My First Month Sober

It has been one month since I had a drink of any type of alcohol.

I have never been someone that would drink to get drunk. I believe I could count on both hands he amount of times I was drunk. At 42 years old, I always thought I was doing better than other people my age that would get drunk. I also thought I was doing better than other people my age that have had to fight what I called serious addictions.

All that time, while looking at everyone else's addictions and feeling better about myself, I kept drinking. I became a habitual drinker. I would always have a beer in my hand after work. On the weekend that would be substituted with some other drinks with higher alcohol contents. It became such a habit. I could tell that my children were looking at me differently.

So I made the decision to quite about a month ago. One struck me was President George Bush was on 60 minutes talking about his past drinking habits. He described himself as a habitual drinker, one that never got drunk, but always drank. That's when I realized I had built a tolerance to alcohol, and that I was not alone.

The first two weeks of not drinking was really hard. It was perhaps the hardest thing I have ever done. I continuously craved alcohol. I substituted alcohol with soda and iced tea. It wasn't the same, but it kept my mind off it. After about the third week, the cravings started to go away. I made it through Thanksgiving without a craving or a problem.

The first benefit I noticed from eliminating alcohol was my sleep! I started to sleep so soundly again. No longer was I waking in the middle of the night just to think about things or stare at the wall. I was sleeping a full night. I also noticed an increase in my productivity. No longer was I sitting and having a beer. I was sitting and writing. Sitting and reading, etc.

The quest to remain sober is really a person path. It is difficult to share this quest with others, because they will not see things from your perspective. Just like how I never thought I had a problem because others were worse, people would look at me and think "you didn't have a problem." I thought I did, and that's what matters. It was my personal choice to drink; it's my personal choice to stop.