Things You’ll Be Surprised By After Getting Sober

Sobriety can’t possibly be as great as people say it is, we think to ourselves. Nobody could be that happy without alcohol. Sobriety is full of surprises. Here are just a few of them you can look forward to.

You can still have fun!

One of the first thoughts most people trapped by the disease of alcohol think to themselves when they are presented with the prospect of getting sober is: how can I have fun without alcohol? By the time someone needs to go to treatment for an alcohol problem, it is likely they haven’t really had fun in a while, at least not while under the influence of alcohol. Unfortunately, alcohol impacts the memory systems in the brain, creating an intricate association between pleasure and the consumption of alcohol. Essentially, the brain forgets that fun exists without alcohol and panics that there will never be any pleasure without alcohol.

Having comfortable, free flowing, unbridled fun in sobriety can take some time because you have to learn how to have fun again without the assistance of mind altering substances. Within a few months, however, you’ll find that you can still have fun without alcohol. You laugh a little harder. You smile a little bigger. Your senses pick up on things you haven’t picked up on in a long time. It turns out alcohol isn’t very much fun at all. The farther away you get from your last drink, the less fun all that intoxication seems.

You can even go to places where they serve alcohol!

Alcoholics Anonymous also known as “The Big Book” writes that an alcoholic can do any number of things an alcoholic isn’t supposed to do as long as they are spiritually fit. There are conditions of life every single day which pose a threat to our sobriety, if we allow them to. “An alcoholic who cannot meet [these conditions], still has an alcoholic mind; there is something the matter with his spiritual status.” Recovery is not meant to be a prison cell built with different bars. Getting sober means getting liberated from a life of limitations caused by alcohol. You can go anywhere and do anything you set your mind to, as long as you are conceded to your innermost self that you are alcoholic and that picking up that first drink is never the solution.

You don’t miss alcohol as much as you thought you would!

Everyone has the same thought when they get sober: how can I live without drinking? Turns out you don’t miss it. In a short amount of time, the good in your life of sobriety greatly outweighs any good alcohol brought into your life. All of your training, education, and therapy in treatment really helped you comprehend the fact that alcohol abuse is a coping mechanism. Treatment gave you a whole library of new coping mechanisms that are healthier and make you happier. You recognize that your cravings for alcohol all have a complex network of associations, which you can see clearly. More importantly you’ve realized that there’s nothing worth drinking over and that makes you miss alcohol even less. What you do miss about alcohol can still be traced back to a tangible set of tools you can use to improve your life by yourself without external substances like booze.

The best move to make for recovery from drug abuse is the quickest move by calling and asking for help immediately. Recovery is possible and healing will take place in mind, body, and spirit. Enlightened Recovery Solutions offers a holistic based, 12-step inspired, clinically proven program for alcoholism and co-occurring disorders. Call (844) 234-LIVE today for information on our partial care programs.