Ways To Help You Stay Sober During The Holidays

The Holiday season is upon us and with the giving of gifts, having Christmas and New Years parties become somewhat difficult for those that are in recovery from their past addictions.

There are many ways to help you stay sober during the Holidays such as your thinking and your mental attitude.

In the beginning of your recovery you are really fighting to stay sober.  Your body that has been so used to alcohol in your system and then to have nothing alcoholic is a bit of a shock to your your system.  You go to that Holiday party and watch as those that are drinking and thinking they are having a wonderful time, and I am sure they are, at that moment.

You mouth starts to water and wishing you can have just one beer, a glass of wine or a nice mixed drink.  The problem with that is you have made a pack with yourself, (I hope) to never pick up a alcoholic drink again.  This pack or promise to yourself to never drink again should have been made when you finally surrendered to your addiction.

You took the right steps in getting clean and sober, and now the huge job is to stay clean and sober. The Holiday seasons are full of temptations to the alcoholic. I know for myself when I quit drinking alcohol, the first few months were torture to me. I surrendered to my addiction in October of 2009 just two months before the Holiday party were to begin.  I thought to myself, " how in the world will I ever be able to go to these holidays and parties and watch people drink while I remain sober?"

The way I handled those temptations to drink are as follows and I hope they will help you through this Holiday and many days and years to come, not just Holidays.

• I began to prepare my mind and my feelings of what would happen to me if I were to break and relapse.
• I thought  to myself if I were to drink at these Holiday parties what I would be ruining and all the hard work I did to get where I was at that moment and sober.
• I said to myself that every minute I remain sober at these parties I will be closer to leaving the the temptation to drink.
• I stay strong and determined not to drink and keeping that promise to myself that I made some two years ago.
• I mad sure I had enough coffee to hold in my hand as I sipped it slowly as I was having conversations with all that were drinking alcohol.
• Before I knew it the end of the night was near and I remained clean and sober.
• Ever since those couple of parties I went to it has become so much easier to be around those that drink alcohol and my urge to drink has passed and it doesn't bother me one bit now to go to parties and watch other drink their brains out.  In fact, I watch them now and just how they change with each drink that was drank.  I often wonder to myself, "was that me two years ago?"  If so, I was a mess as those that are pounding them down and thinking they are having a blast.
• I go home sober and awake with a clear head with no hangovers.  I wonder how they felt after their night out drinking?  I bet not like me!
• I continue to tell myself just how proud of I am of my own self and I should be, just as every person that had an addiction and surrendered to it and now living a life of sobriety.

So make your Holidays safe, sober and fun.  Remember, you don't need to drink alcohol in order to enjoy this time of the season with Christmas and New Years right around the corner. In fact, I can truly say for myself, it is much more fun being clean and sober and the best part of it is that you will remember the night to be remember.  Don't blow it and take that one drink for if you are like me, you will be back right your started at day number one and I know I don't want to start all over again after working so hard to get where I am today and you should feel the same way if your were smart.

Don't drink and don't give in EVER!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE AND ENJOY THIS SPECIAL TIME OF THE YEAR BEING CLEAN AND SOBER!!!

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!

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.

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.

How To Find Sobriety And Stay Sober

Wanting and finding sobriety can be difficult for many that are addicted to alcohol, but it is not impossible.  For myself, living in a addicted world of alcoholism was a tough life in some ways , but in other ways I learned a lesson, the lesson of life and just how much life is worth when you come to close to losing everything in it.

Sobriety was the last thing I ever thought I would find, because I was so addicted to alcohol that it was a huge part of my everyday life.  As I became older and wiser I realized that what I was doing not only to myself, but everyone that was a part of my life was wrong and certainly unhealthy in every aspect of my addiction to alcohol.

I was hurting so many people in my life and never even realized it because I was living in that little world we all call denial.  I never saw the damage and the hurt I put on people that loved and cared for me because I was blinded by my addiction to alcohol.

I wanted sobriety so bad but I always wondered how to find sobriety and stay sober.  In time all those thoughts started to take shape and it was time to take action on my actions.  too be able to stop drinking alcohol and start to live a normal life and enjoy all those that loved and cared for me. 

    













Back in October 2009 I finally surrendered to my inner demons and began to plan my new clean and sober life.  I stopped drinking alcohol and when I took that last drink I had to promise myself that if i were to be successful in my sobriety I must never pick up another alcohol drink again for the rest of my life.  Once I was fine with this promise to myself I began to keep my mind and body so busy that not a thought came about in my mind about drinking alcohol.

Don't get me wrong, in the beginning it was tough beings I drank alcohol everyday of the week for years, but by staying busy and writing about alcoholism keeps me sober. As each day and week passed it became easier and easier to deal with the absence of alcohol in my body.   My intent and my main goal in life than, and still is, is to spread the word to the world that anything is possible when you think it isn't, including finding your sobriety.

