How to Give Up Alcohol
To drink or not to drink—that is the question. Thinking on how to give up alcohol is a task and no one can contest that. A thing is considered a task if it doesn’t conform to a person’s will or that person has just been assigned or forced to do it; this true about giving up alcohol.
I think it is but right to say that if a person is not yet a confessed alcoholic, meaning it is either he has just started becoming a user or consider himself an occasional excessive drinker, things can be made easier asking him to quit.
I have my own classification of alcoholic drinkers:
A starter, as mentioned above, is one who is just beginning to have his first taste of alcohol and does this whenever he gets to socialize with peers. This type is the one who drinks with a group just for the sake of camaraderie.
An occasional drinker is one who drinks obviously on occasion. This could be with friends and associates, family gatherings, parties, to name a few events.
An alcoholic is one person who cannot live a day without drinking liquor. This type has the maximum number of bottles consumed in one occasion or event. It is not easy to stop this person. Telling him to quit would aggravate the situation. An alcoholic cannot stop. Alcohol is his life and the content of his bloodstream.
I am, myself, one of this liquid substance users but I can’t really consider myself as an abuser. I drink at times but not that regularly. My friends cannot force me to have a taste if I don’t want to. Having liquor in my system makes me weak and slow; weak in the sense that I would feel numb and couldn’t feel the energy emanating from my body, and slow, in a way that I seem to be floating on air as I walk.
It is apparent that drinking can cause some differences in the way a normal person acts and thinks. A person cannot think right when under the influence as well as do things correctly. There seems to be a mistake in whatever step is taken. Thinking of how to give up alcohol is the way to make things right. And one can do this with the proper guidance of friends, relatives and professional help.
Abusers are the ones that would find it hard to bear the feeling of no-alcohol intake in a day. This is because they are already hooked on it. Careful whispers can help in changing their ways. Since these people are most likely deviant in nature, it is not appropriate to talk them out of it when in the presence of other people. They will tend to move away or evade those who keep on asking them to do so. Better catch them in their most unguarded moments; sober and alone—and that would be the perfect time for you to lay down your cards that you are there for him, to help.
They can be guided as far as research has shown. Using words that are positive could goad him to think of what his real problem is. Mentioning the word ‘help’ might drive him away, but try using the phrase ‘I understand” and you get good results. One thing more, do not try to push hard as he might think that he’s being tasked to do so. You might get the biggest surprise of your life when one day he’ll come knocking at your door and say: I have been thinking of how to give up alcohol and the first person I remembered to go to is you.
I’d like to Give up Alcohol
Who says that I can’t give up alcohol if I wanted to? This has been a favorite question that people had been asking themselves every time they see a bottle of beer.
Eradicating the call of liquor form your mind takes a lot of guts and self-motivation. One has to be fully aware of the consequences that would follow when taking excessive amounts of alcohol in the body. We only have one life to live and we should preserve that.
In preserving the body from the ill-giving food and drinks, one has to take necessary precautions to avoid or totally quit. Controlling food intake where fats are the main ingredients can take you to a safer side, health-wise; but quitting alcohol means to put a total halt in consuming it—cutting back is never enough. In avoiding drinking, first you have to set your mind to it. Doing this will make the process easier for you. Here are some ways to battle the bottle:
Never feed hangovers with another headache: Having been drinking for quite some time now, liquor has become a staple that you see on your table. Since drinking the night before has given you a headache, you feel that taking another bottle the following morning could take away the headache brought about by the hangover. This could only lead you into consuming more than just a single beer as one bottle leads to another.
Liquor is not a pleasant beverage: Think of it as not just a plain drink—it kills. Thinking of how fatal it can be might want you to stop. This liquid can actually and mercilessly put you to sudden death. Heart attacks are one of the most common things that could happen; liver ailments rank second best.
Think of your family: Families are bound together with a single purpose; and that is to love and care for one another. What happens when one member of the family dies due to this bad substance? Everybody will grieve. But what will happen if one just stays away from it and condemn its sight? Better results can be achieved as family ties will be preserved. Consulting the family whenever alcoholic problems occur could help in the recovery of the one suffering from addiction.
Try to give up alcohol alone: You can try giving up on the habit all by yourself. It is a major decision in life and it is your problem; so, solve it! Just like driving, one can either opt to go straight or make a turn; as life is full of twists and turns, so is your decision to quit. If you can beat drinking singlehandedly, the better for you; if turns out the other way, well, you got friends out there whom you think could be good enough to guide you, right?
Focus on one direction: The road to sobriety is narrow and long; much longer than you think it is. As you go along with the change, always think that there is no turning back. Never expect people to believe you if you deviate from the good deed that you have started. Once back to your old self, it will take you forever to regain the trust and confidence people gave you. Nobody loves a liar.
Believe in your capacity to overcome: Overcoming the need for alcohol is a rough decision. By trusting on your capacity to stand firm on your ground, you have already made a giant step towards stopping the vice. Be confident in every measure that you make so as to empower you to battle the hazardous bottle. To give up alcohol is your goal—and so be it.
Give Up Alcohol and Start Anew
One would wonder if there is life after giving up alcohol. Ancient Egyptians believed that there is life after death; and it’s the same with quitting alcohol. Once you have made a decision to stop drinking, be sure that you will not regret it. Regretting on things that could have been is not wise for it will only lead you back to where you came from.
Having reformed from alcoholism, what do you think is the next step that you would take? Suggestions could come from a lot of people but a good number has to come from you, too. Here’s a to-do list of possible actions you may want to take:
Stay away from places you spent time with the bottle. Memories are made from pieces of the past. Things, events and places could help in reminding you of what you have done before. You had been to the world of alcohol and you don’t want to stay there forever so it’s wiser if you choose to go to places that are new to your eyes so as not to experience that odd feeling again.
Get a new environment. Relocate if you can afford it and do it at once. Having a change of background can give you a fresh start. You can choose to live in a community where there is lesser action—lesser night activity. In this case, you will not be tempted to go around at night and see the goings on of everybody else.
Meet some friends. Have yourself a new group of friends. Friends have almost the same likes and dislikes. Some may like to paint, some may want gardening, others may want to be active in church, and there are some who may be interested in fishing. Suit yourself—choose a group which is available for the taking. Because you opted to give up alcohol, take a sacrifice by giving up old drinking buddies.
Go have some fitness. Exercise is a good hobby, one of the best ways to divert attention and a very good one to reshape your body as well as your mind. Inside the gym life is different. One can’t seem to find time to think about worries. The only thing that a gym enthusiast thinks of is the time, and the effort that is to be exerted when lifting weights and doing routines. Busy bodies have busy minds.
Stay close to your family. The family is your strength and your home is your fortress. Let this be a reminder for you and never let it slip your mind. Family will always stand by your side when troubles come. It is always there for you whenever you fall short of other’s expectations. Family members act as the shield that protects you from forces trying to threaten your existence.
Take an advocacy. This is not a hard job for you to take on. It will just come out naturally if you speak of being an anti-alcohol advocate. Been there, done those. Speaking based on personal experiences with the habit would make one an expert in dealing with the advocacy itself. It wouldn’t be surprising for people to hear you speak because of the knowledge and the lessons that you have learned while you were still practicing the liquid substance abuse. Everybody will heed your call and you have to believe that.
Believe in yourself. Having enough courage in changing your life took you more than guts. Believing in yourself is another thing; having full confidence that you can start life anew will make you stronger as a person and more regarded as a valuable person in the community. To give up alcohol and earn the people’s trust is a jumpstart pointing to another direction: a new life.
