The Only Constant in Life Is Change.
Heraclitus, Greek philosopher
Quotes galore in this blog post, advance warning given. I love this one above from Heraclitus, ancient Greek, pre-Socratic philosopher. It is a well used, handy little quote. And, of course, it’s undeniably true… life is just so chock full of change. However, for those of us struggling to moderate their alcohol consumption, it can feel like change in this arena is simply impossible no matter how much you want to change. For the longest time, I was struggling to moderate my drinking and
just.
kept.
ending.
up.
the.
drunkest.
girl.
at.
the.
party.
Despite every single morning after the night before declaring that I would not binge drink again, that I hated myself, hated the shame I felt for being silly, drunk, obnoxious me. Or annoying, drunk, full-of-herself me. Or worse, dangerous, drunk, offensive me. I kept trying to not become that person. I kept trying to moderate my drinking to become one of those awesome humans that could drink alcohol in a classy way without ever losing control. I kept hoping that I could change. And yet change didn’t come for a very long time.
chrysalis
But once I got myself firmly into a state of transition and I started to change, the changing really started to snowball. And I assure you I am not done yet. My metamorphosis is growing, building, accelerating. Cliche, perhaps, but yes, I am on a journey. First, I started and failed to moderate over a number of years. Next, I opened up my mind to quitting and started reading Quit Lit like Holly Whitaker’s Quit Like a Woman and Laura McKowen’s We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life. Then, the biggest change: deciding to quit alcohol and committing to never questioning that decision. Once that step was made, I really started to reap the rewards of a sober life, becoming more focused, calm, level-headed, sweet smelling, bright eyed and bushy tailed. I talk about multipliers in my blog post binge/multipliers and the way in which one good non-alcoholic deed leads to another.
When you are finished changing, you are finished
Benjamin Franklin
change
The funny thing about changing, is some people cannot accept your change. The big drinkers in my family and friendship groups tended to not want to talk about ‘my journey’. Or they saw the changes in me as an insult on them. As I moved away from an alcohol-driven lifestyle, some people saw themselves in the mirror of my move and couldn’t quite hear about my story without wanting to reassure me that their story was different. They didn’t have a problem. Alcohol isn’t a problem. Drinking is brilliant. And for those people, that is OK. I am not seeking for the whole world to give up alcohol! I am just seeking for myself to give up alcohol and never take it up again. I don’t frown upon people who drink and I don’t discourage others from drinking. Ex-drinking pals often ask me ‘how’s that whole not drinking thing going?’ and I get the sense they’re looking for failure or a slip up. They’re secretly hoping I’ve fallen off the wagon. They struggle to understand my change and presume that it must be hard won. But it’s not! For me, I now have 485 days of sobriety under my belt and it has not been a white knuckle ride at all, to quote my friend Lance Kidwell. No, on the contrary, it has instead been gloriously easy, 485 days of absolutely confident kick ass sobriety. I found the anonymous poem above on a Sober Curious facebook group and just loved the overall strength and sentiment of the words. The poem read aloud in the video above is truly worth a listen.
transformation
To represent the transformation of my mind, body, soul, mood, skin and dental hygiene, I tried a non-alcoholic drinkie poo that also promises full body benefits. Introducing the first-ever collagen sparkling tea that benefits skin, hair, nails, gut, and mood. This fizzy little delight from SkinTē balances organic hibiscus & organic rose petals combined with the smooth sweetness of organic vanilla with zero caffeine to keep you calm. It is sugar-free with antioxidants, 100% DV Vitamin C and 3000mg Collagen to keep you fresh-faced and gorgeous. Talk about a transformation! Recipe below and one last quote to round us out:
I’m not the girl I was or used to be.
LIZZO
B*tch, I might be better.
SkinTē Hibiscus Vanilla
Ingredients
- SkinTē Hibiscus Vanilla collagen sparkling tea
- Fancy glassware such as these dusty pink crystal tumblers. Similar ones on Amazon here.
Instructions
- Chill SkinTe well for at least four hours in the fridge.
- Pour over ice such as these rose-shaped ice cubes featured here.
- Serve chilled and enjoy immediately.
Love the blog. Started drinking non alcoholic beer: even got Peter drinking it.
Also started to add Tumeric in my morning lemon drink: it adds a bit more flavour and apparently in about 4 – 8 weeks it may help my stiff joints in the morning!!
YAY! Glad you’re enjoying. What non-alcoholic beers do you guys like? And yay for the tumeric. I will have to try that. Big love to you.