“What are some good reasons to quit drinking?”
1) You Will Achieve True Freedom – If you have to drink in order to feel normal or happy, then you are a slave to alcohol.
2) It Will Save Your Life – Avoid dying an average of 20 years early if you quit now.
3) It Will Save You Over a Million Dollars – It’s true. In just 16 years, quitting drinking will net you a million bucks.
I can remember when I was still drinking booze every day, and my family and close friends would try to convince me to quit. They were constantly urging me to get help, and some of their efforts were based on logical arguments. “You are drinking and driving every day, you are going to kill yourself or someone else!” they would shriek at me. Makes sense, really. They were absolutely right. Given enough drunk driving, chances are pretty much 100 percent that eventually, someone is going to get hurt. Or killed. Doesn’t really matter which, their point was valid and irrefutable. It was a simple numbers game. I was driving for a living at the time, and drinking heavily every day, and that was a recipe for disaster. Something bad was going to happen eventually while I was driving, and the alcohol in my system would only serve to multiple the negative consequences.
Photo by MarcoTheMac
Now at the time, I was drinking heavily, and driving every day to make a living, and I knew, deep down, that what they were saying was true. That eventually something bad was going to happen. This was not a case where I was in blatant denial of the fact, thinking that everything would be fine, and nothing bad would ever happen to me. I knew I was headed for trouble. I knew that if I kept drinking and driving like that, something terrible was bound to happen eventually. I agreed with all the warnings. I knew them to be true.
I just didn’t care.
This is what defines that hopeless state of alcoholism or drug addiction. I had to keep on going, keep drinking and scrambling to stay drunk and stay medicated and not feel anything and keep running from fear itself. Always trying to stay drunk enough to ward off that feeling of impending doom, that terrible feeling of fear that stemmed from my life being out of control. And through it all, I no longer believed that there was any hope for a normal life for me. I was disgusted with the idea of a “normal” life and wanted no part of it….my ultimate fantasy involved being completely whacked out on drugs and alcohol. And yet my life was spinning out of control; I was running into more and more problems with my drinking, and things kept getting worse. So I was caught up between a rock and a hard place–I wasn’t going to be able to continue drinking much longer (without killing myself or ending up in jail), and yet there was no conceivable way to get help and quit drinking. I was hopeless. Not only was I hopeless, but I felt hopeless, and I had no desire to find any hope. Just drag me into the street and shoot me.
Photo by theopie
Today I am enjoying a life of sobriety, and I have found hope in my life. Much more than mere hope, actually–a lot of the time I am actually living with some amount of joy. Life is fun and worth living again–a million miles away from that misery of drug and alcohol addiction. So what was the catalyst, what was the big secret that allowed this transformation?
It was nothing huge, no great event pushed me into getting help. I had simply had enough, and I was at that critical turning point. I think a lot of addicts and alcoholics miss this point and either kill themselves, overdose, or drink themselves to death. It is a point where you truly abandon all cares for the world. We can say we don’t care about ourselves, that we have lost all hope, but a lot of that is lip service. On the day I surrendered and asked to go to treatment, I really had abandoned all hope. At the deepest of levels, I no longer cared for my own well being. Maybe just a shred of possibility remained that I could get something out of treatment. I’m not really sure….it’s such a fine line there. I could have very easily just went back out on another bender, saying “screw it all,” instead of asking for help and going to treatment.
Photo by wili_hybrid
Looking back, it becomes easier to see this fine line between completely abandoning all hope, and finally surrendering and asking for help. If you tell a miserable alcoholic that they can sober up and their life can get better and they will one day be happy again, chances are good that they will not believe you, nor will they even be able to bring themselves to care much about what you are suggesting. My turning point was that I was miserable, and I was alone, and I decided that I really didn’t care what happened next. I had become afraid to go on living like I was, and the idea of treatment was scary too. But the balance had shifted, and I realized that drinking was no longer fun, and probably never could be again. Not for me, anyway.
So I managed to make that decision, to ask for help and surrender my self-will and go to treatment and do what the therapists told me to do. I actually surrendered and told myself that I was going to sit back, relax, and let someone else direct my life for a while. What a brilliant decision. Turns out that all those therapists and people in AA actually did have my best interests in mind.
Photo by glennharper
So if you are a hopeless drunk, realize that it “gets greater later,” as they like to say around the tables of Alcoholics Anonymous. I was so miserable when I first got sober that I didn’t really care if it got any better, nor did I believe that it was even remotely possible. But it did get better, and it got better fairly quickly, considering how depressed and out of control I had become. Looking back now, it’s almost ridiculous how much better my life has gotten. I almost think that everyone should undergo the transformation from “miserable drunk” to “happily living in recovery” just to have the experience of it. Today I am truly blessed!
