There is a common myth that claims drug addicts and alcoholics must hit rock bottom before they will finally be ready to get clean and sober. This is certainly not true of everyone; however, the terrible dynamics of addiction are such that many men and women caught in its clutches can spiral downward so quickly that they never even realize how bad things have gotten until they have lost just about everything.

When an individual suffers from an addiction, family members, friends and employers suffer, too. An addict’s denial and defense mechanisms often go something like this: “I’m not hurting anyone else, and I can quit any time I want to.” Absorbed in their own misguided thinking and obsessions with drugs or alcohol, they fail to notice how much they are hurting people who care about them most.

Whether we’re new to recovery or long-time abstinent, having a sense of humor can prove immensely helpful. Not only do we benefit from a good laugh, it also helps relieve tension, eradicate stress and make our problems seem less formidable – if only for a time.

When we’re abusing substances before recovery, we are not ourselves. The awful things that many of us do when we’re using are not who we really are, they are the outcome of our substance use and the need to feed our habits. Unfortunately, some of the people who bear the brunt of our misbehavior aren’t going to see the difference between “who we are” and “what we did”.

Sobriety is great. It really is. Before achieving sobriety, many fear that they will lose their creativity, or that life will cease to be interesting or fun. In fact, these things are not true at all. There are at least as many great things about sobriety as there are harmful and life-threatening things about addiction. Keep reading to discover some of the very best things about sobriety.