6. What if my alcohol free life is difficult and miserable?

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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 I haven't looked back. With my experience in training, I now help other women with their

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

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your life. Join me here each week to find out how. If you listened to episode 5, you'd have heard me talk about how I cut

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down my drinking before I went completely alcohol free. Today I'd like to tell you a story about how I stopped drinking without

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it feeling too difficult or miserable. When I first decided to go alcohol free for a whole year, I thought there'd be blood,

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sweat, and tears. The blood would surely be from the friend I ended up murdering when they mentioned, for the 70 squillionth

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time that I didn't have a problem with alcohol, and the sweat and tears were bound to be mine each time I thought of what

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lay ahead. But, no, none of that came to pass. There was no blood, sweat, or tears, and here's the shocker, there was learning,

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connection and joy instead. As I started to drink less in preparation for going alcohol free, I read books I didn't know existed

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before from a genre called quit lit. I know. Who knew that was a thing? A couple of my favourites were This Naked Mind by

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Annie Grace and Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whittaker. These books really helped me to see alcohol through new eyes. I felt

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like I was able to understand why I had drunk like I had and how I could start to change. I also really enjoyed a couple of

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memoirs, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Katharine Gray, and We Are the Luckiest by Laura Macoun. I bought some physical

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books, but also bought some on Audible and listened while I walked my dog. I then realized that there were podcasts on the

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subject, and, hey, check it out. You're listening to one right now. Good for you. You've got this one sorted. This podcast

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is short and snappy, meant to be a quick love note to inform, inspire, and share my story, but others out there are longer

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form and interview based. Do go and search for others that float your boat. Have you ever heard of habit tracking apps? I

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hadn't, but in the early days of my alcohol free experiment, I used one to keep a track of the number of days I'd been alcohol

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free, and I loved seeing the time add up. I always made sure I ticked that I hadn't drunk alcohol first thing in the morning

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so that my brain knew that my intention for the day was not to drink. There are loads of specific sober day counting apps.

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Find one that suits you, or if the thought of counting sober days is off putting for you, then don't. Always do what feels

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best for you. You don't have to copy anyone else's version of alcohol free unless it feels good to you. This alcohol free

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journey is supposed to feel like a joyful positive decision and not in any way a punishment. In the early days of not drinking,

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it did sometimes feel a bit like a full time job. I put a lot of energy into it. I took the time to read, to listen, to count

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the days, and also to journal about the thoughts I was having at the time. However, in prioritising the habit of not drinking,

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it became easier and easier. Because I put it at the forefront of my mind and knew it was important, I kept being able to

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stack up week after week without a drink. The more distance I put between my last drink and where I am currently, the better

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I feel in mind, body, and soul. The tools I used in the early days gave me ideas of how to talk to my friends about the choices

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I'd made, gave me hope that I could do what I set out to do, and made me feel less lonely about my choice. Thank you for listening

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today and please listen in again next time to hear about how I brought stillness into my sober life in a way I never could

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have done when I was drinking. You can sign up to my 5 day drink less experiment and find out about working with me 1 to 1

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at drink less live better dot com. It would make me happier than a Buddhist monk if you would please subscribe, 5 star review,

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and comment on my podcast on whatever platform you listen. Imagine it like the tasting notes on the finest wine I am never

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going to drink. Thank you, and PS, I believe in you.