Life is wonderful now and if I would of known just how great life was being clean and sober then I would of quit drinking alcohol years ago, but the problem would of been, I wasn't ready to surrender to my addiction at that time.  You must want it and be okay with never drinking alcohol again (forever) and when that time can in my life everything just started to fall in place.  It fell in place because I was ready to be sober and live a life of sobriety, something I hadn't had for many many years in my life.

It has been 1 1/2 years since my last drink of alcohol and I have to say it has been the best 1 1/2 years of not only my life, but the rest of my families life as well.  The alcoholic seems to forget that the addiction to alcohol not only hurts themselves , but everyone that is close to the alcoholic such as your wife and children.

It had taken a lot of strength, determination, willingness and to come clean and sober, but it was really worth every bit of hard work to find my sobriety.  You too can do the same as I did if you truly want sobriety back into your life as I did.


Don't ever give up on yourself and always believe in yourself and know that what ever you set out to do in life you will be successful including finding your sobriety and staying sober forever.

Feel free to see My Store at Zazzle for some clothing and accessories on Living Life Sober.

Ways To Get And Stay Sober

So many people in our society today long to be sober, but they just do not know how to start to achieve this sometimes huge task in their lives.

First, you must get your mindset in a position that you are in a positive frame of mind. Being negative in anything in life will cause huge problems in accomplishing not only sobriety, but anything in life at all.

There are many ways to get and stay sober, but you must first want it so bad that you are willing to due anything to achieve this goal in your life.

The way I found that helped me get and stay sober was that I turn to God first off and asked for the most powerful help there is. You need to believe in the power above in order to achieve anything in life. He is the main peron to turn to first. Without you believing in him and without believing in yourself you will find it difficult to start out on the right track to the road to recovery.

Once you have finally surrendered to your addiction and admit to yourself that you have an addiction is when your life will start to turn for the better.

For myself and my experiences, I have found that a Positive Attitude is a remarkable thing to have why doing anything in life. It makes a world of difference in the out come of what you are tring to achieve. Being negative just throws a curve ball into your goals and you will never get to where you want to be in life.

It was somewhat a tough road in the begining for me as I started on my road to recovery and leaving my demons behind. We are so used to having these alcohol demons in our everyday life that in the begining, we tend to wonder just how we are going to survive with out our harmful and deadly friends.

Well, from my experiences I have found it a blessing to leave those demons behind and never look back at that awful life I had when addicted. It was not that hard for me to accomplish this life change because I first started off with that positive attitude and prayed to God that I would make this happen and stay sober for the rest of my life.

I truly believe that our minds can make or break us in life, it's all how we train our minds. Like I said before, if we live our lives in a negative manner then our lives will be nothing but negative in anything we do.

Some of the ways I found that helped me stay sober in the being and still to this day is that I keep myself busy, not only physically but mentally as well. We need to keep doing this in order to stay sober. Keep that mind busy so that we don't have a moment to think of our past addiction problems that once ran our minds and bodies.

Stay positive and focused on your new and sober life, and in time you will see a bright and shinning light up ahead and and a sign saying welcome to the world of sobriety.
To learn more about quitting drinking and ways to stay sober Click Here!

Facing Your Demons Head On

All of us have had to face something in our lives that were not to happy to do.  Some of us have done something wrong and had to stand up a face the problem.  We are very nervous because we don't know what the out come will be.



Many of us such as myself have had those problems and also one other, "Our Demons".  In my case, my demons, or should I say my past friends had almost ruined my life, my family and all of the dreams I had.

I could have lost everything all do to Alcohol Addiction, something that could of been avoided only if I had the strength and the willpower to do so.

With many years of drinking under my belt and still feeling in good health I thought that I was indestructible.  I was very fortunate that I never had any health problem all those years.  But, sooner or later everything catches up with us one way or another.

What caught up with me was that I was on the verge of losing everything I had, including my wife and family all do to selfishness on my part.  I knew I was doing wrong in my life but I just could not Give Up Alcohol.

Giving Up Alcohol

There are so many different things in the world that people love to do.  We all have different hobbies and interest, which makes us all different from one another.  Then there are some that really have no interest in anything in their lives, because they have been caught up in an Addiction of some sort.  Nothing is really important to them except the Alcohol or Drugs they are addicted to. 

Some may depend on Drugs and then some with an Alcohol Addiction.  These folks are missing out on so much that life has to offer.  If only they can just start a new life by "Giving Up Alcohol."  Easier said than done, but it can be done with the right attitude in mind.

When I decided to change my life for the good, I thought about what it might feel like to never have any harmful substances in my body again.  I was hesitant to give up the alcohol do to that feeling I might have with the absence of the almighty drink.

