So, maybe you have decided that you would like alcohol to play a diminished role in your life. Maybe you have even decided you would like to remove its debilitating affects from your life entirely … If so, the question now becomes: HOW in the world do we do so?

Lots of folks are drinking out there. Most of our cultures promote it, many of our friends encourage it, and our own ego oftentimes desires it. And yet, more and more folks are choosing to replace the habit of drinking alcohol with Self-Affirming alternatives.

And they all seem to have a “best way” to quit, and some of their ideas might prove helpful for you. Attending support groups, keeping a recovery diary, submitting to a Higher Power, ignoring ridiculously high relapse rates, setting monthly drinking goals, establishing daily/weekly drinking limits, doing the opposite of what non-recovering addicts do or advocate, spending more time with those who don’t drink and less time with those who do, meditating, doing yoga &/or Tai Chi, showing forgiveness for all your past transgressors (resentment is a potent drinking trigger), keeping yourself busy, cleaning your home, going for a long walk in Nature, caring for a pet, playing with your children, cooking a healthy meal, being consciously grateful for your life (sadness is yet another big drinking trigger), purposefully altering your daily routines, volunteering in your community (especially with the homeless, who are often abusers of alcohol as well), quitting smoking (nicotine dramatically intensifies one’s urges to drink), reading (especially recovery literature), fulfilling your “bucket list”, turning off your television (especially the news – depression &/or feelings of hopelessness are also powerful drinking triggers), exercising, praying, and helping another “addict” to quit drinking are all practices that can indeed help you remove yourself from alcohol’s grasp.

Aaannnnnnnnd … NONE OF THEM ARE NECESSARY for you to do so!

All you need to do to be free of alcohol is follow the following simple steps:

Step 01) Pause in the moment, and RECOGNIZE your urge to drink …

Step 02) REALIZE where this urge comes from (your ego’s fears) …

Step 03) THANK your ego (and its addictive tendencies) for doing its best to keep you “safe” and “happy”. It’s not doing a very good job, of course, and yet it doesn’t know any better, and it is trying so hard …

Step 04) REASSURE your ego that you are not quitting alcohol forever; only for this one moment … That will help it to relax and allow you to engage the all important —

Step 05) Immediately go forth and BE KIND somehow. Do something – anything active – that is designed to bring another person Peace or Joy. Then, for at least as long as you continue to do so, you will be completely urge-free and addiction-free. In these moments, you are no longer an addict – congratulations!

Note: for this all-important final Step, it helps immensely if the deed somehow relates to the urge of drinking alcohol … Maybe you will go give cups of tea (if it’s cold) or cups of lemonade (if it’s hot) to homeless folks. Maybe you will go buy a six pack of beer and pour it out on the ground (one less six pack for someone else to lose themselves in). And maybe you will simply go onto your back porch and express your gratitude for that one second of sobriety.

If you can manage to perform these 5 Steps, then all that remains is for you to live on, enjoying your life until the next craving comes — and then engage them again (& again & again & again).

The more often you do so, the easier it will continue to become to choose Self-affirmation over self-destruction,

… to choose Peace over worry or regret,

… and to choose Love over addiction.

“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Now that you have awoken, avoid going back to sleep.” – Rumi