The F Word That’s Keeping You Stuck
Do you ever get the idea that life would be better without alcohol but then think, “There's no way I can quit drinking FOREVER."? “How will I toast my children at their weddings?” “What if I go to Italy?” “How is never drinking again even POSSIBLE?” I had these thoughts too and the idea of forever scared me. Here are a few thoughts about not drinking and forever ⬇️
Forget forever, keep asking the questions + NQTD
Forget forever
Commit to a break. Decide what that break will look like for you. Make it specific. How long will it be? Make a plan. What activities can you do to replace drinking? Who will you share this experience with? If you drink during the break, that's ok. Get up, dust yourself off, and keep moving toward your goal. Forget all or nothing. Think progress over perfection. Treat this time like an experiment and get really curious about your findings.
Keep asking the questions
Am I drinking more than I want to? Is this affecting my health? My mood? My relationships? If the answer is yes, a break from alcohol could be a great experiment to find out how you feel without it. Educate yourself on the topic. Talk about it with someone you trust. Explore. Get curious. If you take a break and go back to drinking, make sure to keep checking in with yourself. Forget “It's not bad enough”. Start asking “Is this good enough?”
Never question the decision
I learned the phrase “never question the decision” from Holly Whitaker's book, Quit Like a Woman. It's a different way to think about the “forever” question. When your mind starts saying things like “See, I can stop drinking. It's fine. Why am I doing this? I'm not that bad.” Use the mantra, Never Question the Decision. It ends the inner debate. It brings you back to why you made this decision and reminds you that you made it for a good reason. 💪
It all comes down to personal preference
I started as a one-day-at-a-time kind of gal, then moved on to one month at a time. Now I'm down with forever. The idea of forever gives me comfort. It means the decision is made and I never need to make it again.
How about you?
