Fourteen Days!
It’s been two full weeks since I made the decision to give up alcohol for 30 days. Not only that, but it’s been two full weeks since I had a drink. Yesterday, I noticed that I was not thinking about having a drink at the end of the day. This wasn’t the first time in the past two weeks where I didn’t have a strong desire for a drink after work, but it was the first time that I noticed that I didn’t have that desire. I can only describe that feeling with one word:
Liberating
I felt free. I feel free. Free to do things that I couldn’t do before.
I never drove after drinking, that was a cardinal rule. Consequently, if something came up after dinner which required getting behind the wheel it usually had to wait. Or, I’d ask Mrs. TKD to run the errand for me, which wasn’t fair to her. Last night, when I wanted to have some ice cream, but found that the freezer was empty, I went out to the store. Remarkably simple, but wonderfully exhilarating because I could actually do it.
Over the past few years, I’ve watched as books and magazines piled up around me, unread. Who has time to read when you’re busy knocking back a few beers? I didn’t. Since I’ve started this, I’ve read more in the past two weeks than in the past two months, and not just blogs and internet feeds, actual books and magazines. As I’ve mentioned I’ve been reading about alcoholism, but I also have read Orion and Fast Company. There’s a great article in the current Fast Company about Digital Detox. You should read it.
I’ve also found time to listen to some podcasts. In particular, I like to listen to Mac Power Users, Buddhist Geeks, and Tara Brach. As I was listening to Buddhist Geeks last night, I heard about something that I think will be useful. The guest was the creator of the app Lift and they were discussing how Lift can be useful for forming habits.
Now, I’ve been using Lift on and off for a few months and I do find it useful, but what really caught my attention was a discussion of Headspace. Headspace is an app that is designed to help people learn to meditate. Learning to meditate has been on my list for quite some time, and I’ve tried a few different methods, but ultimately, I’ve always failed to make it a practice.
Headspace gives ten days of guided meditation to you in the app for free. After that, you can repeat the 10 days or purchase additional guided meditations. I’m giving it a try, and I will let you know how it goes. I’m hopeful that in conjunction with joining the habit called “Meditation” on Lift, using Headspace might actually help me to get into the practice of meditating daily.
So, the theme of today, two weeks in is freedom. I’ve found that by giving up alcohol, I’ve gained freedom to do more of the things that I want to do, when I want to do them.
s t e a d y 
I don’t know if you read zenhabits.net at all, but it’s a good site. I read through his free book at http://zenhabits.net/little-book/ and it’s worth a read. It’s short and quick, but it’s got a lot of good ideas.
I’ve tried meditation for years, but I always come away with a feeling that I can spend my time better. In one of the vignettes from “Writing Down the Bones” the author (Goldberg) is told by her instructor that maybe writing is her way of meditating. I think if you can find that one thing (biking, perhaps?) that cultivates your mindfulness and gives you the ability to carry it through the day, you can go that route rather than traditional meditation. Again, that’s what works for me and may not work for everyone.
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I do read zenhabits. I’s a good site. I also read Leo’s other site mnmlist.com. I often think of biking as meditative. There’s something about turning the pedals and the breathing. However, I don’t get to get out on the bike every day.
I’ve just downloaded the book and put it on my kindle, perhaps I’ll start reading it tonight. As always, thanks for the insight and advice.
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Reblogged this on Walking in Sober Boots and commented:
I wrote this three years ago today, fourteen days into a 30 day alcohol fast. The Promises were already starting to come true, but since I was still blind I did not recognize that.
It’s painful to recognize now that I had the answer so much earlier than I had the willingness to accept the facts, but I am grateful that I was able to find my way back to this path.
As I’ve often heard, there are many paths up this mountain. Going back to drinking was a wrong turn on the path. There may be more wrong turns on my part, but I find my way back to my path and I’m moving up the mountain.
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