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Being an Addict is Fantastic – Off The Booze But Still an Addict

by | Stop Drinking Alcohol | 5 comments

I have to say, I absolutely love being an addict.

I don’t drink alcohol anymore but I love all my other addictions.

Today, I want to talk about addictions and how I love my addictions.

Before I start the video, I have to say that I’m talking about positive addictions and not negative ones.

I’m not talking about being addicted to any form of drugs.

I’m talking about being addicted to positive life addictions.

When it comes down to it, we’re habit machines.

We like to build habits around daily things because it makes life easier.

The more embedded you can make a good habit, the better it is for you because those habits will happen automatically under the surface.

An addiction to me is when you are sort of pushing yourself towards certain habits, into certain channels of your life and you just love doing them.

Walking has become a real addiction for me.

Getting up and drinking water first thing in the morning and hydrating myself after a night sleep is another good positive addiction.

It’s something that I feel bad when I don’t do.

If I don’t get out walking during the day, I start to feel fucking shit.

It doesn’t bode well for the rest of the day.

I just get up every morning drinking my water and heading out the door and going for 7 or 8 or 10 or 15 kilometres.

I’m completely addicted to it.

If I don’t have that water in the morning, I notice it.

It’s a tangible feeling inside me that I’m missing something.

It was exactly the same thing when I was drinking.

A lot of people say drinking water and going walking aren’t addictions.

They are to me and that’s all that fucking matters.

It’s what it means to me, to you. It’s the same thing.

I’ve spoken about it on so many different occasions as that:

If you believe you are an alcoholic, then you are.

I’ve never believed that about myself, therefore I’m not.

Alcohol has got nothing in my life any more.

If you believe you are a runner, and go out and do things that runners do, then you’re a run.

You can believe that.

You are that person.

Do you understand?

I’m a vegan at the moment.

This is what my life is going to be. I don’t eat meat or animal products.

There are certain parts of the vegan community who are militant.

They believe you can’t call yourself a vegan if you’re not for the animals.

I’m sort of for the animals.

I don’t believe any animal should lose its life so we can have food on the table but that’s a different story.

I’m a vegan for my health.

I’m a vegan because I believe in certain things, and this is the label I’m sticking on myself.

If someone else wants to use the label for something else, then more power to them.

But don’t tell me how I can use the label.

It’s only a word and it means different things to different people.

It’s the same thing as addiction.

I choose to use the word addiction in my life as a positive thing.

It’s the same thing when I say to people ‘cheers’ with a water, and they say that’s an alcoholic thing.

Well, maybe in your mind, but in mine, it’s not.

Sláinte is the Irish way of saying it, ‘to your health’ is another way of saying it.

These are all labels that we use and you can take the label and re-route it to whatever you want it to mean yourself.

I’m exactly the same way with my thought process.

I’m obsessed with trying to eradicate negative, spiralling thoughts that can bring me down and are not giving me anything concrete or tangible that is going to bring me in the right direction.

You’re never going to be able to get rid of all your thoughts, but if you’re constantly listening to what you’re saying to yourself, and more importantly, the meanings of those words and what meaning you place on those words, then you’re going to be run by your negativity instead of positivity.

For me, that’s all I’m trying to do, pull myself in the right direction.

The direction I want to go.

We all have choices.

No matter what you think about a certain thing, you have a choice about how you think about them, how you think about a word, which direction you go.

It’s all up in your head.

It’s all your choice. For me, I’d rather have positive addictions.

I’d rather acknowledge that they are a form of addiction but look at it in a good light, in the sense that it’s bringing me something in life.

That’s it for me today.

If you have any questions or comments, leave them down below.

Give us a like, a thumbs up. Until next time, stay safe and keep the alcohol out of your mouth.

GOOD HABITS ARE AS ADDICTIVE AD BAD HABITS, BUT MUCH MORE REWARDING.

Until next time…
Onwards and Upwards!

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5 Comments

  1. Marsha

    Hi Kevin
    How do you get enough protein in you vegan lifestyle. I’m interested in going this way.

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      Hi Marsh, All plant foods have protein in them, especially greens. Most people think you have to eat meat to get the protein, not true. Look at cows, they’re big animals and full of muscle. They have very similar protein requirements, probably needing more protein because of their size. What do they eat? Grass! Same as gorillas, elephants, rhinos, etc, etc. It’s a myth that vegans don’t get protein. The only thing you really have to supplement is vitamin B12. My advice if you’re going to go vegan is to avoid listening to too many youtubers in the beginning…read books by T Colin Campbell, Brenda Davis, John McDougall…they are all doctors who support healthy living through whole foods plant based lifestyle.

      Reply
  2. Cheryl williams

    Thanks Kevin …enjoyed the blog…You sound a lot like me…I am truly enjoying life more …addicted to LIFE…my husband as well…He’s been free 2 years this month…Awesome….Peace and Blessings

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      You’re welcome Cheryl. Congrats to you and your man 🙂

      Reply
  3. Mick

    Hi Kevin, not sure this is the right place to ask this question, or even if I can articulate it well enough to be understood, but
    on the addiction/bad habit of alcohol.

    At the start of my none drinking, cravings were at key points in the day, usual drink times, like when I finish work and very bad just before the off-license shut. these died down after just a few weeks and were not too bad.

    I find as the days off the alcohol become weeks/months, I can get negative, fearful feelings that can last several days without let up, a sort of anger/fear/negativity/meaninglessness. In my mind its easy to start to believe the booze would give me a rest bite from these negative feelings.

    I don’t think I want a glass of wine, I just want the negativity/fear to go away. At first i didn’t even associate the feelings as connected to the booze. But I think I may have experienced something similar but not as strong when I packed the fags up years ago. But because fags are such an obvious drug and I had friends who had stopped and were fine, I was confident I just had to tough it out and any bad feelings were easy to attribute to the stopping smoking I was confident in months/years to follow I would return to normal which I did. 12 to 18 months later job done.

    My question is, Is it possible the alcohol monster trying to trick me into thinking life is meaningless and dull? These feelings can be very real and very strong
    Is it possible that these negative feelings I think the booze will suppress are in actual fact the boozes swan song, its last ditch attempt to thwart me?????

    I think somewhere in this question is the key to at least part of the mystery why this vile stuff can have such a draw on so many people. ie we start to genuinely/completely believe life is hard, full of fear and doubt etc so we should have a drink for a rest bite. I know people say, yes but when you sober up the problems are still there. But the emotions you experience are strong like fear, fear can override other thoughts, you just want it to stop now. you are programmed to stop it. Avoiding fear keeps you alive.

    I wont drink I am committed!

    Reply

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