Sep 15, 2016 | By Kelly Fitzgerald

7 Reasons Life Does Not Revolve Around Alcohol

Recovery

You’re not crazy – it really does seem like the world revolves around alcohol sometimes.

I think for those of us who used to indulge in alcohol, it realistically did. I planned my life around it without even knowing it. If I was making dinner or lunch plans, I picked a place that had good cocktails or craft beer. If I was traveling to a new city I would research where the hottest nightclubs were. I planned my college class schedule around my party schedule. One semester I even had 5 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I could have Monday, Wednesday, and Friday off to do whatever I wanted.

Getting sober is hard for anyone, but one of the reasons it was hard for me was because I felt like I was at a loss. I believed the world revolved around alcohol and without it I would have no life at all.

During my first months of sobriety, I was angry and sad. I felt like I was missing out. I felt this way because I still assumed that life revolved around alcohol. Although I truly believe my disease convinced me of this. It’s not weird that we feel this way when alcohol inundates the media outlets and social networks. But I’m here to tell you that life does not revolve around alcohol, here’s why.

Because alcohol isn’t the only thing you can drink.

When in active addiction we go to alcohol first. We crave it, whether we’re at a wedding, a birthday party, Christmas dinner, or just eating dinner after a long day at work. In my case, I had a favorite drink for every kind of occasion. Beer, martinis, tequila, and long island iced teas. I getting sober, I learned there are other things you can drink besides alcohol. Sparkling water, juice, different flavors of coffee, and mocktails. We tend to fool ourselves into thinking alcohol is all we can drink when it’s not.

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Because alcohol doesn’t solve your problems.

One of the biggest misconceptions around alcohol is that it’s a magic substance that cures our problems.

It seems like everyone in the world believes that, not just people with substance use disorders. Alcohol might temporarily make you forget your problems, but in many cases, it makes problems worse. It created many more problems for me, other than the ones I forgot about. When I got sober I felt I had been living a lie because I truly believed alcohol was supposed to help me. But it doesn’t. The truth is it doesn’t help anyone because it’s not a problem-solver.

Because not everyone in this world wants to go out and get drunk.

It’s easy to believe that everyone drinks just as much as you do when you’re drinking.

In fact, this might even be the case if you surround yourself with people who drink and use like you do. That’s what I did. But when I got sober I realized not everyone in this world wants to go out and get drunk! Yes, really.

Some people don’t drink at all, other occasionally drink, and 23 million others are in recovery from a substance use disorder.

Because you can have fun without alcohol.

When I started socializing in high school and college, it almost always included drugs and alcohol. It was a social lubricant for me and I was led to believe I couldn’t have fun without using a substance. What was a party without beer pong and jungle juice?

I’m here to tell you that people still party and have fun without alcohol. Life does not require alcohol to be ingested at every social function. I can go anywhere and do anything without alcohol today.

Because living without alcohol is more fulfilling.

If you are stuck in the belief that life revolves around alcohol, it will be easy for you to feel that life isn’t fulfilling unless you drink. Once you leave alcohol behind you’ll realize that life without alcohol is actually more fulfilling than life with it.

You lose the worry of moderating your drug and alcohol use, you don’t have to go through blackouts or hangovers, and your relationships and health will improve. I wish someone told me all of these things when I was convinced life revolved around alcohol.

Because alcohol isn’t out to get you.

Not only did I think alcohol was out to get me, I thought life was out to get me. That’s because I let life happen to me, especially when alcohol was involved. When I drank I gave up my freedom and my choice. I let myself and my life be ruled by alcohol, but what I didn’t realize is that it doesn’t have to be like that.

Alcohol is only out to get you when you let it. By committing to sobriety I’ve learned that I have more control over my life. I’ve learned that alcohol is not the center of my universe, and it doesn’t have to be for anyone else either.

Because life is still amazing without alcohol.

Due to the fact that we experience the misconception that life revolves around alcohol, it’s almost impossible for us to believe that life could be amazing without alcohol. But millions of people live their lives without consuming alcohol every day. Not only can life be amazing without alcohol, it may be even more amazing than it ever was

This was the case for me. It wasn’t until I got sober that I realized what a hugely negative impact alcohol was having on my life. I didn’t know my life would be better in every aspect. I didn’t realize I would feel better physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but that’s exactly what happened.

Don’t believe the myths or the lies your disease and the media tell you. Life does not revolve around alcohol. Your life should revolve around you and what’s important to you living a healthy, successful life.