Sunday, October 30, 2011

Quitting Drinking Alcohol Will Change Your Life

As we all know we all have only one life to live, so we had better make the best of our time here on earth.  Many of us are trying to cut our lives short by abusing alcohol or drugs.

I have to say, from my past experience that quitting drinking alcohol will change your life.  It certainly did for me.  I was a heavy drinker for many of years and finally I said that enough is enough and I have to change my life around so that I can live a longer and healthier life and to be able to watch my children grow to be old.  To be able to watch my grandchild become an adult and to walk my daughter down the isle when she gets married.  All these things could be diminished if I or you continue on that road to self destruction we call alcoholism.

If you are addicted to alcohol just sit back and think of all you may miss out on or better yet, think of the years being lost or cut short all because of an avoidable addiction. 

When I surrendered to my addiction to alcohol, I thought long and hard about what I was ready to do.  I was ready to say goodbye to my best friend forever.  i was so afraid of how I would feel and how my body would react without alcohol being part of my life, but that was not going to stop me from getting clean and sober.  I was determined to make this happen and nothing or no one was going to stop me.

If you want sobriety back into your life you too must think in this manner and continue to tell yourself that you can and will achieve long term sobriety and once sober you must continue to think this way forever,

Keep a positive attitude in your life and things that you thought would never happen will indeed happen, and I am proof of that.

So the bottom line here is that I quit drinking alcohol and my life and my families life have changed all for the better.  Try getting clean and sober and try out sobriety, you will never regret it.

Learn how to quit drinking without AA.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Living Sober At The Jersey Shore

This has been a long time coming in my life and my wife's life as well.  I am now living sober at the Jersey Shore. 

Living a life of alcoholism for many years held me back on so many things I wanted to do in my life and the 30 years of my marriage suffered along with my actions and being addicted to alcohol.

Now, I have beat the addiction that has run and almost ruined my life for so many years using the pure determination and a positive attitude has helped me become clean and sober and has helped me stay clean and sober.

Sobriety has changed my life and believe me if you are thinking about changing your life as I did, you will never be sorry that you did.

It is so much thinking and planing, but I did it and so can you.  When I say thinking and planning I mean, you need to ask yourself if you truly want to be sober and live a life of sobriety because if you are not serious about getting clean and sober you are wasting your time.

I wasted time so many times when I was only fooling myself by saying I will only drink alcohol on weekends and special Holidays.  I have to tell you that it never worked.  For me, it was to surrender completely or continue on the path of self destruction.  I was one that could have one or two drinks and walk away, so I need to quit drinking alcohol all together.  That was the plan I needed to think about.  Did I really want to be sober?

My answer to myself was, " I want to be sober again."  I made up my mind and chose my start date to begin my road to recovery and stuck to it and here I am 2 years later, still sober, healthy and happier than I have ever been in my life.

My wife and I are now living our dream at the Jersey Shore and minutes from the Ocean and Bay.  This is what we have wanted our whole married life, but alcohol put a stop to all our dream and goals.

It goes to show you when there is a will there is a way.  I had the will to surrender to my addiction to alcohol and I then was able to make our dream a reality.  Sobriety is possible in any alcoholics life if and only if the alcoholic is willing to make that change in his/her life.  If you put your mind to it and start thinking and having a positive attitude you can and will beat your addiction, but the biggest and hardest thing is, you need to want sobriety and need to have the determination, strength and willpower to get and stay sober once and for all.

Friday, October 28, 2011

How To Beat Your Addiction To Alcohol

Have you ever wanted to beat something so bad, but just didn't know how to go about it and win?  This is the problem with many people that are addicted to alcohol.  They want deep down to surrender to their addiction, but don't know or are afraid to take that first step in doing so.


How to beat your addiction to alcohol can be right in front of your face, but you are blinded to all of it because your addiction has gotten the best of you, so you think.

I have learned over these two years, exactly today, October 27, 2011 clean and sober and still going stronger than ever and continuing to fight my inner demons.What I have learned is that there is nothing better or greater than sobriety.

Anyone can beat their inner demons and their addiction whether it is alcohol or drugs.  The only thing and the biggest part of surrendering is to want to quit drinking and using.  Without the WANT, it is a hopeless case, in my eyes. 

I messed around saying I will just drink on weekends or major Holidays and special occasions, but I was only fooling myself.  I knew, and my family knew, I would never be able to do that special occasional drink  for I was an alcoholic and needed that booze everyday and not on occasions or on weekends. 

I thought it was a great idea and it may of stopped the nagging about my drinking.  It didn't work and would never work.  Some people can't just be a social drinker, like myself.  We can't just have one or two drinks and say that is enough for me. No, we need to drink until we are drunk or till every drop of alcohol is gone.

