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When you started drinking, you probably thought it was mostly for social fun times. Since that time maybe you’ve found yourself in an endless cycle and you’ve determined that it’s time to quit drinking.
The struggle is you’re not sure how to quit drinking or even where to begin looking for resources. On the flip side, maybe you’re on the fence and not really sure if you want to quit drinking and you’re just looking for inspiration and information.
Save Money
You might not realize it, but you most likely spend a lot of money on alcohol. You will be amazed to see how quickly the savings can add up if you choose to quit drinking. Alcohol is a very expensive habit and adds up quickly, especially if you are drinking alcohol on a routine or daily basis.
Saving money is just the beginning of what you will experience in the benefits of quitting alcohol. You don’t have to worry about how to purchase your next case or bottle or how to pay a bill because you spent your last few dollars on alcohol.
Feeling Like You
There are many health benefits of quitting drinking alcohol. You will feel better overall. You might be drinking to numb yourself from pain, physical or emotional, but how do you really feel when you are drinking?
When you decide to quit drinking, you may feel pretty rough for a few days while your body goes through a detoxification period, but when you make it past that challenge you will feel much better overall, and you just might feel alive again.
Open Your Horizons
No longer will your life focus around your next party or your next drink, you can learn to enjoy the things around you, and you will learn to appreciate the little things that you were probably missing when you were absorbed in alcohol.
Take your life back and find hobbies or activities to enjoy and start to soak up the precious moments that you were most likely missing out on without realizing it before.
Youthfulness
If you’re still not convinced considering these reasons to quit drinking, what about your youthfulness? Alcohol dehydrates your body and skin, which causes your appearances to age much more quickly than when your body is alcohol-free.
Build Valuable Relationships
Those relationships with your drinking buddies most likely only existed for the booze. Maybe you felt like you had to drink to have a place to fit in. Take it from us, you can build much better friendships that will add value to your life, and you don’t need alcohol for it.
A Healthy Heart
There are numerous health benefits of quitting drinking alcohol, one of which is heart health. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Studies show that drinking alcohol can double your risk of heart failure and heart disease. Protect your heart and your health.
Rebuild and Renew
The number of people you hurt or wrong when you’re drinking can add up quite quickly. One of the major steps in 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous is to make amends with people. This is so very important to being successful. You can’t change the things you already did, but you can show remorse and turn over a new leaf as you re-create your life apart from alcohol.
Liver Health
Drinking alcohol sure takes a toll on your liver. The number of deaths caused by alcoholic liver disease is nearly 20,000 people per year. Your liver has to work overtime to cope with your alcohol consumption, even in small doses.
Quitting drinking alcohol can allow your liver to recover and heal so that you can live a much healthier life.
Brain Health & Focus
When you fall into alcoholism, you practically devote your life to alcohol, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. When you make the decision to quit drinking, you free your brain from that hold.
Quit wasting your time on hangovers, illness, and extra sleep because of alcohol and let your brain focus on getting better and reaching for those goals. Your brain functions at a much higher capacity, and you will be able to accomplish so much more.
Get Some Sleep
Sleeping is impeded by alcohol. While you may believe that drinking will help you sleep, that’s actually a misconception. Excessive drinking can often lead to intense insomnia. While you might feel like alcohol helps you sleep, you’re not getting quality sleep when it is alcohol-induced.
How to Quit Drinking
Alcohol addiction is no joke, and most people don’t want to admit they need help. But you are not alone. If you struggle with alcohol addiction, there are many resources and support efforts for you to help you break those chains.
The first step is recognizing that you have a problem. Seek out support, whether you find an Alcoholics Anonymous group to back you, or you find one close, trustworthy friend to help you through the challenging times ahead.
You do not have to seek out meetings or expensive counseling to quit drinking. There are many things you can do from the privacy of your home. We do recommend that you find someone to hold you accountable, as this will increase your chances of success.
Try some of these basic actions to help you break away from alcohol and to start over in a positive manner.
- Find alternative coping methods – yoga, meditation, exercise, reading, etc.
- Make new friendships and part with the buddies who just drink all the time.
- Make it known you plan to quit to at least one person.
- Find a way to quell urges. What can you do as an alternative when you start feeling that urge to drink?
- Get rid of the alcohol in your home.
- Don’t give up. More than anything, you must stay strong. It will most likely be tough, and you may have times where you relapse, but you are not a failure. Just keep going.
Dig into available resources and take that step towards a better you. It’s worth the effort to quit drinking alcohol and take back control of your life. You are worth it.
