3 Keys to Beating Alcohol Addiction

It helps to think of beating an addiction to alcohol in 2 stages. The first stage, when you first get sober, is early recovery. The rest of your life is what we would call long term sobriety.

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 I would refer to as 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 either way there is definitely a "breaking in" period of recovery where you are scrambling to get a foothold on how to live life without drinking. 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 learn how to do everything in your life all over again because now you are going to do it sober. This might sound quite trivial but in fact it can be quite an ordeal. Staying sober is an ongoing education and you have to stay teachable in order to make it in long term sobriety. That means that you must be eager to learn all sorts of different things on a regular basis. If you are cocky or look down on the idea of learning new things about how to live then you will never make it through 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 others who are on the same path as we are in order to draw strength and knowledge from them. This is part of the learning process as well...it is difficult to learn if there are no teachers in your life. In recovery, our fellow alcoholics become our instructors and we learn from their knowledge and hope that they give to us.

The 3rd tactic in beating alcoholism is in the drive for holistic growth as a person. 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 knowledge and passion and purpose. One example of this might be daily exercise that might become a crucial part of someone's growth in recovery. This might not have much to do with learning but it's a new action of purpose that can be a crucial piece of their sobriety.

If you take these 3 key strategies and use them all in your life you will notice that it is an holistic approach to recovery. You don't want to limit yourself to what you can achieve or what you can learn just because it is not what others are doing in pursuit of their recovery. For example, practicing Tai Chi or getting into the habit of jogging might not seem relevant to beating alcohol addiction, but it has become a pillar of some people's sobriety and is as important as more traditional recovery strategies.