The Benefits Of Being Sober

By Madison


When I first began writing in Recovery Princess, two of my first posts were about the advantages of being sober and 45 things you learn in the first 90 days of sobriety.

In the beginning of sobriety, almost immediately, you begin to notice the positive side of what sobriety brings to your life.

Throughout these early days, it is the small benefits that a newly sober person gets excited about. Waking up without a hangover for a whole week seems enough at times to make you want to jump out of bed and shout “Wow, this is great! I feel like a new person!”

As the months go by, there are other benefits of being sober which is why I wanted to write an updated post.

  • You notice that your mind seems clearer
  • You begin to think about new possibilities
  • The first seedlings of hope begin to sprout
  • You become more organized
  • You feel like you are on the right path to find real purpose and meaning
  • Life becomes a journey
  • People admire you and ask for your advice about how to get sober
  • Another benefit of being sober is that your problem solving ability returns. As opposed to turning to alcohol for strength or to help you deal with your problem, you are forced to rely on your natural ability to problem solve. This is huge! It is definitely tough the first few times but once you experience making it through a few of your problems without reaching for a drink, your confidence begins to restore, slowly but surely. You learn to face life’s situations and work through them using all that you have within you.
  • You begin to explore who you really are. Everything changes when you get sober. Being sober is truly a discovery of who you really are. Alcohol accentuates, creates and enhances aspects of your personality that are otherwise not present. In other words, you do, say and act differently when under the influence of alcohol. So when you quit alcohol, you will start to notice that are things that you do not enjoy as much as you used to. Your interests will start to change. This is because you are coming closer to who you really are, the natural you, the one without alcohol.
  • You start to create. Being sober for a period of time will lead you to do one of two things. You will either get very depressed and unable to accept this dramatic change to your lifestyle, which will lead you back to alcohol. Or, you will begin to create. A must read on this subject is the creative theory of recovery explained. In my opinion, creation is the only successful route to take. When you create something and get in touch with your creative side, you will begin to feel passion and purpose, this is essential in your sobriety.  At this time in my life, Recovery Princess is my creative outlet. It allows me to delve into my journey through sobriety, express myself, help and inspire others. Writing and doing research for Recovery Princess has been a huge benefit of being sober because is allowing me to explore my creative side. This of course is just one aspect of creation. What you create is entirely up to you. Do something different, try to figure out what you enjoy and do more of it. Read about subjects that interest you, work on creating a different lifestyle. The more you do this, the more of a good habit it will become. You will soon find that creation is a benefit of sobriety.

What benefits of sobriety have you experienced? Do you think there are any benefits to sobriety? Tell us what you think in the comments.

Thank you for visiting “Recovery Princess; Quit Drinking and Enjoy Sobriety”


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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 9:38 pm and is filed under Get Sober, Motivation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “The Benefits Of Being Sober”

  1. Patrick
    March 26, 2009 at 4:20 am

    I definitely agree with everything here on your list, but this reminds me of something I read once regarding quitting smoking. It said “quitting smoking is it’s own reward.” That struck me as being pretty profound at the time because I was so wrapped up in my addiction.

    Sobriety = freedom. It is removing the chains of addiction. If that were the only reward, it would be enough.

    Thanks for this awesome post, gave me a bit of gratitude today!

    #70
  2. Elizabeth
    June 8, 2009 at 4:57 pm

    Quitting drinking has renewed my faith in the power of my mind (subconscous?). This time, I left no room for doubt or questioning, but decided to quit cold-turkey. My mind gets clearer every day and I am beginning to get excited about new possibilities again, like starting another business. Definitely worth the early pain!

    #1143
  3. Madison
    June 8, 2009 at 6:35 pm

    Good for you! That is fantastic to hear, how long has it been for you? Are you going to A.A or are you doing this alone? Maybe you could share your story with us at “The Successfully Sober Project”

    I am approaching 1 year of sobriety after drinking for a very long time. The changes in my life have been huge in every area of my life. It certainly has not been easy but it feels good to learn how to live life properly and handle the good and the bad without numbing everything all the time. During the difficult times, I constantly ask myself what it is that I am supposed to learn about myself or life. This attitude has helped to get me through many times when I have contemplated picking up a drink again.

    Come back and visit often, we would love to hear of your progress and what is working for you.
    Madison

    #1144
  4. chris
    June 10, 2009 at 8:49 am

    I too am at the 1 year stage and feel i have make a huge positive decision to stop hurting my life and amy family lives with my drinking. The neg. things that happen from drinking seem to go away, they are not there in my life weekly anymore. Yes there is still life problems but I feel good not to add to life problems by drinking.

    #1147
  5. Madison
    June 10, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    Thanks for sharing with us & congratulations on your first year of sobriety. Keep coming back and let us know what is working for you. You can share your story with us here:

    #1150
  6. Kas
    October 28, 2009 at 4:44 am

    Hi,

    I’ve just stumbled upon this site and would like to say I’ve found it very enlightening. I wouldn’t say I have a big problem with alcohol, i think its more the lifestyle i choose to live & the people around me where alcohol is a big part of their life. I’ve actually quit smoking (for the 8th time) but this time i’m not touching alcohol. It’s alcohol that leads to other things and has also raised issues in my private life. I’m determined to try this life of sobriety in order to take control of my life altogether. Reading all your comments gives me strength to carry on. Thank you :-)

    #1476
  7. Madison
    October 29, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    Hi Kas,
    I am glad that you found this website helpful.!
    Keep coming back.
    Madison

    #1478
  8. hal
    December 8, 2009 at 6:53 am

    Im with you Kas, drinking leads to smoking with me and have found its easier to quit both. I can’t believe the level of sleep I go into just minutes after I fall asleep. Sobriety is a drug all by itself. I have the craziest dreams about people in my past that I never had under the influence. Truck on sobriety!

    #1509
  9. ashan
    January 14, 2010 at 10:42 pm

    just 4 days since i quit both together(alcohol and smoking) its real hard to get my mind away from it. :(

    #1536
  10. Madison
    January 15, 2010 at 8:27 pm

    Hi Ashan,
    Good for you. I have been there and it is not easy. I planned out every day and made sure I was not around other drinkers and I had plenty of things to do that would hold my interest, reading, exercising, reading recovery stories, cooking, running. I still hard a very hard time but planning the day made it easier and left no room for wandering back into old habits. Good Luck, stay strong and read, read, read!

    #1537
  11. wes
    March 24, 2010 at 3:43 am

    I’m sorry to write this, but I have reached this page searching for advice on becoming sober, but I dont drink much at all – i vaporize pot.

    This feeling you are explaining…….your mind becoming clearer, finding hope where there was none, exploring who you really are, becoming incredibly more creative…. it is the exact experience I have the moment I get high. Minus the organization part. lol.

    #2085
  12. Madison
    March 25, 2010 at 8:17 pm

    I hear what you are saying Wes, but you shouldn’t have to smoke/vaporize pot to feel this way. It should be a normal state of being, one that lasts. Pot, alcohol or any other short fixes are exactly that, they only work temporarily; they are not a long term solution. I have the feeling that you are only getting the positive feelings for a short time otherwise you wouldn’t be looking for advice on getting sober.
    I love that I don’t need to take something to feel good anymore. I don’t have to rely on a drink to feel better than I felt before. Life is not a struggle anymore; it is more of interesting journey with a few bumps along the way.

    #2088

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