Hungering and Thirsting after Sobriety

Addiction is an appetite of desire. It’s powerful grip holds the individual captive. Our most inner drive moves us to hunger and thirst after alcohol and/or drugs. The greater our hunger and thirst, the deeper we sink into the abyss. In order to recover from this hold our addiction has on us, we must begin to thirst and hunger after sobriety. The appetite for alcohol and/or drugs compel us to satisfy those cravings that we have developed. Today’s thought, therefore, focuses on the nature of how we must learn to develop a thirst and hunger for sobriety:

If we’re going to stay sober, we’ve got to learn to want something else more than we want to drink. … we couldn’t imagine wanting any thing else so much or more than drinking. So we had to stop drinking on faith, on faith that some day we really would want some thing else more than drinking. But after … we learn that a sober life can really be enjoyed. We learn how nice it is to get along well with our family, how nice it is to do our work well whether at home or outside how nice it is to try to help others. Have I found that when I keep sober, everything goes well for me?

How do we then begin to develop a thirst and hunger for sobriety? The answer depends on how we have first come to terms with the reality and severity of our addiction. It also comes to acknowledging the length of our journey from the abyss our addiction brought us into. However, once we have acknowledged and accepted the reality of our own powerlessness over alcohol and/or drugs, we begin to make our way toward sobriety. We begin to disassociate ourselves from those that continue to use. Our desire is to no longer “hang” with those type of people. Developing healthier relationships with others in their own journey through the recovery process will become the barometer by which we utilize as an empowering force to propel us forward.

Along the way, we also discover our hidden talents, or re-discover those talents we had long since abandoned. We begin to grow, become healthier and humbled in our own experiences and how we are progressing toward a more meaningful and balanced lifestyle. Our addiction begins to crumble as we develop a new thirst and hunger for a healthy sober lifestyle.