26. Do I have to do this sober thing forever?

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Hello, darling heart, and welcome to the Drink Less, Live Better podcast. This is the podcast that helps you to see that drinking

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less doesn't need to be stressful, lonely, or boring. I'm your host, Sarah Williamson, and I decided to have a year alcohol

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free as a little life experiment and haven't looked back. With my experience and training, I now help other women with their

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alcohol free or drink less adventures. I'm here to tell you that you can be truly joyful without alcohol in your life. Join

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me here each week to find out how. A question: do I have to do this sober thing forever? Answer. No. Result. The shortest

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podcast episode ever. Should we leave it there or is there room for a bit of expansion here? Okay, a few thoughts then. Let's

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begin by focusing on the right now. Have you been alcohol free or drinking significantly less for an extended period of time?

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If not, then I'd kindly suggest you give it more than 6 months to really feel and enjoy all the benefits of it. If you've

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been alcohol free for more than a year, then what better questions can we ask than is this forever? How do I feel better now

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than when I was drinking? For me, the answer to that is an unequivocal yes. I know for sure that I'm better physically, emotionally

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and spiritually for not drinking, so for now I carry on. What are the bits that you're missing from your drinking life? Be

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careful before you answer this. Make sure you're not romanticising or looking back with rose tinted glasses when you remember

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the good stuff. Make sure you acknowledge the bad. If you can pinpoint what you feel you're missing, and come up with an alternative

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that will serve you well. I sometimes feel I miss random, rambling conversations that were only born out of a loss of inhibition

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and vulnerability, but I've found my people, those who are prepared to have those random conversations with me, sober. If

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you know who you are, you know who you are. Find a way to reintroduce the missing bit of your life. Can you swap your night

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out dancing for a day rave? Can you swap dressing up for a night out for dressing up for a day out? Can you swap wine tastings

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for day spas? So back to the question, do I have to do this forever? The answer is still no, but for me, I want to. When I

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decided to try my alcohol free life experiment, I knew I could easily do a month. I had evidence in the form of previous dry

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January's and sober October's, and was pretty sure I could do 3 months or even 6. But a year felt questionable, outside my

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comfort zone, and definitely a bit challenging. Did I have to commit to a year? No. But I wanted to. The reason it helped

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was because it pushed the decision away. Once I'd got started on a year, I didn't really question my decision, I just carried

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on with it. No one makes us choose the goals we set for ourselves. If I'm never doing this again, or I'm doing this forever

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feels good for you, then brilliant. I'm delighted for you. Say the words out loud and then back them up with action. I'm doing

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an alcohol free experiment for a year felt like a good statement to me, a thought I was happy to have in my head. It made

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me feel full of possibility and led me to behave as if I could do it and feel great about it. I didn't feel trapped, and I

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didn't feel overwhelmed. If I'd have given myself a thought like, I'm never drinking again, that would have led to feelings

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of being trapped or deprived and would possibly have led to me behaving like a toddler in full meltdown. I know that it was

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better to choose not to put me in that position, and, certainly, that was better for my family too. Nothing we choose in life

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has to be forever. We can always reroute, reverse, or replan. We can change, we can adapt, and we can say what we do want

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and what we don't want. We can change our minds about who we are. I used to be the life and soul of the party, leading the

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chants to the dance floor and, last, off the dance floor. I'm retired from all that now. I'm joyfully retired from all that.

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I don't have to do it, and I'm choosing the things I do want. Thank you for listening to this episode. Please listen in again

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next time. You can sign up for my 5 day drink less experiment and find out about working with me one to 1 at drink less, live

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better.com. I'd love it if you could 5 star rate this podcast and leave me a review. All that chisel helps, you know. Thank

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you, and PS, I believe in you.