If you want to beat your addiction,than here is what I did in order for me to become clean and sober and hopefully some of this will help you as well.
  1. I finally admitted I had a huge drinking problem.
  2. I wanted so bad to be sober and live a normal life again.
  3. I promised myself I would never touch alcohol again, and I am a man of my word.
  4. I prayed to God to help give me the strength and willpower to get sober.
  5. I would not let anyone or anything stand in my way of me getting and staying sober.
  6. I changed my outlook on life and started to think nothing but Positive thoughts.
  7. I started to love myself and my live like no other, and wanted to give my life a second chance.
I hope some of these things I stated about my own life and what I did and thought of will touch some place in your heart and give you the strength to beat your addiction to alcohol as I did.

If you really want to get clean and sober, then stand up to your demons and shut them down in their tracks.  You can do it believe me.  If you have the will to change and the pure determination to make that change in your life, than sobriety is waiting for you.  Don't ever quit on finding your sobriety and never back down to your demons and relapse after you have gotten clean and sober and worked so hard to get there.

You will have many times on your road to recovery, that temptation and the urge to drink will come into your life, and if that happens, as it has many times for me, SIMPLY SAY NO!!! 

Beat your addiction, and get clean and sober and stay clean and sober.  You will never regret the hard work put forth to have a new and healthy life.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Tips On How To Get And Stay Sober

Here are some tips on how to get and stay sober through my own experiences with drinking alcohol and a little information on my life as an alcoholic.

Living a life with alcohol starts as a fun and exciting thing until all hell breaks loose, and the demons of alcohol have taken over our life as they did for me.  You begin to depend on alcohol more and more as you are partying and drinking by yourself as I did.  You can't go a day without having your drinks and getting the high your body longs for each and everyday.

Sure, I love to drink and have fun just as much or even more than the next guy, but it became a huge problem when I got addicted to the alcohol and didn't know how to get out the horrible life I was now living in.

I neglected my family, my friends and even neglected myself, because the only thing I had on my mind is getting that first drink in me right after work and drank until it was time to go to bed.  It became the new love of my life, and I knew I was doing wrong, but my body depended on me feeding the alcohol everyday. 

I felt as if there was no way out of the addiction to alcohol I had.  As time went by I became more embarrassed and a shame of my addiction to alcohol and knew people were talking about me and my horrible life I was leading, but it still wasn't enough to make me stop drinking alcohol.

I would never want to go to any family functions unless there was alcohol served, and if there wasn't alcohol I would hide some in my car and sneak out on my smoke break and have a fast can of beer.  When I think of all these things now being clean and sober, I can't believe that I was so weak and couldn't beat the addiction I had.

These reason I couldn't beat my addiction was that I simply wasn't ready to surrender to my addiction.  No matter what anyone would tell me I wouldn't listen or did I care for that matter. 

I am now sober 2 years tomorrow, October 27, 2011 and want to share what i have learned and how I surrendered to my addiction on my own, with no 12 step, no rehab. and no meetings.  Not everyone can do as I have done, because many alcoholics need to enter a Rehab.Center to be treated professionally and start their detox under Medical supervision.

TIPS ON HOW I GOT AND STAYED SOBER:

  1. First and foremost, you need to want to get sober!
  2. If you are a negative person, you need to get a positive attitude.
  3. If need be, you have to ask for help.
  4. You have to admit you are an alcoholic and you need and want help.
  5. You have to have the willingness and determination to get sober.
  6. You cannot let anything or anyone stand in you way of sobriety.
  7. You may need to steer clear of anyone you associated with while drinking alcohol.
  8. You may have to find sober friends.
  9. You have to look at your future as an alcoholic and compare that to a life of sobriety.
  10. There is only one way to stop drinking alcohol and that is to JUST QUIT!
These are a few things that helped me get and stay sober and I hope these ideas and true facts will help you find your way out of your addiction and live a life of sobriety as I have done.

Sobriety is so possible for anyone that is addicted to alcohol.  All you need to do is to want sobriety back into your life so bad that you are willing to do anything to get it back.

BELIEVE AND YOU WILL ACHIEVE!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

How To Live A Simple And Happy Life

Simplicity is a great thing for some people, but not all.  Many of us tend to overdue many things in life and wind up over their heads in debt.  How to live a simple and happy life is all in your hands.

Many want the best of everything including huge homes that come with a huge price tag.  Sure anyone would love that big house, but can you really afford it and are you buying this home just for a status thing?  Do you really need to have a home so large that you get lost in it, because after all you are only in one room at a time and some rooms may not ever be used. 

I wanted my whole life to have such a home, but the older I got and the way our economy is today it simply isn't worth it, in my mind of course.  Others may think differently than I do.

I have found that less is more and that's what I'm living like now.  In four days from now, October 27, 2011 will be 2 years clean and sober for me and I have to say, I have done so much to improve my life in those two years that I even surprised myself.

