Wanna know how to stop drinking?
There is a saying around recovery that says, “if you want to stop drinking, at some point you have to stop drinking.” Sounds easy doesn’t it? People often ask, “why don’t you just stop?”
They just don’t understand.
For years I was stuck in a similar situation. And I mean for years! There were two things that I hated more than anything else; the way things were, and change. If you have been trying to stop drinking then you know what I’m talking about.
The first step to stop drinking is wanting to stop. Hold on! How do you get there? Believe me, it’s hard… really hard. In my case, the pain of the way things were finally outweighed the fear of trying something different. At that point in time “something different” was simply trying to live one day at a time without alcohol.
Sure there were times when I “thought” I wanted to stop. The morning after a night out when filled with quilt and remorse. I’d swear I wasn’t going to go out that night. But as quitting time neared and everyone started talking about where they were going out to drink, that mornings promise and feelings lost all importance. So I would do it all over again. So how does one really get to a point where they truly want to stop drinking and seek some type of alcoholism treatment? In my experience, one word; pain. Emotional pain, physical pain, spiritual pain, you name it, any type of pain that reaches a point to where it is unbearable.
I have been to an alcoholism treatment center on three different occasions. Each time I entered them for different reason. In my opinion, each reason had something to do with the amount of success I had in staying sober upon leaving. The reasons I entered treatment were for the following reasons in this order; 1. My job, 2. My marriage, and 3. My life. I have been sober since the last time I entered treatment. I believe there to be a direct correlation with the fact I entered treatment the last time for myself and no one else. I was afraid of dying, period.
Finding recovery is different for everyone. Some find it through an alcoholic intervention. I have heard that some people got sober for their families, but in my experience that did not work. I was not desperate enough to go to any length to stay sober until my life was seriously threatened.
So how was my life threatened? As the progression of alcoholism increases the more I drink, the more I suffer from depression. Depression fueled by so much guilt and remorse for drinking that it becomes unbearable. During my last bottom the only “real” solution to my problem, as I saw it at the time, was suicide. That is where drinking takes me, deep alcohol depression. So the last time I entered a treatment program, I was desperate to save my life.
I have been sober and working a rigorous recovery program since the last time I left an alcohol treatment center. I work my recovery program ever single day to the best of my ability. My life today is better than I could have ever imagined. I am truly, truly grateful.
Thanks for reading. For more on spiritual growth and my journey, check out my other site Spiritual Zen.
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Addiction may be the most crucial word for those people who have spent a certain time with the curse of it. According to the medical practitioners, alcoholism can result continued consumption of alcoholic drinks without taking into account the personal and social consequences.