How Having A Positive Attitude Can Change So Many Things In Life

For someone like myself, living with an alcohol addiction for so many years, I didn't know the words, "Positive Attitude."

I lived each day with a negative attitude, and feeling sorry for myself because I knew deep inside that I had an addiction to alcohol, but I just didn't want to do anything to change my life. Now being sober, I know how having a positive attitude can change so many things in life.

There is nothing worse than thinking and acting negative.  You will never get anywhere in life with that kind of attitude. It took many years for me to get straightened out in my life, and once I did, Positivity took over, and life looked so much different with my new attitude, not only towards myself, but life itself.

Here are just a few things that changed in my life once I got clean and sober and began thinking and acting with a positive attitude.

• My entire married life my wife's and my dream was to live by the Ocean, but no matter how hard I tried to make that dream into a reality, nothing worked out.  I truly believe that my addiction to alcohol held me back in so many ways, along with my negativity that came with my addiction.

I got clean and sober in October of 2009, and everything began to work out, and the reason that is, and my beliefs are, that I was not willing to help myself before, and when things didn't work out as I wanted them to, I just drank more figuring alcohol was the fix all. I am now writing this down the street from the Ocean. My dream has now become a reality!

• My marriage and family life was falling to pieces slow, but sure. 

Now sober, I couldn't ask for a better family life and marriage. My best friend, and also my wife stood by my side through thick and thin when I was addicted to alcohol, and now I am proud to say I have sobriety, and we live with nothing but positivity in our lives.  I now realize that your attitude in life can change so many things, for the good or for the bad.

Our attitudes can make or break our lives, so get out of the negative world and start living with that Positive Attitude.  You will be amazed of how your life will change, just by you changing your life, and your attitude towards life.

How Life Can Change Just By Changing Your Life

HERE IS WHERE MY WIFE AND I SIT HERE ON LONG BEACH ISLAND.

For anyone that has an addiction of any sort, such as alcoholism or drugs, we tend to be simply down in the dumps most of the time, and the only thing that somewhat makes us happy is to drink or use.  At least this is my opinion, and my experiences with drinking and abusing alcohol for many years.

After that first one or two drinks, you start to forget all the problems you may have because you just care and only care about getting to that drunk you had the day before.  Mine you, this is my experiences and I am not speaking for anyone else that drinks or uses drugs.

Then it comes the time where you are feeling no pain because of the alcohol, and you begin to start feeling sorry for yourself and start crying in you booze.  "Why me?"  "Why doesn't anything ever work out for me?"  "Why don't I have what others have in their life?" Does any of this sound familiar to you?

It sure does to me, and it is very familiar indeed. You have to realize how life can change just by changing your life. I know it may sound stupid, but it is the truth and it really does work.  Changing your life and your lifestyle will indeed give you a brand new life in the end.

Just by changing your life, meaning giving up alcohol or drugs, and get out of the denial you have been living in will truly change everything, including your life.

Back in October of 2009 I decided to change my own life meaning, I finally got out of the denial I was living in and surrendered to my alcohol demons.   Ever since that night sitting in the garage all alone drinking my last beer of my life I knew deep down inside that getting and staying sober has to be far greater than drinking my life away and slowly killing myself along the way.

You don't have to be an alcoholic.  You have a choice of being drunk all the time or living a clean and sober life.  The choice is in your hands so make the right decision and change your life around all for the better.  Your body and those that love and care for you will thank you, Trust Me!

I have hundreds of articles I have written on HubPages.com so click here to read them.  They might just change your way of looking at life, and hopefully help you to change your life and life a life of sobriety.

Abusing Alcohol And Your Life Ahead

I have nothing against anyone that drinks alcohol, but abusing alcohol and your life ahead can be disastrous in the upcoming years.

What I mean here is that drinking to much, or doing to much of anything can be harmful.  For a guy like myself, I only wished I could drink only one or two social drinks, but in my case, and in many cases, we that abuse alcohol just don't when we have had enough to drink.  We continue to drink until we have had our fill of alcohol for the day and get to that buzz or high we all long for.

I have been sober since October of 2009 and have not touched a drop of alcohol, although there were many times I had that urge or temptation to pick up that drink and get drunk just like the old times.

I made a promise to myself back in October of 2009, telling myself I will never touch another drop of alcohol no matter how good or bad my life get.  I continue to keep a positive attitude at all times and continue to tell myself that drinking and abusing alcohol helps nothing in life, in fact it only make matters worse.

