I drink every night.
Sometimes a tiny bit. So one whiskey.
Sometimes a bit more. To finish off the day. Whatever that means.
And maybe once or twice a week I drink to tiddlyness.
Anaesthetic
I know why.
The weeknight drinks are anaesthetic.
The weekend mini-binges are reward.
I wake up each day with a head full of ideas and ambition. I race through the day implementing and activating all sorts and I never stop.
I love it that way.
Then, at the end of the day at about 7.30pm I have some alcohol because it slows me down, makes me tingle a bit and makes me smile. And relax.
Time
I am concerned that this behaviour is shaving time off the end of my life though.
Maybe a year. Maybe two. Maybe more.
I’d rather have these years than not have them.
But clearly not enough to stop drinking in this way.
What to do?
At this precise moment the only strategy I have is ‘replacement’.
To try to replace drinking alcohol with something else between the hours of 7.30pm and 11pm each weeknight.
And what else could I reward myself with at the weekend? I can’t remember the last time I didn’t drink on a Friday and a Saturday night.
I have no idea at the moment. I quite like drinking you see.
Have you had this conundrum? What did you do?
The voice in the back of my head says, ‘Do more work.’ And this is part of the solution actually. I have a lot to do. But not every night.
4 Comments
Hi Michael
Similar to smoking, it is the Ritual of drinking, and the Activity of drinking (incl. the talking with partners, going out and meeting with friends, or just sitting down with a drink to read the free local rag newspaper) that we like so much / find ‘addictive’, often more than the chemical components involved.
So, you don’t need to replace the Activity, or the Ritual necessarily, just the chemicals.
Since returning from Do Breakthrough I hardly drink …
My ‘go to’ drink is G&T: so I just replaced the gin with a non-alcoholic alternative BUT still have the Ritual of making the drink(s) by selecting, measuring and mixing the non-alcoholic alternative with the ice, the lemon / lime / cucumber, the tonic; still have the Activity of performing that Ritual; and sill have the Activity of having the drink with my partner, free local rag, friends etc.
It has worked for me.
All the best
Ed
Hello Ed. I’ll go to Seedlip again then. It’s a brilliant thing.
And yes, it’s the ritual that is the draw isn’t it.
I feel better when I don’t drink. And when I drink more water.
I’ll give it a go.
Michael
Hi Michael,
So I did Similar to Ed after Do Breakthrough & stopped drinking in the week. I still do mini binges at weekends or on hols.
I’ve always exercised. I now exercise more obsessively. Tai Chi is good, but I also do a lot of callisthenics too.
As Ed says it’s the rituals we have or habits we form that are challenging to give. So perhaps a new habit.
BW
Spence
Thank you Spencer.
I am trying the ‘Seedlip’ diet.
Let’s see how things go!
Michael