I had an email from someone yesterday, she explained how miserable her drinking was making her but closed the message by saying ‘I am just not sure I am 100% ready to quit’.

I totally understand this. It took me  www. Love Pattys .org    a decade to stop drinking and for the first five years of that, I was in denial about the problem. I point blank refused to accept that I couldn’t find a way to moderate my drinking rather than stop completely.

Pretty much everything I liked to do involved drinking alcohol. How could I give it up, my life would be a misery, wouldn’t it?

Think of the movie The Truman Show, the character played by Jim Carrey is perfectly happy with the bubble he lives in. The town is portrayed as nothing less than perfect and he is repeatedly told that he should be grateful for the wonderful life he has.

Drinkers live in a similar bubble of unreality. Alcohol is legal and endorsed by the government, the manufacturers have free reign to advertise their product in any way they want and because of this, we assume that it is not a drug at all, but rather a harmless social pleasantry.

Alcohol is exceptionally good at what it does, it is the second most addictive substance on earth (just behind heroin). Alcohol kills 2,500,000 every year and pretty much every one of those people at one point claimed ‘I can quit anytime I want’.

You are not sure you are ready to quit drinking because you are afraid.

Alcohol has absolutely convinced you that it helps you cope with life. It has told you so many times that it is a special treat that you believe in it as much as you believe in gravity.

When I tell people just how much better my life is now I don’t drink it often makes no impact on them at all. I presume they are thinking ‘well good for you, it wouldn’t be like that for me though’.

Ask anyone who is more than six months sober and they will confirm for you that every aspect of life is better without alcohol.

Not just a little bit better!

Everything gets better when you get startedMy financial situation, my relationships, my energy levels, my health and much more are off the scale better.

It is natural to be afraid of the unknown. But if you keep listening to the voice of fear in your head you will always stay in your comfort zone.

At the moment your comfort zone involves drinking poison for fun. Sure it’s warm and cozy there but the lease is very short.

Back when I was a drinker and I was refusing to quit. I knew deep down in my gut that I was killing myself and hurting my family badly. I believe that you also have this nagging doubt.

My advice, listen to it. Pushing it down and suppressing the truth is only going to make you very unhappy.

Use that pain and fear as your motivation to move into a bright new phase of your life. Come see how amazing a happy sober life can be!