You will never realize what you were doing to your bodies and those people that loved and cared about you until you have been clean and sober for some time and then it hits you exactly what you have been doing to destroy your one and only life.

Drinking alcohol and having a good time is okay by me if and only if you drink alcohol responsibly and not drink and abuse alcohol.  That is the part that just didn't go right with me and so many other people that have an addiction to alcohol. 

If you are one those that are abusing alcohol than you really need to sit back (in a sober state of mind) and look into your future and see the life that is ahead of you.  If you truly look hard enough you will see that your life will be going nowhere except downward to rock bottom.

Once you see what is going to happen, and you except this, you might want to make a huge change in your life as I made that change in my life.  I am not telling you what to do because it is your life, but I am just warning you of the outcome that is ahead if you continue to drink and abuse alcohol. It won't be a pretty thing, so act now and get yourself sobered up, and live that one and only life you have with long term sobriety.

There is hope for every alcoholic, if you really want to change you life.  Your life is not over just because you have a addiction.  Your new life is waiting for you!  Now, all you have to do is to go after that new life and make good of it.  Sobriety cost nothing except your acceptance that you need help and you are willing to change your life for the better.

Put the drink down once and for all and start living the life you were put on this Earth to live.

If you think alcohol will not ruin your life, you are dead wrong.  You just have to wake up and see it for yourself, and not let someone like me tell you in an article like this one.  I write these articles because I went through all of this and finally realized after many years of drinking and abusing alcohol that my life was going nowhere and I needed to change, so I did, and could not be happier.

Alcohol will ruin your life if you let it!

Read more of my articles here on the Clean Life, and my articles on HubPages.

How To Stop The Urge To Drink Alcohol While In Recovery

Here is how to stop the urge to drink alcohol while in recovery from what works best for me now being sober for over four years.

As we all know, or for anyone that has an alcohol addiction problem, we know that urges and temptations to drink alcohol come over us more than once while we are trying to stay sober.  For myself when those urges come over me I look back at the dark days of hell when I drank and abused alcohol.

It is a reminder of just how my life was, always depending on the alcohol to make me have a good day, so I thought.

You need to really think of what you put your body through, and not only that, what you put your family and friends through while you were drinking and abusing alcohol.  You know that when we drink too much, and are addicted to the substance that just may ruin your life, and the lives of others, you have to realize once you are sober and that urge comes about you can not give in ever!

The demons that are still inside us are just waiting for us to mess up and pick up that one glass of alcohol.  That one glass of alcohol that will be the ruination of out sobriety.

I know for myself, if I were to touch one sip of alcohol it would be the end of my long term sobriety, and I am sure it would be the same for anyone that has been sober for some time.  All of us have to be stronger than any urge or temptation to drink alcohol and it has to be forever.

Here is what I think about when that urge to drink comes over me:

• How I felt while drinking and abusing alcohol.
• What I put my family through all those years of drinking.
• The money I spent on alcohol instead of spending it on my families needs.
• The massive hangovers every morning.
• What I began to look like over time appearance wise.
• How I felt physically and mentally.
• How negative I became.
• How I felt sorry for myself and wondered why nothing ever went my way.

These are just a few things I think of when that urge to drink comes over me.  Believe me it is enough to say NO to alcohol.

Back in October of 2009, the 26th to be exact, I made a promise to myself that no matter what ever happened in my life, whether it be good or bad I would never pick up an alcoholic drink ever again and believe me, many things have happened over the last four years, some good and some bad, BUT it was never enough to make me drink alcohol again.

I always thought drinking alcohol would solve all my troubles in life and once I became sober I found out that that theory, or saying was dead wrong!  Alcohol solved NOTHING, it only made matters worse!  

Now being sober for the last four years I feel so much better.

My appearance has improved 100%.

All the weight I gained while drinking has disappeared, and I am back to the weight I should be.

My family and married life has changed 100%, all for the better.

No more massive hangovers.

My appetite is going strong.

I am now 100% a positive guy and very happy with the life I now live.

My health is great and I am finally a very happy man!

My dream of living by the Ocean has become a reality, something that never happened as hard as I tried when I was drinking.  Nothing ever worked out for me as hard as I tried.

I guess the old saying is right.... You can't be helped unless you are willing to help yourself first!

