Amber Hollingsworth argues there's no bad reason to get sober. Many people enter recovery because of consequences, not choice, and that's fine: addiction damages decision-making, so people often need external leverage before they can truly want help. Her core claim: everyone has unique gifts addiction steals from the world.
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In this video, I'm going to tell you the number one reason why you should get sober. Now, those of you that know me, you've probably heard me say there's no bad reason to get sober. In fact, I don't care if you're getting sober because you're handcuffed and you're locked up in jail. That's a good reason. I don't care if you're getting sober because you don't want to lose your spouse or your kids or your job or your girlfriend's making you or your parents are dragging you to rehab. Every single one of those reasons is a good reason. And in fact, everyone I know that gets sober does so in the beginning because they're trapped in a rock in a hard place. Basically. They're leveraged in somehow, some way. Now, some addicts and alcoholics will go in. They just have sort of this, like, polite, charming mask. And they may say something like, I'm just sick and tired of doing the wrong thing. They may say something that sounds nice. I guarantee you the reason that they're doing it is because they're trapped in a rock and a hard place. That's just the truth of it. And that is totally fine. There's nothing wrong with that. Now, there are a lot of other people out there that'll tell you crazy things, like, they have to want it for themselves, or you have to wait until they hit bottom. But I don't really believe in any of that. I think if someone will do it for any of those other reasons, that's totally fine, too. You know why? Because the nature of addiction and alcoholism is you have to get someone clean for their brain to work properly. I'm telling you. Like, they can't even think about or decide to get clean until you clear their brain up. And then once you do, a lot of times they feel so much better when they get on the other side of that. They look back at it and they're like, oh, my gosh, how did I live like that? Like, they're literally like, I don't even know how I functioned. But they won't see it until they get the other side of it. I'm telling you, I see this every day in my office. So my main points are there's no bad reason to get sober. You just have to get people sober for them to actually want to stay sober. But there really is one reason that I tell most of my clients that's the most important reason. Not because of what you're going to lose, not because of the consequences, not because you should do it for this person or that person. But you know what? The number one reason why you should get sober is because you have a lot more to offer the world. If you're in active addiction, alcoholism, whatever, you might be doing. Big, successful things, I don't care. You can be successful and be an addict or an alcoholic, but in your head, you're constantly preoccupied with a substance. And what that means is everything else you're doing in life is just crap. You gotta check off in between when you can get that next pill, that next drink, that next line, whatever. When you're preoccupied like that, all of your brain power is tied up mostly in how to get the substance, get away with using it, how to medicate the coming down effects, stay out of withdrawal, all those things you're using all of your brain power chasing something. And I guarantee you that is not what you're on this planet for. Every person has a unique set of talents, skills, ability, mixed with your past experiences. Your. You have something bigger to offer this world. And by chasing those drugs and alcohol, you're cheating the entire rest of the world out of your gifts. You've got more than that to offer. And deep down inside, I know that you know this is true. You've got better things to do than chase a chemical. That is the number one reason to get sober. Now, I know some of you out there, you like to tell yourself, well, I'm only hurting myself, I'm not hurting anyone else. Wrong. That is absolutely not true. That's a lie that you tell yourself to feel okay about what you're doing. First of all, if you got anyone in your life that cares about you or loves you, when you hurt you, you hurt them. And you can say, well, they just need to worry about them. That's not the way it works. You probably care about someone else in your life and you know if they're hurting, you're hurting. So in the most immediate sense of the word, when you're hurting you, you're hurting them. But in the bigger sense of the world, when you're staying in active addiction, you're robbing the rest of the world and the people around you of what you're truly here to do, which I guarantee is not to get out there and chase a chemical. Now, if you're interested in wanting to know how to get cleanness over or how to help your loved one get cleanness over, make sure and subscribe to this channel. Because not only do I talk about my thoughts and opinions and give you great stories, but I'm going to tell you how to do it step by step. And maybe it'll help them realize that they really do have something bigger and more important to do than be preoccup preoccupied and worried about chasing this chemical. You may think to yourself or they may think to themselves, well, I still run a business or I'm still a good dad. Well, I guarantee if you weren't chasing that chemical, you'd be way better at your business and you'd be way better of a dad. I'm not saying you're not good at those things. I'm saying you could be a lot better. You've got a lot more to offer. When you free up all that brain power and that thinking power, you're going to be capable of so many more things and you're going to feel so much better. And when you do those things and you share your gifts with the world, you're going to like yourself. And you're not going to even want that chemical nearly as much because you're going to feel good about who you are and you're not going to need it anymore. For tons more information on all things addiction and recovery and lots of free expert advice, make sure and subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss a thing.
