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The Reasons I Still Think About Drinking Alcohol

by | Stop Drinking Alcohol | 3 comments

How’re you doing? I’m Kevin O’Hara for alcoholmastery.com.

Today’s topic is The reasons I still think about drinking alcohol.

There are a couple of things I want to touch on.

Yes, I still think about alcohol. And it’s not just because I’m writing or talking about it every day. Some things just don’t ever go. However, the way you think about things alters when you push yourself to make consistent deliberate self-directed changes in your life.

I’m telling you this because even when you’re a few years into this journey, you’re still going to have times when you think about drinking.

That thought enters your mind sometimes.

One of those times for me is when I’m thirsty.

It will pop into my mind if I’m somewhere where alcohol is being served.

The idea of a beer.

Another time is…I come from an Irish family.

We were poor enough growing up.

My father had a job, sometimes two.

We had a big family.

9 kids.

A lot of the time, money was short.

The food that was on the table was on a premium.

We were always taught to eat what’s on the table and not to leave anything unfinished.

That could be a problem when you grow up and you get a bit more money, and you carry that attitude that you’ll never leave a plate that’s got food on it.

You eat more, and the older you get, the more damaging it is to your gut.

Anyway, it digs into one of the things I see sometimes.

If I’m out at a restaurant with Esther, and we’re having a meal.

I’ll order a water mostly.

Every so often, I’ll order an alcohol-free beer.

Esther normally orders a glass of wine, and that doesn’t affect me in the slightest.

But when she does order a beer, she might go for a second one.

She’s not really a beer person, but in the heat, she likes to have a beer to quench her thirst.

She finds it less taxing on the thirst than wine.

So, she can hardly ever finish the second one.

When she leaves that drop in the bottom of the glass, maybe half a glass of beer sometimes, sometimes it crosses my mind.

My reasons for drinking are nothing like the old reasons.

My old reason was basically because I wanted to get drunk.

I got into the habit of getting drunk, and using alcohol for other things.

Now, it’s just a brief thought that floats across my mind.

I wanted to make this video because I want to talk to you about all the times when I don’t think about drinking alcohol.

Every time I go to the pub now, I never think about drinking.

When I go to a party, whether it’s with my family or friends, I don’t think about it.

When I want to relax, I never think about alcohol.

When I want to celebrate, when I go on my holidays, when I’m dining in, when we go out and have a special meal at a restaurant, when we’re socialising, when I’m with my family, with my sisters, I never think about drinking alcohol.

All those times in my life, I don’t think about alcohol.

If I take time as a 24 hour period, or a week or a month, I will go months without thinking about alcohol.

If it wasn’t for alcohol mastery, I could go weeks without thinking about alcohol.

When I do think about alcohol in those times when I get thirsty and see a beer, or when Esther leaves half a glass of beer, when those times happen, the thought flitting across my mind lasts about as long as I can say ‘brain fart’.

So, all that time that I don’t spend thinking about alcohol, and in that one 24-hour period when that thought will cross my mind,

I don’t think about alcohol for 23 hours, 59 minutes, 58 seconds.

All it takes is 2 seconds.

The thing is that everybody thinks about alcohol.

Even people who don’t drink or people who have never drunk alcohol.

Sometimes, the thought will pass across their mind very quickly.

So, what I want you to think about in this video is, if you think of alcohol for 2 seconds of a 24-hour period, or a minute, or even 5 minutes, why are you dwelling on those five minutes?

What about the other 23 hours and 55 minutes?

If you go for a month without thinking about it, now all of a sudden you spend 30 seconds looking at a glass, why are you focusing on that 5 minutes?

It means nothing.

All you have to do is focus on the future.

Once you get past a certain stage in this journey, once you get to the stage where you don’t want to drink anymore, you’re still going to have a thought about it every so often, but it means nothing.

Let it go.

Carry on with your life because your life without alcohol is the best life that you can ever have.

Your decision o quit drinking is the best decision.

It takes a bit of time before you get to that stage where you’re thinking ‘I thought about alcohol for 2 seconds there last week’.

But it will come.

Just give it time.

I hope that makes sense.

It’s an important lesson to learn.

It’s almost impossible not to think about alcohol.

Don’t dwell on it.

Relax and enjoy your life.

Anyway, I’ll leave it there.

If you have any comments or suggestions on topics to cover, please leave a comment below.

If you want the Quit Alcohol starter pack, just leave your name and email on the website and I’ll send it to you.

It’s absolutely free.

It has a couple of video courses and a couple of other bits and bobs.

Until next time, stay safe and keep the alcohol out of your mouth.

Don’t worry about stupid thoughts, it doesn’t make a difference.

What makes a difference is what you do about it.

DON’T MISS THE SUN TODAY WORRYING ABOUT THE RAIN COMING TOMORROW.

Until next time…
Onwards and Upwards!

 

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3 Comments

  1. Ed Gala

    Great insight. Love the forward thinking and not dwelling on those moments of doubt. Onwards and upwards.

    Reply
  2. Lawrence Hunter

    Great advice Kevin, it reminds me of my father being an ex smoker for some 30 years and he tells me he still has a thought of a smoke pop into his head. Like you said ”A THOUGHT IS JUST A THOUGHT” Don’t hold onto it..

    Reply
  3. Scott F

    HI Kevin,

    I Really enjoy your videos. Because of them/you I’m finally managing to pull the “trigger” after a 40 year drinking career. Anyway, I would like to hear your thoughts on drinking “near beer” as we call it in Alberta (.05%). I’ve noticed you mentioning it in several of your videos.
    I do like the malty taste of beer on a hot day but is it something I should avoid for the first year or two of my journey? I have pretty much been a white wine drinker for the past several decades but I was wondering what your take is on alcohol free beer and wine.

    Thanks,

    Scott

    Reply

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