Alcoholics have the unique challenge of having to relearn everything about how to live a successful life. It is a monumental challenge and yet at the same time it is really pretty simple. They say that the only thing you have to change in recovery is “everything.” That pretty much nails it.
What this is really getting at is that the sober alcoholic must now learn how to change their attitude and their entire thinking process. We used to deal with problems and deal with even celebrations by drinking. We used to deal with everything in our lives by drinking. Now that we are sober we need to find a new way to deal with any and all situations. This is a huge challenge and of course it really happens slowly over time.
Recovery is an awakening and a rebirth of sorts. What we are really doing when we live sober is to reinvent ourselves as a sober person. To do this we must create a new life for ourselves each and every day. It is not enough to simply put the booze down and trudge on with our lives as if nothing had changed. Everything has changed and we need a new approach for just about every aspect of our being if we are going to remain sober. Our old ways of coping did not work for us. So we must relearn how to live and in doing so we redefine who we are in sobriety. One way to do that is by reaching out and helping others on a regular basis. If we do this it creates a strong foundation for recovery.
Learn more about how to help an alcoholics and live sober.