How To Make Your Dreams A Reality

Everyone dreams in the world, but the question is "how to make your dreams a reality?" We all have dreams when we sleep.  Some dreams we may not remember, and then there are those that stick in our minds as we wake up and we tell others what kind of dream we had during our sleep.

Some of those dreams maybe happy and some maybe a plain nightmare that wakes you out of a sound sleep, shaking, sweating and your heart pounding out of your chest.

Then of course all of us have those dreams while we are awake.  Dreams of having the best of everything, and dreams of living near, or on the white sandy beaches of that one spot you love in your life.

This is me making that one dream I had my entire life a reality.  Living near the white sandy beaches of Long Beach Island, New Jersey.

The Ocean is only a few minutes from my home and where I live is out of harms way of floods and Hurricanes.  I am not saying a hurricane would not harm my home and where I live because I lived through two hurricanes since I moved here at the Jersey shore two years ago. The best thing is that we had no flood damage, but plenty of Hurricanes force winds.

Getting back to how you can make those dreams you have a reality.  Everyone like I said have had dreams of what you truly want out of the one and only life you have here on Earth.  The problem is that so many people that have these dreams do not pursue them and keep them as just a big dream in life.

As for me, I had that dream of living near the Ocean and I sat down with my wife on many occasions trying to figure out just how to make that dream we had become a reality. One day my wife came up with this brilliant idea, and that idea was to downsize and sell everything we had to get rid of the bills that would haunt us for many years to come.

Yes, selling of my toys, such as my Corvette, my motorcycle and then the house that I just remodeled and the home that I was raised in as a child.  That was the hardest thing I could ever done, because this home belonged to my parents.  The only home they owned in their married life.

When they both passed away the home was left to me.  At that time I lived in another home with my wife and children and and when my parents passed away I had make a decision to stay where I was living or selling that home and moving back into my childhood home.

We decided to move back into my childhood home and remodeled it to our liking figuring this would be the last move in our life.  We still had the Ocean back in our minds at that time and as I said, after about 5 years living and remodeling this childhood home we decided to sell it and move to the Ocean.

We made this decision as a joint one and agreed that we needed to make our dream a reality once and for all.

Long Beach Island Our New Home 

These are only material things.

Yes my toys are all sold, but they can be bought again one day. The plate on the Vette reads, "LIVON" and that is exactly what we are doing in our life. Live on and make that dream a reality.

We thought positive and did everything we could do in order to live at the shore.  We sold my childhood home and downsize to a double wide modular home in a 55 + Community.  No garage and nowhere near the room we had in the home I sold, but living life simple now makes us much happier than we have ever been.

If you have a dream in life, don't hesitate to make it happen because as I said, we are only here on Earth for a short time, so make the best of it and make those dreams you have become a reality.  You will never be sorry.

If you need to sell everything you have top make you a happier person then remember they are only material things and can one day be re-bought if you choose to do so.  For me, it is cash only and no more credit cards that will haunt is to the end of time.  My home I live in now, although small, but we remodeled this one too, and it is paid in full.

Here is the side of our new place. total remodel inside and out.

Leaving Behind The Old And Bringing In The New

Here is our home that was purchased by my Parents back in 1971
and had to be demoed because of Hurricane Sandy.

The home that was a huge part of my childhood is now gone thanks to Hurricane Sandy.  My sister and I had, and still have many fond memories of this house on the Bay.  It broke our hearts to see this childhood Summer home being demoed.  A house that our Parents bought back in the very early 70's.

This is the new home almost completed sitting right on the Barnegat Bay.

I have to give a A+ to L.B.I House Raising for a fabulous job they have done from the beginning to almost now the end of this remarkable transformation of a little Summer cottage to this 2 story beauty.

The Summer cottage on the bay may be gone forever, but my sister's and my fond memories will last a lifetime.  This will be the future home of my sister and her wonderful husband to enjoy for a lifetime.  As sad as it was to see this summer cottage be demoed, it is a happy time to have a new home sitting right on the bay with all brand new things and with all the modern equipment.  Central air and heat is a must down here at the Jersey shore, especially now that this new home will be a year round home, and not just a Summer home by the Sea. 

May this new year round home on the Bay bring Love, Joy and Happiness to my Sister and her wonderful Husband!

God Bless You Both.

Love your Brother Mark