Giving up alcohol – will my life be boring? Many of us give up alcohol because we have no choice. Our drinking has got so bad that we are miserable, we no longer have any appetite and we cannot sleep. The people we love are worried about us – or worse, very angry. We are risking our health, our relationships, our jobs, our life. So we have no choice. Of course, some people do give up because they want a lifestyle change and not because they are drinking heavily or alcoholically.
Giving up alcohol – it is a choice
Being alcohol free for these people is a choice not a necessity and more and more people are making that choice these days. However for those of us who are forced to stop it is a difficult decision and one we struggle to stick to unless we get professional help and ongoing support.
The strange thing is that many of us who are alcoholic and have to give up drinking do so very reluctantly – even though we know that alcohol is ruining our lives and responsible for much of our unhappiness. I can remember the night before I reluctantly went into rehab, looking out of my bedroom window and thinking ‘how will I ever enjoy my life again?
How will I live without being able to go out – for example to dinner – and have a glass of wine? How will I get through social occasions / relax / live without alcohol?’. Of course this totally ignored the fact that I was no longer enjoying life WITH alcohol, I was no longer going out socialising (I was drinking too much to be able to attend and behave ‘normally’ at social functions). And I was not living, I was existing.
Giving up alcohol -personal experience
So let’s fast forward. I, like many others, went through rehab and successfully managed to give up alcohol. This was over 12 years ago. One of the reasons that rehab was successful for me was that while there I actually began to see that life without alcohol could be good. I started to laugh, to feel more attractive, to believe that I could have a good, happy and fulfilled future. I got hope (when I arrived in rehab I felt hopeless).
Since giving up drinking, life has been good. It has not been as I imagined in that I have had a career change (working with addiction!). I loved my old career in the City and never thought I would change it. But I would not choose to go back as I love my new career even more! I have travelled the world and not been in an alcoholic fog. So I have really absorbed everything I have seen and remembered every moment. I have met lots of people and remembered meeting them. I have not let myself down with inappropriate comments or behaviour.
Life without alcohol doesn’t have to be boring
More importantly, my family are so pleased with what I have achieved in sobriety. They are proud that I have given up alcohol. They think I have a great sense of fun and humour. These days they know that when I behave a little outrageously that this is me behaving naturally and having fun. I am not out of control, unpredictable and embarrassing. I am game for a laugh!
You too have this choice. I can absolutely promise you that life without alcohol is not boring. It is fun and exciting. I have more energy than I ever had when I was drinking. I do not let myself down and I wake up each day without worrying about what I did the day before – who I upset, offended and let down. If I forget things it is OK – it is not because I have been drinking. Yes, life still has its ups and downs. But I am in a much better place to deal with them sober.
Try it. You will not look back.