Want to quit drinking? You're in the right place.
From Seven Days Sober...
"People quit drinking for lots of different reasons. I’ve learned from personal experience that a hard “rock bottom” situation isn't always necessary for many of us to think we’ve probably had enough. Maybe it’s just one bad night of embarrassing behavior that haunts your memory—or worse—one bad night you don’t remember at all. It’s possible that you’ve just gotten into a three-martini or one-bottle-of-wine habit that leaves you feeling debilitated rather than exhilarated. Maybe you have a medical issue that isn’t compatible with drinking, or maybe you just want to rid yourself of all of your unhealthy habits. Some people quit simply for financial reasons—and that makes a lot of sense, too.
It doesn’t matter why you’re taking this break. The point is not to pore over every slurred word, hellacious hangover or disastrous decision. The point of your seven days is to refocus your thoughts about your drinking while simultaneously discovering ways to spend your time that contribute to your well-being rather than robbing you of it."
From A Sober Year...
“Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.”—Esther Hicks.
"Before I got sober, worrying was a way of life for me. I drank because I was worried; I was worried because I drank. My drinking contributed to new worries that I couldn’t have even imagined when sober! My worries and fears were quite possibly the defining feature of my personality. Every decision I made was fear-based. I was desperately trying to hold on to “something” that I perceived someone else wanted to take from me.
Sobriety opened up crucial space in my mind to discover and eradicate the mindset of fear. I realized, through meditation and making different choices, that I didn’t have anything to worry about at all. Worrying never, ever changes outcomes for the better. In fact, worrying never changes outcomes, period. Only right action when the time comes, ethical dealings and forgiveness ever change anything."
From The Sobriety Handbook...
"Getting sober—no matter how deep or destructive your addiction—is the most difficult journey you will ever take. And it is without question the kindest decision you can ever make for your own health, and the well being of your family, friends and community. We decide to get sober when our dysfunctional coping methods no longer serve us. We use alcohol and drugs to manage painful feelings. Period. It doesn't matter what caused those painful feelings, or what those feelings specifically are.
The unifying fact of all addicts is that we use our drug of choice (in my case alcohol) to delay response to trauma, to deaden raw emotion and to escape from a difficult reality. When this stops working—when we are tired of creating more pain to mask pain—many of us decide that sobriety is the best option."
From Inside the Sober Mind...
"My shift to a Sober Mind was no accident. My success has been the result of thorough study, lots of tough love from my family and a deep desire to do whatever was necessary. And what was necessary was not only changing my habits, but also changing my entire way of being in the world.
I have a Sober Mind now, and so can you. By applying the lessons in this book you will create a seismic shift in your life. By letting go of old patterns that don’t serve you, you release yourself from all of the pain you caused yourself and others. And by replacing those patterns with the healthy, sober-minded ones in this book you are promising yourself a bright future—one filled with healthy habits, flourishing relationships and personal success.
In fact, although the book is written from the perspective of an alcoholic you can apply these principles to any problematic thought pattern. If you are a drama-holic, debt-creator, overeater, under eater, sex addict, workaholic, chronically underemployed or anything else, you can apply these same ideas to what ails you."