Dragon19

How I finally became sober

Just wanted to share my story really quick. I signed up for this forum a year ago on my 25th birthday, desperate to finally quit drinking. It was ruining my life and I was struggling to find a way to stop.

I never singed back on the site but today, on my 26th birthday, I got a happy birthday email from soberrecovery.com. I've now been sober for exactly 354 days and I wanted to share how I personally did it.

I tried AA. Didn't work for me. I tried cold turkey. Couldn't do it. Then one day I read an article online about Bradley Cooper (the actor) visiting one of the Boston Bombing victims in a hospital. I must have fell into a internet hole or something because soon I found out that Bradley Cooper is a "teetotaler". I had never heard that word before so I looked it up.

A Teetotaler is basically someone who abstains from any alcohol. I was like, "huh, what a weird term. Hmm...I could be a teetotaler." It was weird, now that I had a name and an idea to rally behind, instead of just saying, "I'm sober" or "I don't drink" i could think to myself, "I'm a teetotaler. I choose not to drink so I can pursue my dreams."

I had been experimenting with an app on my iPhone called "Habit List" which helps to track habits. I was learning to floss every night and that night i added "Teetotaler". Three days later I drank again. And for the next 354 days, I have no had an ounce of alcohol.

It sounds weird but here's how I did it.

1. I read Allan Carr's book "The Easy Way to No More Hangovers" which is a book on how to train your brain to realize how awful alcohol is. The best way he puts it is, "At a fancy restaurant would you rather pay $10 for a glass of beautiful, refreshing, healthy spring water or would you rather pay $10 for a glass of pretty awful tasting poison that is going to harm your body and possibly ruin your life. Literal poison".

2. I started treating it as a habit of NOT drinking. Every time I wanted to drink I would think to myself, "Yeah, i could drink, but then I wouldn't be able to mark that check on my habit list and that sucks." and I would just hold off until the next day. And then the next. And the next.

3. This is the most important. I stopped hanging around those people who always influenced me to drink. I had a friend in the same apartment building who I would go to his house every night, drink a ton of beers, smoke cigarettes, and watch Game of Thrones or movies. It was so much fun but it was killing me. I just stopped going over there. Done.

4. I started exercising. Not only was I getting healthier by not drinking, I was counteracting all the bad stuff I had done to my body. When I started focusing on being healthy, drinking was the last thing on my mind because there is literally no benefit to it. Nothing.

So that's it. Here I am, one year later and I could not be happier. I hope what I've said here helps some people because I know what it is like to be stuck in that hole where you buy a 12 pack, and then pour it down your sink, CONVINCED that you will never drink again, only to drive to the store later for more beer. It sucks man, it really does. But you can get better. It's hard but you can do it. No incredible feat is easily attained. Since I was able to stop drinking, I can do anything. So can you.

Now do it. Tonight. Now. TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE!

Thanks.