3 Keys to Beating Alcohol Addiction

Beating alcohol addiction is a process that occurs in 2 stages. Early recovery and long term sobriety (the rest of your life) are the stages that make up your recovery journey.

The first stage is when you first get into recovery and you are basically shocked right out of your mind – your world is turned upside down and you feel vulnerable and scared because you suddenly do not have the crutch of alcohol to rely on. This is what we could call early recovery. There is no set amount of time that it takes to get through this stage of early recovery; some people are in it for a few months and others might be in it for a few years. But regardless, there is certainly a rough period in early recovery when the best you can do is cling to your new sobriety and simply not drink each day. This stage of recovery is very different from when you have been sober for a few years or even for several months.

One big key of early recovery from alcohol addiction is the idea of learning. You have to relearn how to do the most basic things in your life without alcohol. This might sound quite trivial but in fact it can be quite an ordeal. Recovery is all about learning so you have to be open to new ideas and concepts and remain teachable if you're going to stay sober for long. This means that you have to be open to new knowledge about how to live as you go about your new life. If you are stubborn when it comes to using new ideas about how to live sober then you'll have a tough time in early recovery.

Another key to early recovery is in support and networking. This is why 12 step meetings are so popular and helpful in early recovery. We need other people in recovery who are experiencing what we are in order to gain information and hope from them. This is a piece of your learning journey also…it is tough to learn if there is no one to teach you. In recovery, our peers become our teachers and we learn from their experience and strength that they share with us.

The third key to overcoming alcohol addiction is the pursuit of personal growth. You'll notice that this also ties in very well with learning and could almost be viewed as one and the same. But personal growth is more than just learning, it is applied life; applied habits and positive energy. One example of this might be daily exercise that might become a crucial part of someone's growth in recovery. This isn't just about learning new stuff but is also just a good habit in general that can be a crucial part of sobriety.