Usually for these Mental Sunshine emails I suggest something you could start in order to bring some sunshine into your life.
This week, I want to talk about something to give up.
It’s the beginning of September, and a couple of people I know are having a go at “Sober September”
So I thought that might be a good thing to talk about this week.
For many years, in January I would stop drinking for a few months – to let my body recover from the festive season properly.
But in 2021… I just didn’t start again.
Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t a “problem drinker” – I don’t think anyone would have said I was “drinking too much” or anything like that.
But as I continued with my sobriety, I found that I liked not drinking.
I realised over time that a glass of wine here, a pint of beer there… a celebratory night out, a Christmas party… drinks with the family… New Year’s Eve…
It builds up over time.
Slowly, you just start to feel rubbish!
That’s why I would stop drinking in January – to give my body a rest and let it get back to some sort of equilibrium.
Over time, I realised the longer I went without a drink, the better I felt.
As we get older, for many of us choosing to have a drink this evening means we’re borrowing some time from tomorrow.
That’s because alcohol releases a big dump of dopamine into the brain – but that leaves a deficit when the dopamine system rights itself.
Hence the horrible feeling we get the next morning – our dopamine levels are on the floor!
I heard the founder of One Year No Beer on a podcast saying it’s great that people do these one-month challenges throughout the year –
But that we don’t begin to really feel the benefits until about 90 days.
I’m not suggesting you should give up alcohol completely; but maybe try an experiment?
If 90 days sounds daunting – could you do the rest of September?
There’s usually a big campaign in the media around Sober October too.
For me, the biggest benefit of not drinking is that I have my mornings back!
No more waking up with a fuzzy head, taking a while to get going – I’m off for a swim in the lake!
I never need to worry about whether I’m safe to drive now – it’s not even a question.
And I never do that thing where I wake up and think “I don’t even remember the end of the movie”
Or worse – “what happened at the end of the party?” – we’ve all had those mornings…
Perhaps a bit of anxiety as to what you may have said or done… or that horrible feeling as you get a glimpse of a memory of something…
Another big benefit is better quality sleep.
Alcohol knocks us out – but it actually disrupts proper sleep.
When it leaves your system completely – you sleep much better.
These days, not drinking is not such a big deal.
There are loads of alcohol free options in pubs and restaurants
And people don’t tend to question it if you order a lemonade instead of a beer.
Why not try it – see how you get on!
Can you do a whole month?
Two months?
90 days?
You might even find that – like me – you just don’t want to drink anymore!
Let me know what benefits you notice!