Alcohol Addiction: Over 1,000 Days of Positive Sobriety

Getting Sober Doesn't Make Life Miserable

Getting sober doesn’t mean you become a loser incapable of fun, relaxation, or socializing; it means you don’t drink alcohol.

Zac Small @ZacSmall_

"There is no good ending to alcoholism." - @Cernovich As I sit here, over 2.5 years sober, I can say with certainty that dropping alcohol was the greatest decision I've made for both my long-term physical health and mental wellness.

Anything beyond that point becomes a discussion on societal conditioning due to aggressive marketing campaigns by “big booze” (which have been extraordinarily successful), as people are more likely to question why you don’t drink more than why you do.

The truth, alcohol addiction is a debilitating condition that affects millions of people worldwide. We’re at the point where alcohol is destroying COVID in terms of the death toll, and still, not a peep has been made regarding changing the laws, social norms, and/or constant advertisement of the drug.

I’m not exaggerating, “Excessive alcohol use was responsible for more than 140,000 deaths in the United States each year during 2015–2019, or more than 380 deaths per day.” Addiction to alcohol can lead to severe physical and mental health issues, loss of work, and strained relationships; it’s been one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States for decades.

The road to recovery is never easy, but recovery itself doesn’t have to be hard; it’s the starting which people struggle with, and it’s here that I’m going to expand upon because, after 1,000 days of sobriety, I can confirm that it's worth it.

The reason so few commit to the sober path is the perception that giving up alcohol is giving up fun, camaraderie, and protection from facing inner issues. These aren’t necessarily bad things, as you’ll find yourself having real fun, finally enjoying true relaxation and rest, and handling the issues which have plagued you for possibly decades of your life, but none of that matters as perception is reality.

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Alcohol Doesn’t Make Your Life Better

Like growing a beard, getting sober requires nothing of you.

Literally, you have to do more work to drink than to not drink as sobriety is going about your day, and boozing means you must stop at the store, grab the liquor, pay for it, then drink it.

“When I stop drinking, life will be boring…”

When you turn to alcohol to relax from your stressful day, it’s the equivalent of taking the batteries out of a fire detector. Sure, you don’t hear the stressful alarm, but the fire is still burning in that silence, and the next day the damage will still be yours to handle, except it’ll be worse than it was originally.

Photo by Acton Crawford on Unsplash

Drinking to relax in no way addresses the fact that you are living a life that causes you stress and needs some habit or behavioral changes. It’s here that I’d like you to recognize something…

Sobriety offers what alcohol promises.