Well, I then said what in the world would I do with no drinking involved in my life?  How will I survive?  This is my crutch that I lean on when life is not going on a smooth pace.

Finally I said this is enough of the playing games, and now it's time to do some real bussiness with my demons that lurk in me.  It's time to tell them who is the real boss here.

As I have learned over time, and still today, I made a pack with myself to always keep a Positive Attitude in everything I do from this time forward.  If you start out with that frame of mind, it will help you so much to achieve not only Sobriety, but anything you do in life.  It has helped me achieve many things in my life in only a short period of time.

Your mind is a powerful and beautiful thing.  You can train it to go in any direction you wish.  Some unfortunately choose the wrong direction and get caught up with the Addiction. 

In order for you succeed to your Road of Recovery you will have to stand strong and agree that if you are going to make this change, you have to promise yourself, NOT anyone else that you are willing to NEVER pick up a drink again.  Don't let your addiction run your life, and ruin the love and friendship of families and friends. Keep thinking what you will lose if you do not change your ways.  Then, think of what you will gain continuing with your addiction. 

You have to do this for YOU!  If you don't have respect for yourself and just do not care about yourself, then it will be a little tough to even have any feelings or care about anyone else.  Even though everyone will be on your side and support you in whatever you decide, this is your life, so give yourself that second chance you deserve-SOBRIETY!

When you find Sobriety, hold you head high, be proud of your accomplishments, smile, and say to yourself,
I DID IT!  I have conquered my Addiction, and now I can Live a Clean Life again.

Stay Positive, Stay Sober, Go For It, you will not regret it!

Sobriety-How Your Life Can Change With One Single Step

Living with a Alcohol Addiction is a serious problem.  Some of us can occassionaly have a drink or so at a party or some sort of function without any problem.  We can have our fun for the day and leave the bottle alone for some time.  Then there are some people that once they start drinking they can't stop until the party is over or they run out of their supply. 

I know, because I was one of the people that could not stop.  I didn't think anything of it, I was just having fun like everyone else, so I thought.  I was getting more wasted on each drink but, I thought I was fine.  People would say, haven't you had enough?  I laughed and said yeah, right.

The more they harped on it the more I wanted to drink.  This went on for years with no end in site.  I got to the point in my life that I didn't even want to go anywhere unless there was alcohol at the function.  If not, I would bring my own and keep it in the car.

I was embarrassed about my addiction but did not have the courage or the willpower to call it quits. I knew I was doing wrong and that I was destroying myself, and my family too.  But, when thinking about that, it still wasn't enough to surrender to my addiction.

As I got older and wiser I made a point and a promise that I would NEVER drink and drive, and I stuck to it.  Just becuase I was ruining my life I certainly didn't want to ruin a perfect strangers life and their famlies due to an accident caused by me.

I sat down one day, and started to think of what my life will be in the future continued living the life I led.  I added up some of the pros and cons, and believe me the pros out weighed the cons by far.  So, the math doesn't lie, I had to start thinking of what I was going to do next.

First, I had to prepare myself, and start a game plan on this huge change in my life I was about to start.  All my life I aways had big Dreams of what I wanted out of the short life we all live.  But, with the life I lead now it would never happen because I had other things on my mind, like the Alcohol.  That always seemed to come first and when I really thought about it, sometimes before my own family and friends.  I said that this is really sad that I would even think this way.

I'm a sick minded person I said to myself.  But that will change real soon.  I knew I couldn't just slow down like some say to do.  I wasn't that type of person.  I would have to just go Cold Turkey and live with the consequences,  I was worried about the DT's and how I would feel after giving up the drink.

I thought, I accuired this addiction on my own because of no self dicipline, no strength or willpower, so now I have to stand up to my wrong doing and fight the demons within me.

This will happen with one Single Step.  It is the step to Sobriety.  You have to take that first step in order to keep walking away from your addiction.  As they say "Baby Steps".  It will all fall into place if you just have the willpower and keep a Positive Attitude that you can and will conquer this addiction.

It will be a lot harder to give up the drink than it was to start the drink.  Once you have made your mind up, and you have admitted to your addiction, and also realize and accept that you will never be able to pick up a drink again, is when your recovery will start.  Your lives will begin to take shape again, and you will have the feeling of accomplishment and pride that you beat your addiction.

To me, it has been wonderful!  Everyday and everything seems so clear now, and the only thing I wished I could change is that I should of done this years ago.  But, it's never too late to make your change.  With all your hard work, dicipline, and willingness to start a fresh life, you will get to where you want, and that is Sobriety.

Take that Single Step, and keep heading for that light ahead of you, and with your determination you will catch up to the light and will see a  new and brighter life that has been waiting for your arrival.

God Bless To All!