What I learnt in Sobriety

Turning our backs on the bottle certainly might not be the easiest thing to do in our lives, but it can most certainly be one of the most rewarding experiences. After travelling down a very gruelling path of quitting alcohol, I have managed to stay sober for a long term now. I went through several stages of realisation regarding my earlier alcoholic self. I now understand how my addiction had me completely blinded from all the red flags concerning my health, my mental state, and my relationships.

Alcoholism, which seemed to be my escape from trauma, had been my biggest source of shame. Sobriety finally allowed me to end the parody. It used to take tremendous effort for me to hide from my family, the insane amounts of alcohol that I was consuming. I would make sure to stay up past everyone else in the house to make sure no one else noticed me binge drinking. Therefore, the next day used to be dehydrating and unproductive. And this used to be the norm, several days a week. Everyone in fact recognized my addiction and it led to an undying shame.

I will now attempt to elaborate on why I recommend you to choose sobriety, my experiences of sobriety and my learnings from those experiences.

Control
Over all this time being sober, the reins of my life are now right in my hand. It feels as though control and command over my life has been obtained again. I am able to concentrate on my work and am able to keep up. Earlier I let my addiction guide me and I had no will and no strife for something. Feeding my addiction seemed to be the only purpose of my life. Now that I have turned sober, I am able to invest in my hobbies and other desires I have been wanting to pursue without holding back. I can now establish long term goals regarding my career and health and work towards them. This feels like one of the most important gains I’ve earned by quitting, as my life isn’t being wasted away for nothing. And at this stage, I can work to stand for something worthwhile and experience true independence.

Finances
Another major change I noticed in my turning sober, was that my finances had stabilised. I had unknowingly spent a major portion of my finances on liquor. All the liquor I had consumed on a daily basis summed up to take a huge chunk out of my earnings. I had wasted nearly all the money I learnt on this hopeless pursuit, leaving very little for my fundamental needs such as food and a proper living space. I have now begun to save money and I am making amends to my living style and focusing on self-care.

Relationships
My alcohol addiction had exerted a major strain on all my relationships. I was constantly avoiding all my friends and family and drinking myself away. I lost many friends in the process and my family was in dismay over my situation. I barely ever paid attention to them and damaged my standing with them. Being sober has now given me means to make amends with family and reconnect with other old friends. I am now working to create a healthier social life.

Health
All the above-mentioned improvements are trumped over by this one major improvement. I feel healthier. My liver is starting to heal. I don’t feel as tired or nauseous all the time as before. I have realised how much an addiction can tamper with your life expectancy and I am glad I strived to break my habit.

Alcoholism sucks out the life inside you and leaves you good for nothing. Sobriety may seem harder initially, but the fruits of effort are worth it. Sobriety is in fact a second lease of life to an otherwise miserable addict.