individual either has alcoholism or they don't. And if a person has the disease of alcoholism, they will never have the ability to drink alcohol like a normal person; ever.Listed below are two critical points we need to understand about alcoholism:
2. Alcoholics have an abnormal desire to drink. A constant preoccupation is how I would best describe it. Alcohol is everywhere in an alcoholic's life. A constant awareness of it with everyday planned around alcohol. An alcoholic is usually thinking about it. For example; when will I drink next, how much I will drink, when I will buy it, how much I will buy. An alcoholic doesn't necessarily drink all the time; however the thought of it is not far from the mind. Normal drinkers don't do this.
When we learn how to stop drinking alcohol, it's no different. We need to plug into a source that will light up our lives. We can't just say "I am going to quit drinking" then do nothing and expect to be sober in 30 days. We always fail. Always. If you are an alcoholic, you will turn back to drinking, always. We can only white knuckle it so long before the grip of alcohol has got us again. Then back to the merry-go-round life of misery. We need a source and we need to be plugged in all the time.
Here's the thing, we are going to hit rocky times when trying to stop drinking alcohol. We are going to be tempted. We are going to experience cravings. It's true. It will suck, but there is hope. That hope is in a strong recovery program. The recovery program becomes the source, the strength, the light in our lives. We cannot expect to stop drinking alcohol when we are plugged into the wrong sources, like money, people, jobs, and our own competence. We will simply fail. We need a strong program. We need to be reflecting, mediating, praying, meeting with other alcoholics, keeping a journal, eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep, on the list goes on. Our lives need to take a 180 degree turn if we are going to learn how to stop drinking alcohol. We need to be willing to let go of our old ideas. We need to practise recovery daily and we find good sources of recovery so we keep motivated avoiding the traps of relapse.
If you need assistance finding help, you can send me an email at sober.coach.one@gmail.com
Alcoholism is a disease and if you are not sure you have alcoholism, you may want to click on what is an alcoholic to find out more. The good news, there is freedom! I am living proof, and I can point to many other examples.
Every day, I spent time reflecting and writing. I read a lot about recovery and meet with many people struggling with alcoholism. The peace and contentment comes with the work so I encourage everyone to reach out, ask for help and start your amazing journey to freedom without alcohol. Listed below are two critical points we need to understand about alcoholism:
Alcoholism is a disease. Understanding alcoholism is vital since there is a great deal miscommunication and misinterpretation about the disease. Alcoholism is not curable. It is not the result of weak willpower. Well intentioned people (just like me) thought I just had to try harder and exercise more willpower to manage my drinking. Alcoholics try to quit. Alcoholics fail. Alcoholics make promises and really try to keep their promises to cut back, slow down, moderation or quit, but they can't. Alcoholics continue to disregard the fact, they cannot quit on their own. Alcoholics continue to justify why they need to drink. For example, a stressful day, death in the family, financial problems, relationship problems, I deserve a treat. Anything! An individual either has alcoholism or they don't. And if a person has the disease of alcoholism, they will never have the ability to drink alcohol like a normal person; ever.Listed below are two critical points we need to understand about alcoholism:
2. Alcoholics have an abnormal desire to drink. A constant preoccupation is how I would best describe it. Alcohol is everywhere in an alcoholic's life. A constant awareness of it with everyday planned around alcohol. An alcoholic is usually thinking about it. For example; when will I drink next, how much I will drink, when I will buy it, how much I will buy. An alcoholic doesn't necessarily drink all the time; however the thought of it is not far from the mind. Normal drinkers don't do this.
When we learn how to stop drinking alcohol, it's no different. We need to plug into a source that will light up our lives. We can't just say "I am going to quit drinking" then do nothing and expect to be sober in 30 days. We always fail. Always. If you are an alcoholic, you will turn back to drinking, always. We can only white knuckle it so long before the grip of alcohol has got us again. Then back to the merry-go-round life of misery. We need a source and we need to be plugged in all the time.
Here's the thing, we are going to hit rocky times when trying to stop drinking alcohol. We are going to be tempted. We are going to experience cravings. It's true. It will suck, but there is hope. That hope is in a strong recovery program. The recovery program becomes the source, the strength, the light in our lives. We cannot expect to stop drinking alcohol when we are plugged into the wrong sources, like money, people, jobs, and our own competence. We will simply fail. We need a strong program. We need to be reflecting, mediating, praying, meeting with other alcoholics, keeping a journal, eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep, on the list goes on. Our lives need to take a 180 degree turn if we are going to learn how to stop drinking alcohol. We need to be willing to let go of our old ideas. We need to practise recovery daily and we find good sources of recovery so we keep motivated avoiding the traps of relapse.
If you need assistance finding help, you can send me an email at sober.coach.one@gmail.com
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Learn more about how to stop drinking alcohol. Check this helpful and informative site where you can find out all about alcohol abuse and what to do about it.
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