Trying to Drink Less…How Do You Cope When Life Gets Overwhelming?
How's your sober January going? I've fallen off the "wagon" three times so far.
I was on Breakfast Television 4 months ago talking about how hard it is to hang out with folks when you're abstaining from alcohol, and yet, I lost the battle on January 10th while home alone.
Am I beating myself up? No.
I'm practicing blameless discernment as Positive Intelligence encourages. I made it ten days, then I got a dollup of life lessons which in turn made me both angry and sad. It seems that's the combo that drives me to red wine!
I knew what I was doing when I poured that glass. I did it with great thought and self-awareness. Because I only had a glass, I knew it wouldn't mess the next day up, so protecting my "tomorrow" as I talked about on the TV broadcast, wasn't an issue. But I've been thinking about other ways I could have slowed my vino roll.
As a coach, I would have asked a client a lot of questions about what was important and so I took a moment to do the same with myself. Here's what I came up with. I could have:
Journaled? Written down my thoughts and feelings to gain clarity and release some of my emotions
Meditated? Practiced mindfulness or meditation to calm my mind ... but honestly I was too aggro so likely that wouldn't have happened
Talked to Someone? Yeah, this is ideal but it's hard. Most of my friends are dealing with aging parents or are still in the thick of the kid thing. So sharing my feelings about life wounds and personal growth feels selfish to me!
Run to a Creative Outlet? Whipping out a sketchpad could have been a great alternative. I will honestly think about that next time
Gotten physical? A power walk would have been great but it was 9pm, cold, dark, and slippery and I'm oddly injury prone of late so that's not gonna fly.
Tried Non-Alcoholic Drinking? I love the idea of getting some fancy non-alcoholic alternatives and leaning on those. Or I supposed I could have diluted my wine to make it a more mindful choice. (Kinda appalled at the idea, but maybe also that's a genius thought because I wouldn't want more.)
I’m aware that I don’t have all the answers, and I’m likely never going to want to give up booze forever, but I would prefer to drink when it’s purely for the taste and for 100% pleasure. So if you have thoughts, I hope you’ll share them with me!