If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed.
Recommended Reading
- Overcoming Addiction
- 5 Ways to Supercharge Your Recovery, Avoid Relapse, and Dominate Your Addiction Over the Holiday Season
- 10 Ways to Embrace Creative Recovery and Take Your Sobriety to the Next Level
- Warning: Taking Massive Action in Drug Addiction Recovery Could Result in Creating an Awesome Life that You are Genuinely Grateful For
- Holistic Addiction Treatment Center
Call Today
866-211-5538
24 Hour Treatment
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Patrick – Thank you for your finely-written experience of a time when you just had had enough pain. It is my story, to the word, with the exception of the job.
Your life in recovery is great fun to read! What a good site – I like your style! -Susan
Really inspirational. Thank you for your sharing.
Thanx! I need more of these story’s to convince me to stop! I have no-one and it’s really hard to see a brighter day! How do you get to the point of quitting if you have nothing already?
Hi Lori. You ask how to quit drinking when you have nothing to live for.
It is an act of faith. A leap of desperation. You don’t think it will work, but you throw up your hands and decide to try recovery anyway.
A tiny sliver of willingness will grow into an awesome life in recovery, if you let it. That is how it worked for me anyway. Just had to give up and let go and have faith……
Thanks for posting that, quit drinking after a mess last night… sitting here with a black bruised nose and it means a lot to read how many people are going through what I’m going through… I didn’t care that I was killing myself but when I nearly died last night I realized just how selfish that would have been and what a waste.
I believe we all come here with a life mapped out to learn about love and learning to love and care for yourself is the hardest of all but until we learn to do it we are no good to anybody.
I agree, Natalie. We are here to learn how to love. Good call! Now all you have to do is stay sober, and you can make some huge strides on that love thing…..God bless
I decided to take a month off of drinking not because I felt I had a problem but, because I had never done it before. I made the one exception that if I went out on a date that I could have a few. Well after two weeks, I went out on a date. I had a few and I have to say. I do not miss drinking alcohol. The next day I did not feel very good, I did not have any more fun then when I went to the bar and just drank water while my friends drank. It cost money. I am no more witty, or brave on alcohol. Strange. If you are thinking about quiting or taking a break. Do it, It is way easier then quiting smoking, your friends will not question you, you will feel years younger, and save money.
these are three of the most good reasons to quit drinkin
Ditto. Thanks for reminding me how much better my life is, now that I do not drink. Talk about being sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was a wreck. AA saved me.
Well first off, I would like to respond to Lori French. You indeed have “something”. You have yourself to bless someone else with your company. To enjoy life, nature, other people and so many other things. I too suffer with alcohol. I want to stop continuously. I have a great family, a great girlfriend and yet I get depressed without my “dose”. I hope one day my I will find that willpower to stop this shit. It really is the devil.
I too suffer from alcoholism and feel horrible the day after I get toasted, hangovers last 3-5 days and I am a big guy and drink @ least a case of beer when I do drink. I realize that it’s silly to want to make myself feel bad and put myself through another cycle of 3-5 days of feeling ill. I have stopped drinking before for a long duration, and will do it again because I feel hat my ody is aching and crying for a break or to quit.
I always tell people that want to quit smoking, Why do you want to quit? Did you parents raise a quitter? LOL, but it’s weird to be the one that actually wants to quit.
Joe.
Very inspiring message.
I quit about 6 weeks ago, that is the longest stint since my teens, and am feeling good about it, but still crave it at times.
I am 31 and have been drink regularly or benge drinking on the weekends since my late teens. I really want to quit but it really is a frightening thing. You know your life will change for the better but its scary to make that life change. It really has taken over my life and i know its time to stop before something tragic happens. I have been lucky so far with no DUIs and no arrests but i know its only a matter of time because when i go out drinking i never know if im going to have 4 drinks or 24. I can just see myself waking up one morning in jail or in a even worse situation. So i think everyday i will go online and read passages like all of yours as it seems to help to know how many others are going through the same thing. And as hard as it seems to quit, it is possible and very much worth it.
hi ,i am a new user, welcome to my website burberry bags for sale
jshjdgdgsmg magvtrtrnnhj gnbmsdg hjsdfhjdfhjh gastr asgtrhuklgasbkbbnv ghg gh u h bgf bgf bhsdg sdg hjhj bncv h b sdf hjdf bnxcv h g j sdghdfb df flh gasfhjk dskld ha dfbv xcjkgfsdjnjkgyhvdbsfulahvasf h gusnzgjzgjzgjzgjzgjzgjcfnhs huwefahfnwe fsdjfhaioeruah vfgfnawer fawe gfvasrjgnrofsdjalgfn hjsdkalhfuieiieiii