I took a nice, long walk today since the sun decided to finally make an appearance after several weeks, and it struck me that even the little things in my life are more enjoyable since I stopped drinking alcohol. It simply was invigorating to feel the sun upon my skin, and I noticed that I felt stronger and healthier than I have in years.
I was genuinely enjoying my day, and wondered why and how I ever got out of the great habit of walking. The only bad part was I couldn’t get that “Sunshine Superman” song by Donovan out of my head!
My walk reminded me that the sad part of drinking alcohol is that, while you’re drinking it, you don’t realize how much it’s numbing life. Even the little things, like taking a walk and feeling the sun upon your face, are numbed down to the point where they simply don’t have as much meaning as they should – or they used to. It’s only when one sobers-up that you realize how much damage alcohol has done to your awareness.
Of course, some people drink to numb the pain – but it’s at the expense of numbing everything in their lives, to the point that all they really care about is alcohol. As crazy as it seems, they place alcohol at a higher priority than their own best interests – and often can not change until they have truly hit rock bottom and lost everything.
Get Sober and Enjoy the Little Things in Life
Why wait until you’ve lost everything, perhaps even your health, before your quit drinking? If you’re trying to stop or cut back on drinking alcohol, I can only urge you to keep trying until you succeed. The major reasons to quit drinking alcohol are obvious – from your health to your relationships to your finances.
But, you’ll find dozens and dozens of “little benefits”, too. Such as enjoying your day with the family, or getting a good nights sleep, or taking a walk in the park and feeling the sun on your face. All of these little things will suddenly have more meaning, and feel more enjoyable, when alcohol is out of your life.
Alcohol truly robbed you of all of life’s little pleasures and moments – and diminished them until you no longer recognized how wonderful they were. But you can reclaim them as soon as you stop drinking, or reduce your drinking to a bare minimum. In short, when you sober up you will begin to genuinely enjoy your life again.
Besides, isn’t that all we wanted in the first place? ♦