8. We're human beings not human doings!

-: 00:28

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

-: 00:36

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

-: 00:45

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

-: 00:54

alcohol free or drink less adventures. I'm here to tell you that you can relax, connect, and have fun without alcohol in your

-: 01:03

life. Join me here each week to find out how. If you listened to episode 7 you'd have heard me talk about the acronym H. O.

-: 01:14

T. Which stands for hungry, angry, lonely, tired and how it helped to stop me reach for a drink at 7 pm. Today, I'd like to

-: 01:24

tell you a story about how I came to the realization that I was sabotaging all my good well-being activities. Through my late

-: 01:33

thirties and into my early forties, I was coming more aware of the mind body soul connection. I was working full time, had

-: 01:42

2 children, a husband, a dog and all the other things a lot of people had in their lives, but I was feeling overwhelmed and

-: 01:51

having a wind down drink at the end of the day was one of the ways I chose to shut off emotionally. To try to handle my overwhelm,

-: 02:00

I've been getting more and more interested in personal growth. I was experimenting with life enhancing practices like meditation

-: 02:08

and mindfulness. I'd become more committed to getting some exercise each week, either running, going to an exercise class,

-: 02:17

or yoga, and I'd also taken more of an interest in my nutrition, taking good quality supplements, making green smoothies each

-: 02:26

day, and eating really well. I decided to increase positivity in my life in as many different ways as I could. I stopped watching

-: 02:34

or listening to the endlessly negative news. I curated my social media feeds to show me only fabulous businesses and people.

-: 02:44

I chose uplifting podcasts and audiobooks to listen to and hang hung out in real life with people who were radiators of warmth

-: 02:53

and love. All of this was amazing for my physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I was starting to feel like a grown

-: 03:02

up, but there was one thing that didn't feel right. I was adding stuff in and adding stuff in, getting up early in the morning

-: 03:12

to meditate, to journal, to be grateful. I was making time to exercise. I was choosing healthy menu plans, and all of this

-: 03:24

adding things into my life was great, but I needed to take something out, and I didn't want to admit to it. What's the point

-: 03:32

of meditating if you've got a bit of a hangover and can't concentrate properly? What's the point of running if you're over

-: 03:41

consuming empty calories in your drinks? What's the point in taking fancy supplements when you're drinking a toxic substance?

-: 03:51

Why would I keep doing all these good things and not stop the one really damaging thing? At around the time all of this was

-: 04:02

going around in my head, I had a breakthrough thought, and it was this. I am a human being, not a human doing. I wanted to

-: 04:10

stop feeling overwhelmed, so I started to cut commitments that didn't feel good. I only said yes to things that felt like

-: 04:20

a hell yes. I considered the needs of myself and my family before others. I prioritized the exercise, the nutrition, and I

-: 04:30

took the time to be very still and very much a human being. I bought myself a necklace with a b on it to remind myself every

-: 04:39

day that I am concentrating on being a human being and that overwhelm is not my friend. I no longer needed alcohol in my life.

-: 04:46

I didn't need to escape from anything anymore. I recognized that, and from that point onwards, I could start to do something

-: 04:57

about drinking less. I must make a special mention here of Kelly from project we, who has inspired this recording. Joining

-: 05:06

her membership was one of the ways in which I was able to get my overwhelm under control. Thank you, darling heart. And thank

-: 05:14

you for listening to this episode. Please listen in again next time. You can sign up to my 5 day drink less experiment and

-: 05:23

find out about working with me one to 1 at drink less live better dot com. It would make me happier than a Buddhist monk if

-: 05:32

you would please subscribe, 5 star review, and comment on my podcast on whatever platform you listen. Imagine it like the

-: 05:47

tasting notes on the finest wine I am never going to drink. Thank you, and PS. I believe in you.