Living a sober life is actually a journey that must be traveled by every former alcoholic. However, most addicts find themselves going back to their former habit because they don’t know what lies ahead of them. You see, in life, good things don’t come easily. You must make sacrifices for you to achieve any milestone. The problem is that the majority of alcoholics feel overwhelmed in the first few days of their journey towards a sober life. They imagine that life will be boring without alcohol. The truth is that your life will be more meaningful after you have quit drinking. Here is a list of benefits you can never get if all you do is drink alcohol.
1. Improved Relationships
Alcohol is a home breaker. There are many marriages that were shuttered simply because either of the partners was so deep into alcohol. As an alcoholic, you will certainly not have time for your family. This means that you will become an absentee parent to your kids. Moreover, you will always be fighting with your spouse because you are no longer fulfilling your duties in the family. You are also likely to engage in love affairs that increase your chances of getting STDs. But once you achieve sober recovery, you will immediately start rekindling lost love with your immediate family members by spending more time with them.
2. You Save Money
Drunkards hardly ever have money. This is because they squander all their money on alcohol. That’s why they keep borrowing money from friends and relatives. But when you start living a sober life, you will be able to save money that’s enough to pay your bills and still have a few bucks for investment projects. And as time moves by, you will be able to improve your living standards and ditch the life of mediocrity.
3. Improved Memory
An alcoholic can never be in control of his life. This is because all the decisions are influenced by alcohol. The problem of this vice is that you become so forgetful. In other words, you are not able to account for things or situations. For instance, a drunkard can have wounds that he can’t explain how he got them. Whether he was punched by someone in the face or got hit by a car, he can’t remember how it happened. But when you ditch drinking, you will be making decisions that don’t leave you with regrets because you made them while sober.
4. You Look Good
As a drunkard, you will definitely engage in fights that will leave your face scarred. Besides that, alcohol makes your eyes sag and your skin also looks horrible due to dehydration. Such looks tell people that you are not a responsible person. This is because you can’t earn trust of other people when you are not able to take care of yourself. The problem is that you will miss out on so many life changing opportunities. But when sober, you tend to have good looks that make people want to associate with you. If you go for a job interview, the employer will give you the first priority due to the image you have.
5. You Manage Time Well
A drunkard is a serial time waster. Such a person spends the whole day doing nothing. If you were drunk the previous night, you will certainly not be in a position to work due to the hangover. You will actually be tempted to sleep for a few hours instead of going to work or school. When you are done with sleeping, you will feel like drinking again and the cycle will continue. On the other hand, soberness teaches you to manage time because you get used to following a predefined schedule of doing things.
6. More Energy
Your body needs to rest after a day’s work. Sleeping for about 8 hours gives you the privilege of waking up feeling energized, meaning you will be more productive. This happens because your brain and muscles have had enough time to recover from the strains of the previous day. However, an alcoholic always feels worn out because he doesn’t allow the body to rest like it should. This is made harder by the fact that the person has to go to the washroom many times to relieve the bladder.
7. Other People Respect You
It’s hard to earn the respect of others when you have already created an impression that you don’t value your life. In fact, when you go to social events such as weddings or parties, nobody will want to hang out with you. The problem is that people will never take you seriously no matter what you say because they know you are not yourself. But with sobriety, you will not need to demand respect from others because you will earn it automatically. When people see you sober, they will involve you when they need ideas, especially in your area of expertise.
8. Improved Self Esteem
Research shows that people that are addicted to alcohol suffer from low esteem. This is because they are ashamed of the things that they do when drunk. They also don’t groom themselves by taking showers, trimming their hair or wearing nice clothes. And as such they are unable to walk with their head held high. On the other hand, soberness boosts your self-esteem even when in the midst of other people. The confidence comes in knowing that you are in your best behavior at all times.
9. Stress Free Life
As a drunkard, you obviously lead a lying life that’s full of life. You worry what will happen to you in case you are caught by cops driving under the influence of alcohol. You lie to your spouse about your whereabouts and wonder what will happen once you are found out. You also engage in nasty things such as stealing just to get money for buying yourself booze. But when you are sober, such worries become a thing of the past because your life is not in a mess.
10. You Become Healthier
Indulging in alcohol increases your chances of getting certain diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and pneumonia among others. The toxins that are present in alcohol actually wear your body out so much that being sick becomes the order of the day. This happens due to reduced immunity. But when you quit drinking, your immunity improves because the body is not distracted by the process of filtering out alcohol.
