50 Ways Sobriety Rules

For someone who has an alcohol addiction, getting sober is hard and there are many moments in the early stages of recovery where you feel like giving up. In those moments it’s good to remember why you’re striving to live an alcohol-free life and what better way to do that is to read reminders. I created this list for your reading pleasure but I also encourage you to write your own list if you feel it can help you when times get tough.

If you don’t have an alcohol addiction and just aren’t that big into drinking or you have no problems with cutting back on your drinking that’s amazing! Some of the points on this list probably won’t apply to you but many still might. And if you find nothing resonates with you then I hope that it will give you some insight and perspective on what others face.

1. You get to wake up every morning without guilt and shame
2. You get to wake up every morning without crippling anxiety
3. Your anxiety can be greatly reduced and more easily managed
4. Your insides stop feeling like rotten garbage all the time
5. You insides start to feel like they’re coming back to life
6. You no longer have to plan around when you can drink, how you’re going to drink, where you’re going to drink, how much you’re going to drink- it basically stops ruling your life
7. You’re able to drive whenever you want
8. The piece of mind that comes with knowing you won’t make a fool out of yourself in social situations
9. You have the energy to be productive
10. Your weekend diet no longer consists of garbage food that only makes you feel worse
11. Knowing you’re no longer putting something in your body that lowers your immune system, messes with your brain chemistry, increases your chances of getting some cancers, hurts your stomach lining, and loads of other terrible things
12. Your stomach lining gets back to normal and doesn’t feel burnt out and sick whenever you eat or drink
13. No more throwing up bile and blood!
14. Goodbye morning shakes!
15. Family and friends are no longer disappointed in you
16. Realizing who those friends are who want to stick with you through your recovery into the next phase of your life
17. Your bank account starts to feel full again
18. The pressure to say “yes” every time your friends ask you to go drink is automatically decided for you because the answer will always be “no”
19. Feeling empowered and stronger having gone through something really hard (getting sober!)
20. Understanding the power in saying “no” to yourself when you’ve always said “yes” to everything your whole life
21. You become more self-aware which leads to becoming a better version of yourself
22. You become more empathetic and less judgmental (because you no longer hate yourself!)
23. You no longer hate yourself
24. NO MORE HANGOVERS
25. You can leave big events early and no one will be mad at you because they’ll understand that it’s not easy to be around drunk people when you’re sober
26. You don’t break things any more (walls, knuckles, friendships, hearts)
27. You don’t lose stuff anymore
28. You stop destroying relationships
29. Decision-making skills are greatly improved
30. Skin condition improves
31. Fewer wrinkles
32. You built stronger bonds with people
33. You’re much better equipped to handle difficult situations that come up in your life
34. You get and maintain a lot more respect from people
35. There are less awkward moments and embarrassing apologies you have to make due to all the idiot stuff you do
36. You remember everything because you don’t have big blocks of time missing due to blackouts
37. Because you’re no longer drinking away your pain you’re forced to look at your pain (that’s growth, my friend)
38. You start to notice your emotional immaturity and strive to change it
39. No more weekly mental breakdowns
40. You’re able to see what’s wrong and not working in your life and you have the motivation to make more positive changes
41. You love yourself more
42. You have more strength that others and yourself start to see
43. More energy
44. You no longer feel like you’re ageing exponentially
45. You fall in love with life and want to stay in it and experience new things and appreciate the things you already have
46. Depression gets easier to deal with and can become less severe
47. There’s a higher chance you’ll start to quit other things in your life that are bad for you
48. There’s a higher chance you’ll want to start to work out since your body is coming back to life and you start to feel good again
49. You increase your discipline and willpower
50. You start to collect a small army of new friends, mentors, and resources, either online or in real life, that support you and give you motivation and inspiration to keep going