Breaking Free from Alcohol Consumption

 

 

I was so young and I played a particular stunt. I attempted smoking. I do not have cigarettes, so I fabricated a local one from old and dried papers. I lit it and was inhaling the air and exhaling it just like the process of smoking the normal cigarette. Unknown to me, my mum was close to where I was performing my drama. She perceived the odor and traced the direction. Only for her to discovered her child exploring new dimension of false realities.

Obviously I didn’t know what came over me, I was just over-inquisitive. Wanting to know what I didn’t know earlier, trying out some things myself. I had been like that from childhood, but this day my good character was heading for a terrible direction. Momma caught me red-handed. My eyes almost popped out of my face, sweat began to spring from the first half of my face, the other half yet dry as desert. I knew I was in for it.

I felt like having a super-power but I had none. I would have performed a magical stunt. Momma brought me inside the house, fuming and preaching, asking what came over me. That actually for me was divinity at work. She reported me to my dad when he returned, I thought the man would beat the daylight out of me, and really my mind was made up for it. But surprisingly, Dad didn’t touch me with a rod that day, he touched me with words. What sort of words? It was his story.

I had heard a bit of it before, but this day it made more sense to me. Maybe because of the way he spoke them, but the words really sank deep in me. It was the story of his beginning, how that he wasn’t a cool headed guy from inception, how he battled with alcohol addictions, the traumas he experienced, and how he finally got free.  I knew there was a touch of divinity in that also. Many others have broken from alcohol dependency likewise, but with respect to the context of this article I’ll share a bit of practical steps that also contributed to the reality of such stories.

My last article already addressed the introductory part to this discussion, you might need to read it up, before reading this. Emphasis was made in it as regards the long-term effect of drinking, especially excessively.

 

1.      Scrutinize Yourself

On cases as this, you really need to perform a self-assessment. What is your relationship with alcohol? How often and how much do I drink? How do I feel before I drink? How do I feel afterward? A National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism also gave some questions to be asked which are as follows;

-        How does alcohol affect your social relationships?

-        Do you get to work on time?

-        Are you drunken a lot?

-        Do you find yourself thinking about alcohol?

This is a personal thing and a sincere exercise that will give you some level of insight, seeing if a break from it will be to your advantage or disadvantage. Take away any form of guilt whatsoever at the stage as it will not help you keep focus on the goal. You also need to understand that you aren’t the first picking up a new goal as this, so be optimistic.

2.      The Substitution Theory

Science taught us that Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it can only be transformed from a form to another. You need to understand that your love and interest in alcohol won’t just suddenly disappear like some magic wand. One of the things to put in place is the substitution theory.

What time of the day do you normally indulge in the drinking habit and where? You would need a new habit to replace this. It has be a building form of habit. This will also slightly affect your inner circle, you might need to put off friends who won’t respect your new decision and replace them with new valuable relationships. As regards this, it is important not to stigmatize your other friends who might still be in it, you may advise them, but try to respect their decisions too.

3.      Set Your Goal

Place a time-limit for your new reality. From the story my dad told me, he said the goal he set for himself was that he wants to stop drinking completely before he’s married, and that he doesn’t want his children born while he is still drinking. And he really worked towards achieving that. I have never found my dad drinking beer, not once. When he first told me he was once drinking, I was surprised, because he didn’t look like it any longer.

In conclusion, the God-factor, some things are exclusively beyond human and scientific capacity. Find a connection with divinity for goals and target that seem stronger than your humanity. As much as science and the world systems attempt, we cannot eliminator God in the operation of humans.

 

Article By:

Oluwadurotimi Okediji

Food, Nutrients and Health