Jul 31 2008
Understanding What Comes First – Recovering Drinkers and Their Priorities
Once we have made a commitment to others and ourselves that we will do something about our drinking the situation becomes remedial. Nothing else takes priority over staying away from alcohol. It does not matter how badly you were addicted, the fact you chose to stop means you knew you had a problem. To what degree matters little since alcoholism is a progressive disease and once it has hold of you, it only gets worse.
The authority of the A.M.A. claims the treatment for alcoholism is “not taking a drink”; what would we do without the experts! They are right of course, but in the most simplistic of terms. Sure treatment goes far beyond this as anyone who has been through recovery can attest to, but the truth is we can’t drink anymore – period! Knowing this, we must now avoid drinking by whatever means necessary. It needs to become our number one focus.
Does giving sobriety this much priority in our lives means we neglect the other things of importance such as our family, friends and employment. Of course we care about these things however, if we do not put our sobriety first we will eventually lose the things that are so precious to us. Without our health, nothing else matters. The fact we are getting sober in the first place stands as testament to our love for family and our regard for friends and our work. Being clean and sober best serves them all.
When we first became sober, our early recovery may have been plagued by indecision. It’s common in new sobriety to display signs of hesitancy at home and work when faced with choices. After all, we have wasted a lot of time and much has been ignored, so now we are anxious to make up for lost time. Even making up our mind about which tie to put on can make us frustrated. A newly sober businessperson cannot decide whether to hold a meeting or issue a memo instead. So conscientiously sorting out our priorities becomes important. Not drinking is crucial to this process so it always must take precedence so remember “first things first”.
Remaining sober, not having that first drink, this is what is important especially in early recovery. Our minds are not performing at par during this period and focus is limited. We can become easily distracted and quickly revert to our old ways so we must always declare ourselves alcohol free; even saying it aloud to ourselves helps. Reinforcing the importance of our overall health, maintaining a suitable fitness regimen, getting enough rest, eating well and following our program of recovery is forever the first order of business.
When we drank uncontrollably, we were unhealthy, disorganized, undisciplined, confused, desperate, and lonely, suffering through all this in an emotional fog. Even the early problem drinker must recognize some of these signs of an ailing soul. Now sober, by placing our abstinence first among our priorities we are much better able to live a more controlled and orderly existence. Discipline comes with a clear head and thoughtful conduct, qualities we desperately lacked in the throes of our drinking. This is why not drinking must remain the number one priority for us; everything else in our lives depends upon it.
To set up an appointment with Michael Pearlman, M.D.,
Call 1 (866) 285-3400 toll-free or (617) 620-2230,
Or complete and submit our
Appointment Form
For further information about Michael Pearlman, M.D.’s proven treatment program
follow this link now.
Learn more about the FreedomFromAlcohol Method.
