This week we thought we’d write about something you wouldn’t expect:

The Benefits of Continuing Your Drinking!

Let’s be realistic here – there are benefits, otherwise you wouldn’t keep drinking.

My Alcohol Use:

  1. Relieves my anxiety;
  2. Eases my boredom;
  3. Mitigates my loneliness;
  4. Lubricates social events;
  5. Relieves my physical aches and pains;
  6. Improves my sex life;
  7. Calms my nerves;
  8. Gives me a “buzz”;
  9. Adds to celebrations;
  10. Deadens my negative feelings;
  11. Passes the time;
  12. Makes my stories funnier.

That’s a list we’re sure you can add to, and some may not apply to you, but we think it’s a pretty good start. Delete what you don’t use it for and add any others that apply.

Now let’s make a second list:

The Costs of Continuing Your Drinking:

It’s also true that your continued alcohol use will have some costs and it helps to look at them too.

My Continuing Alcohol Use Is:

  1. Damaging my health;
  2. Jeopardizing my marriage;
  3. Endangering my life;
  4. Hurting my career;
  5. Depressing me;
  6. Ruining holidays and other events;
  7. Scaring my children;
  8. Hurting my finances;
  9. Ruining my sex life;
  10. Undermining my achievements;
  11. Causing weight gain;
  12. Destroying my motivation.

Sound familiar?

You know, of course, that the “benefits” are mostly short term while the costs are generally long term.

Frankly, that explains why it’s so easy to keep on drinking – you’ll benefit today, but the “bill” won’t appear until later. Maybe not until much later?

If you grew up with Popeye cartoons you’ll remember Wimpy who was always saying, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

Sadly, we’re all pretty much Wimpy a little too much of the time. Having our “hamburger” today and postponing paying as long as possible.

Of course you see it all the time and not just with those who have alcohol problems. You see it with friends thinking about exercising, changing their diet, quiting smoking, completing their education, or any of a dozen other possibilities that would greatly enhance their lives in the long run.

So how do we actually get up the motivation to change? Let’s see.

Getting Motivated

Last week we wrote about change and this week we started off looking at short and long term benefits of continuing or curtailing alcohol abuse.

The real question is where do you get the motivation?

Motivation comes in three forms. The initial motivation, for most of us is usually fear. We get some bad news from our doctor; we get a DUI; our spouse threatens divorce; our career suffers.

Those are the sorts of events that get our attention.

Sometimes it’s smaller things, an accumulation of bad mornings, depression, and anxiety that eventually leads us to being “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Whatever the cause, we start looking around trying to figure out what to do.

With alcohol abuse that can present a problem too. The supposed “cures” are usually as distasteful as the problem, sometimes more so.

None of us wants to be powerless or diseased or spend the rest of our lives “in recovery” – nor should we. Those terms are marketing hype, not realities.

The solution is in trading old drinking behaviors – habits – for new habits that fix the underlying boredom, loneliness, anxiety and other real concerns instead of medicating them.

That’s what we do – help you put the alcohol abuse and the underlying causes behind you.

And we do it effectively, confidentially, and respectfully.

We know you’re motivated to change. Don’t wait for things to get any worse when, in far less time than you think, you can have a good life.

Let us help.

Tools We Us

Over the years we’ve found a number of resources that you may find useful. Each week we’d like to offer you a synopsis of one we endorse.

This week’s selection is:

SMART Recovery® (Self-Management And Recovery Training) helps people recover from all types of addictive behaviors, including: alcoholism, drug abuse, substance abuse, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, gambling addiction, cocaine addiction, and addiction to other substances and activities. SMART Recovery® sponsors more than 300+ face-to-face meetings around the world, and 16+ online meetings per week.

You’ll find a link to SMART Recovery, and other organizations, on our website at:

Alcohol Treatment: Organizations and Resources.

And, as always!

Call us!! One of us answers the phone personally 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, Monday – Thursday, unless we are with clients.

Even on the weekends, Friday – Sunday, we’re normally available from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

If we can’t answer because we’re with a client or away from our desks, please leave a message. One of us will usually be able to get back to you within an hour.