Yes, I had a addiction to alcohol and I am not a shamed to say so.  I know I was doing wrong, but the demons inside me seemed to have more power over me than I thought.  I changed my way of living and surrendered to the addiction that help me back from doing what I wanted, but nor anymore.  The demons are in the past and I now live a simple and happy life with my wife down at the Jersey Shore where I have wanted to live for the past 30 years and finally made it.

I sold my home and downsized to a Manufactured home in a 55+ community.  I had to sell of give away most of my things because of space at the new home.  You have to give a little to get you know.  I have no more two car garage to store things, so I cleaned the garage out and only keep what I really needed and the rest went into a self storage 2 tenths of a mile from my home.  When I need something I just go and get it, such as our holiday decorations etc.

Life is what you make it and I was willing to sacrifice many things so that I could live my dream at the Jersey Shore.  Once I quit drinking alcohol everything began to take shape in my life and I couldn't be happier and my wife that stuck by my side through years of drinking is thrilled of my new sober life and our new home.

If you want something in life, just go for it.  You will never know unless you at least try.
  • Think of what you truly want out of your life.
  • If you think you can be happy with less then try downsizing.
  • Do you want piece of mind or look what I own?
  • Do you Prestige or Happiness?
  • Think of all the money you would save by living simple.
There are so many things you can think of to make your life and your families a simpler and happier life only if that is the way you wish to live being simple, but happy.  That is what I choose and I couldn't be happier.




Living With A Positive Attitude

Thinking, acting and living with a positive attitude can change your life in so many ways.  Positivity in ones life is so important in order to live a quality and happy life. 

So many people nowadays are so negative in many ways, such as thinking they will never make it in today's world because of financial reasons, relationship reasons and just the stress of everyday life. This is not the way to think if you want to get anywhere in life or fulfill that long time dream you might have.

I'd like to share a small part of my life with you by telling you that I once was a bit of a negative person back in my drinking days.  Nothing ever seemed to go right for me no matter how I tried or what I did.  The reason was I didn't have that positive attitude in my mind.

You can't expect any good out of life when living with negativity.  Once I decided to quit drinking alcohol, everything seemed to start looking better in my life, meaning I had a whole new outlook on my life and life in general.

Having a positive attitude in life really means a world of difference, at least it does for me.  I can't imagine living in a negative world anymore because ever since I quit drinking alcohol and started to live life with a positive attitude everything has changed for the better.

I always wanted to live by the sea for the 30 years I have been married and it never came true for the simple reason I had something standing in my way of my dream and that was my addiction to alcohol.  It made me NOT think proper and I made hasty and bad decisions for many years financially which ruined my dream more than once.

I wanted the best, but was not willing to change my life in order to get the best all because I put alcohol in front of everything and sometimes even my own family.

So the point I am trying to make is that if you truly want something in your life and you are having a hard time achieving it, maybe a change of attitude may help, as it helped me.  I changed my life around and surrendered to my addiction and then began to think straight and positive.

My dream finally came true and I am living my dream sober and by the sea.  Sometimes it takes a long time to realize what you are doing is wrong, such as being addicted to alcohol for myself, but as I said, you have to help yourself in order to make things in life a reality.

Friday, October 21, 2011

How And When Should We Take Action Of Our Addiction

When someone is addicted to drugs or alcohol they seem to forget the true meaning of their life and let their addiction take their life over.  The question is how and when should we take action of our addiction before it is too late?

The thing is, if we continue on this path of self destruction how long do you think we would be alive, and how many years of our lives do you think would be cut short because of our actions and lifestyle?  We are not going to live forever as we all know, but why in the world do we continue to kill ourselves with an avoidable addiction?

Everyone knows what these addictions can and will do to us, but no one knows exactly when.  It could be that our health fails.  It could be that we were involved in a automobile accident that may have disabled us forever or possibly kill us or an innocent person or persons.

When should we take action on these addictions we have before it is too late?  What has to happen to us before we realize we are doing wrong by abusing our bad habits, whether it be drinking alcohol or using drugs? 

In my personal experience with drinking alcohol, and drinking it for many years, I have learned that my life was going no where fast.  Everything I wanted to do, or a dream I might of had always seemed to peter out because I would stumble upon a road block in my quest of doing something and just simply gave up. 

I had no self-esteem and no positive attitude in my life while being addicted to alcohol.  I thought, as probably many alcoholics do that everyone in the world is wrong and the alcoholic is right, meaning, we the alcoholic thinks we are doing no wrong and we do not have an addiction to alcohol.  We live in denial each and everyday, but really have no idea that we are.  I called it , "blinded by my addiction."

