Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
For any newbies out there like me, here is another helpful website I found regarding alcoholism and addiction:
http://www.helpguide.org/topics/addiction.htm
(if the link does not work you can copy and paste it)
One of the exercises on this site is evaluating the costs and benefits of drinking.
I made a list of the benefits of drinking. I came up with only four things. Although one of them is a biggy in that I drank in excess to forget about my problems. My benefits of not drinking list keeps getting longer every day.
One of the biggest benefits of being sober for me is that I feel less withdrawn. When I am out and about doing chores in town, instead of keeping my head down and avoiding eye contact, I am looking at strangers, smiling at them, and sometimes saying hello. If I see someone I know, I chat with them rather than avoiding them.
Additional benefits include having more energy, waking up feeling good instead of really bad (physically, mentally and emotionally), and being more productive.
What are some of the benefits of not drinking that others here are experiencing?
http://www.helpguide.org/topics/addiction.htm
(if the link does not work you can copy and paste it)
One of the exercises on this site is evaluating the costs and benefits of drinking.
I made a list of the benefits of drinking. I came up with only four things. Although one of them is a biggy in that I drank in excess to forget about my problems. My benefits of not drinking list keeps getting longer every day.
One of the biggest benefits of being sober for me is that I feel less withdrawn. When I am out and about doing chores in town, instead of keeping my head down and avoiding eye contact, I am looking at strangers, smiling at them, and sometimes saying hello. If I see someone I know, I chat with them rather than avoiding them.
Additional benefits include having more energy, waking up feeling good instead of really bad (physically, mentally and emotionally), and being more productive.
What are some of the benefits of not drinking that others here are experiencing?
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Dick Van Dyke’s path to sobriety was a turning point in his life and career. Here’s what happened:How He Got SoberStruggles and Realization: Van Dyke began drinking as a teenager, largely to cope with shyness and social anxiety. Alcohol made him feel more comfortable in social settings, but over time, his drinking spiraled out of control. By his mid-40s, he recognized that he had an addictive...
I don't hate myself
I goto work and am proud of myself
I don't waste 6 hrs a day in abar.
I didnt smell like beer at my sons Christmas singing today
I don't blow 40$ a day on beer and bar food
I am alive
I have chronic pain and the alcohol helps with that but the next day is usually hell. Have to drink more so I don't feel so bad. Vicious cycle...gone.
laying there crying. Now my extra money goes on my new puppy getting him trimmed and buying him a higher quality of food. And its still cheaper then the money I spent on whiskey, wine beer.
Health, and thats the ultimate benefit. But also clarity, acceptance, serenity at times, the ability to face myself and consequently everyone else. There are no longer any "benefits" to drinking for me, and there hadnt been for a very long time.
To drive without fear of being stopped and arrested for being drunk. To be able to empathise, support and encourage others, which means I am able to make a difference in the life of another human being. Being able to go to university which I never dreamed possible. To be inspired and taught and open minded.
To be able to enjoy Christmas and not ruin yet another.
To be able most of the time to deal with problems as they arise. To be able to have courage and hope in the face of sickness and bereavement. To be able to feel my emotions, which allowed me to mourn and recognise what a wonderful thing it is to be able to accept what it is that life throws at me.
Wonderful friends, my grandchildren, my son and his wife, sharing my life with one of the most spiritual people I know. Being able over time to develop a relationship with my mother and to be able to let go of the resentment, pain, anger, sadness and bewilderment that I brought with me from my childhood.
As a psychotherapist, having the privilege of listening without judgement, with compassion, and love, to the pain of others and to give them hope to carry on.
The gratitude I have to those in the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and those who came before, who gave freely to me that I might live and the joy I have felt in 12th stepping alcoholics desperate to get sober, and to sponsor those who will then sponsor others, that our programme of recovery which I believe to be divinely inspired, is the same now as it was when Bill first scribbled the steps on a pad at his bedside.
I could go on and on but I won't , this list could be endless, which is the most amazing fact about living sober - the benefits are endless!