You Can Stop Drinking Alcohol

When I took the Five Training, I thought it would be very far to stop drinking. There were other points where the training could start my work of transformation and, indeed, I did not understand much because I should stop. After all, I was an alcoholic, and not drinking much. He drank socially as they say.

Over time, the strength training became apparent and actually decreases the amount of alcohol I consumed, but stopping drinking was something still difficult. Alcohol worked as part of my socialization and relaxation and I needed a reason, a reason to drink.

Just over a year, a person came to attend our stop drinking session and shared right away all his problems with alcohol, his drinking problems and all the things related to his behavior as an alcoholic. Through the sequence of the stop drinking programs and sessions we shared, I feel with him the pain of being a dependent to the substance. He is sweet and kind and he attended weekly group which only made me cherish it, admire it and feel much pain every time he had a crisis and turned to drink. I could feel his suffering and despair.

At a retreat last year came the insight. The fact that I helped the alcohol industry and had part in the growing field, I came to realized that it is precisely the reason and what made him suffer. It's hard to stop seeing so many people abusing alcohol. I saw clearly interconnection. He suffers and suffers because I buy alcohol and abuse it, too. I felt responsible for his pain and decided to stop drinking. The awareness of the suffering that goes with abusing alcohol came as a thunderbolt and saw clearly all the connections and the consequence of my actions.

I stopped drinking for a long time, until I relaxed and drank a glass of wine at a dinner at my house, and then a glass of beer at another event and so on. I could only drink one cup, because each sip, I always remember the consequences and the sufferings that was present. I believe that the process is on me anyway, in waves. Awareness deepens gradually. After another retreat this year, and after reading the testimony of the Mindfulness Bell magazine, my awareness became deeper and it get to my full attention to get stronger and firm to stop drinking alcohol to get rid of the consequences of my actions.

I also noticed the difference between the interdepartmental training. I'm giving up the habit of binge drinking because I understand now the effects of alcohol in my life and to the lives of the people around me. I realized how fool I am allowing the substance to slowly penetrate my system and allowing it to ruin my career, relationships and health.

For some time now, I am not drinking alcohol and my commitment is, by this my resignation, to help in some way those who have no choice. I want to help those people who want to stop drinking alcohol but don’t know how and when to begin. I want to warn those individuals who are suffering from the disease and not knowing the consequences. Those people need help and I want them to beat the habit for good by means of sharing my past and personal experiences while I was a slave of alcohol that put my life at risk.

Photo Credit: Paul Cardin