1,000 Days Alcohol-Free
I’m officially in the “Comma” Club!
If you would have told me 1,000 days ago when I started this journey that I would have gone 100 days, let alone 1,000 days alcohol-free, I would have said you were crazy!
My plan was to get my drinking under control and then moderate my drinking. But what happened is my desire for alcohol changed! My desire for it is gone!
So I wanted to share a few things that I have learned in the past 1,000 days. 21 things I’ve learned in no order.
My authentic self is pretty amazing! I like myself again. What people see on the outside isn’t the true picture of one’s whole self.
When I removed alcohol my mind, body, and spirit were renewed. My connection with God is so much stronger. I’m Alive in Him.
Peer pressure and fitting in don’t go away after high school & college. In fact, it gets worse. I witnessed and have felt the pain of being left out. But, I’m learning that I’m not alone in this either.
I’ve learned that I’m here to reach out and help heal others who have suffered pain and rejection. Women who now cope with stress by numbing out with food and booze.
My brain and yours is an amazing organ and they can get sick. Your brain and body can be reprogrammed at any age. It DOES NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT! Therapy, counseling, and coaching are amazing to facilitate healing.
You can be brainwashed so easily. Marketing works! Look at our society. Diet culture and Big Food, Big Alcohol, and Big Pharma are literally killing us. American citizens are more unhealthy than they have ever been. Who benefits from this? Who makes $$$s? The aforementioned.
I thought I was alone in this struggle. I thought it was my fault. I discovered I’m not alone!
I now recognize stories that I have been telling myself are not always true and these stories can keep us stuck. These stories can also warp our perceptions of events and over time if not checked can create a victim mentality. I got stuck here for about 7 years.
My anxiety is basically gone - no more meds. My depression medications are working and I’m slowly working on coming off of them. If you have anxiety or depression and you are self-medicating with alcohol to relax or help with these conditions you are throwing fuel on a fire. I now feel all my emotions like I should. Yes, this sucks at times but we are not meant to feel happy all the time.
I’m not an alcoholic. This term held me back for years. I was not going to be labeled. You don’t have to have a rock bottom to examine your relationship with alcohol.
Alcohol causes 8 types of cancer- including breast cancer. Every drink you have increases your chances of getting the disease. It causes you to hold on to weight around your middle. It is bad for your heart. The studies that say it’s good for you are funded by Big Alcohol.
Alcohol is highly addictive to humans. If you are a human you can become addicted. It’s not your fault either! Since you were a small child you have been given messages that alcohol goes hand in hand with life.
Since I quit drinking I’m present for my life.
I can drive my car at 9pm and not worry about getting a DUI - that’s real freedom.
I’m goofy and just as much fun sober. Ok, obnoxious! Just ask Walmart employees. 😂
I drank at events because they were boring events. I drank at home in the evening and didn’t get things done. That was boring night after night. Rinse and repeat.
I get so much done now. I’m no longer sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.
No more hazy or foggy memories from last night. No more nights being over-served and having black or brownouts.
I’m always available to my kids if they need me.
If you’re still reading- SOBER SEX IS THE BEST!
Drinking alcohol daily or only on the weekends increases cortisol levels and makes it very difficult for some women to lose weight even when they are doing everything else right. Losing weight but still have a larger tummy? That was me. I’m now wearing a size smaller at 5 pounds heavier. I lost 14 pounds over the first six months and didn't change anything else.
I was living in the Matrix and now I’m not. I question everything I have believed before. I’m enlightened to greater possibilities. Morpheus: “You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
I could keep writing about all I’ve learned. I have no regrets. I’m an adult and if I want to have a drink I can have one. But, right now I’m not drinking because I feel so much better!
Are you questioning your relationship with alcohol? Maybe you're like me, you have tried before to cut back on your alcohol. You decided to not drink in the morning only to hear the Wine Witch calling for you at 5 pm. You got off to a strong start and then your willpower ran out the door. You are not alone. There’s nothing wrong with you.
Join me and my friend and fellow Certified This Naked Mind Coach Suzanne Nissen this Dry January for our new program. The Alcohol-Free Spirit! It’s a 6-week program where we will take a break from alcohol and learn all about and examine all your thoughts and beliefs around your relationship with alcohol. We will also dig in and talk about how your relationship with alcohol also affects your relationship with God.
Ask yourself this: What if you could truly rewire how you think about drinking and take back your happiness, freedom, and control?
You Can! I did!