How to take action is very simple and how I did it was to simply make up my mind and told myself, "enough is enough" it is time to surrender to my addiction to alcohol and start to live a clean and sober life again.I changed my attitude and my outlook on life and told myself, " my life is worth far more to me than an avoidable and foolish addiction.  My life is precious and I only have one of them so I better make the best of the time I have left here on earth."

When is the time to take action depends on each person, and just how depended they are on their drug of choice.  If you think you have a problem with alcohol or drugs then I would recommend sitting down and take a good look at your life, what you are doing to your one and only body and what effects you are having on your \families lives as well.  Just maybe if you care about our self and your family you will begin to see the light that being addicted to anything has no positive results whatsoever.

Without taking action in anything in life you will remain stuck where you are for the rest of your life and never be able to enjoy what life has to offer, (seeing it with sober eyes.)

  1. Think positive.
  2. Stay focused on getting sober and staying sober.
  3. Believe in yourself and God.
  4. Never let anything or anybody get in your way to becoming sober.
  5. Steer clear of your alcoholic friends to avoid temptation to drink or use.
  6. Ask for the HELP you need to start you on your road to recovery.
  7. Don't be embarrassed or a shamed of your addiction and tell everyone you are surrendering to it.
  8. Keep yourself busy so that you have no time to think about your past addiction.
  9. Eat well and healthy foods.
  10. Drink lots of water and drinks that are healthy which will help in flushing those toxins out of your system.
These are just a few things I did when I decided to get clean and sober and maybe you will find some things that will help you and add them to my list.

* I am not a Doctor or Therapist by no means, but I do have experience in drinking and abusing alcohol with makes me a professional in that part !

Sobriety is a wonderful thing.  I just wished I would of surrendered years ago when my children were growing up, but as they say, "better later than never."

God Bless all those that are struggling with an addiction, and remember, you are not alone.  Never give up on yourself.  You can and will get clean and sober as I did.  The big thing is taking ACTION,  having the WILLPOWER, DETERMINATION and the DESIRE to get sober and stay sober, and it will happen.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

How A Positive Attitude Helps With Staying Sober

Many of us that are addicted to alcohol sometimes have a hard time keeping a positive attitude in our everyday living.  I for one was one of those people until I tried my luck a being sober.

Once I surrendered to my addiction to alcohol I found out just how a positive attitude helps with staying sober.  I have written many articles on HubPages.com on alcohol addiction, my life with alcohol, and just how I was able to surrender to my inner demons and be able to stay sober.

When we are addicted, not only to alcohol, but any sort of substance that can harm us and hinder our lives the way the addiction wants to, we tend to be a bit negative in our ways of living.  Most of us loss our self esteem and just let our addiction start to run and ruin our lives a little bit at a time until our addiction drives us right to rock bottom.

I caught my addiction pretty much before hitting rock bottom just by a hair.  I was on the verge of losing everything.  My home, my wife and my family if I didn't do something about my addiction to alcohol fast.

I first sat down alone and started to think of all the positive thing there were in drinking alcohol and came up with nothing, but it got me drunk.  I then thought of all the negative things of drinking alcohol and came up with many, such as:

  • Physical appearance has changed.
  • Weight gain.
  • Loss of interest in things I once loved to do.
  • Started to steer away from family and friends.
  • Wanted to drink alone.
  • Thought about the end of my work day to open that first beer.
  • Never went anywhere unless there was alcohol served.
If any of these sound familiar to you, maybe you should sit down as I did and think of just how alcohol is ruining your life and the ones that love and care about you, such as you spouse and family.

So, once I got out of the denial I lived in and began to start thinking positive thoughts I began to plan my new life and got myself ready for the change of my life once and for all. 

I wanted to be clean and sober in worse way , but I was afraid of how my body would react without alcohol in it and in my life.  i had put my sobriety on hold for too long and it was time to change my life around.

I started by thinking positive as I said earier and continued to tell myself that I can and I will overcome my addiction to alcohol.  I would do anything to get sober and stay sober.

I made a promise to myself two years ago, that if I surrendered to my addiction and became sober I would never be able to pick up an alcoholic drink again for the rest of my life.  Once I was fine with that promise to myself then it was time to pick my start date and begin my recovery from the addiction that had run my life for so many years.

Having a positive attitude in life no matter if it is surrendering to an addiction or anything in life that you want  to do it will happen.  Remember, negative thoughts give negative results and Positive thought and attitude give positive results.  I know for a fact that haviing that positive attitude helped me so much and still does keeping me sober.

i write these articles and Hubs in hopes that it will help someone out in the world that is suffering with an addiction and to tell then to never give up hope of getting and staying sober.  It is all what you want out of the one and only life you have, so don't mess it up with poor health, car accidents or any foolish thing that alcohol makes you do or does to you.  If you believe and truly want sobriety back into your life you WILL be able to achieve it.