I woke with a warm wet stickiness to my face. As I opened my eyes all I could see were two big brown pools of love staring right at me and then another big, luscious lick rose up from my chin over my nose.
Aching all over and feeling quite cold, I sat up to discover I was in the dog bed! My larger than life Rottweiler Kassie was more than happy with this arrangement. I on the other hand was not. I sat and pondered the night before, but nothing came to mind. I could remember getting ready, going out, but I couldn't remember coming home or how on earth I landed in the dog's bed!
Sadly, this was not the catalyst that made me want to stop drinking. I continued to drink for several years until 2014 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer was the wake-up call for me.
I have now been alcohol free for four years on 2nd January and believe me, I know you do not need alcohol to have a good time this festive season. Now, I never give it a second thought (except to help others to also quit).
Many people choose to give up in the new year (including me), perhaps doing dry January. But why wait? If you are planning on stopping, why wait? Is it because you think you need alcohol to have a good time? Or because you assume it's going to be hard? Or simply because everyone else is doing it and that's just what you do at Christmas and New Year?
YOU ARE BEING CONDITIONED
I realise now that everything I understood to be true about alcohol actually wasn't, it was just an illusion, a false belief, someone else's belief.
I used to look forward to a glass or two of wine in an evening. I used to think that it would relax me after work. Did you know it takes six whole minutes for the alcohol to get to the brain blowing that myth out of the water?
Drinkers who think alcohol is relaxing them are simply relieving the craving. People who don't drink or who are not dependent on alcohol don't get this feeling. It's not relaxing you, it's satisfying the craving.
I did actually think that it was sophisticated to have a glass of wine while cooking – I blame Keith Floyd for that!! I believe he was drunk quite a bit when filming. And people laughed, they thought it was funny. But it's not is it? I loved his flamboyant style, but he had been convicted of drink driving. Floyd was only 65 when he died from a heart attack. He was also being treated for bowel cancer.
I used to think I was sophisticated but there is nothing sophisticated about drinking glass after glass of wine on your own every evening, waking in the morning with a huge thumping headache, feeling sluggish and perhaps still being over the limit for driving. There is nothing sophisticated about not being able to leave the shop without buying a bottle (or two) of wine or hiding the recycling so that the neighbours or the bin men don't make any judgements.
There's nothing funny about your friends making jokes about how much you drink or buying you gifts reminding you and them about how much you drink, even novelty gifts like fridge magnets, board games, extra large drinking glasses or gifts with pictures of alcohol on them.
By the way, I have the extra large glass, the cushion with a picture of wine on it, the fridge magnets saying I am aging like a fine wine. All of these things continue to condition us, we believe it's who we are, everyone else believes it's who we are, alcohol forms part of our identity. Inside though, I knew it was not okay and if you are drinking too much, you will also know it's not okay.
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR IS AN EXCUSE
Fermentation has been around for thousands of years and there is evidence that it was used in rituals in ancient history. In Britain alcohol consumption soared in the eighteenth century with over 18 million gallons of gin drunk.
Prohibition in the US in the 1920's only served to drive trade on the black market until the ban was lifted.
Today there are 15 million Americans dependent on alcohol. In England the Department of Health states that 21% of adults 'regularly drink at levels that increase their risk of ill health'.
If you're a drinker, Christmas and New Year is perfect for hiding the amount you're drinking, because it's expected, everyone is doing it. Christmas is one of the few times when it's said to be acceptable to drink at 10am in the morning, with the airport drink and wedding celebrations to be the others. The best times in our lives being celebrated with poison, whoop, whoop. We're so happy, lets poison ourselves silly!!
Adverts on T.V at this time of the year again condition (or hypnotise) us to believe that it's not only normal but EXPECTED to drink alcohol. Alcohol is dressed up, to look pretty, glamorous, sexy or strong. I saw an advert the other day where a man drinking whisky said 'I think I love you' to the drink!!
It's like we are being told we can't have a good time UNLESS we are drinking.
WHY YOU SHOULD STOP DRINKING NOW
Put purely and simply alcohol (ethanol) is poisonous to the human body. It is highly addictive and it is probably the only legal drug in the UK. Alcohol kills, it is toxic and dangerous.
We can dress it up as much as we like but the bottom line will always be the same, it's a poison. In some countries it is used to help fuel cars, it's used to sterilise equipment, we put it in household cleaning products, it's in cosmetics. It's an antiseptic, a disinfectant, a deodorant. It can even remove ink and permanent markers. It is also used as a pesticide to kill bugs on plants.
In my opinion there are NO safe levels of alcohol. More and more research is finding that even one drink increases your risk of certain cancers.
A study published in 2009 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute followed 1.2 million women who were light/moderate drinkers over seven years and found that their risk of a number of different cancers was increased.
Cancer Research UK states that women who drink only three alcoholic drinks a week increase their risk of breast cancer by 15%. Looking back, it's hardly surprising that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2014, the year I was diagnosed 11% of breast cancer cases were linked to alcohol intake.
The risk of death by alcohol poisoning is a threat whether you are constantly infusing your body with alcohol can over time or whether you are a binge drinker.
Alcohol interferes with the neural pathways in your brain, slowing things down, affecting your ability to think straight, numbing your emotions, upsetting your co-ordination. Alcohol can cause permanent damage to your brain, to your cells and DNA.
Alcohol affects the liver because the liver is your first line of defence. Your liver is responsible for processing and breaking down alcohol. This in itself creates toxins which are released into the bloodstream and the brain causing problems with mood, sleep, anxiety and depression.
Your liver is at risk of becoming overloaded (fatty liver) or scarred (cirrhosis) which prevents it from being able to do it's job efficiently and protect you by removing toxins from your blood, absorbing nutrients and manage infections.
Alcohol also affects the functioning of your heart by weakening the muscle. This affects how it contracts and pumps blood, putting the arterial system at risk of clogging and slowing down. This increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.
ALCOHOL MYTHS AND TRUTHS
What we believe is what we become. When we are told something over and over we begin to accept it as fact, we believe it. It must be true because everyone is saying it. Alcohol relaxes you, of course it does. Alcohol makes you happy, absolutely. You can't have a good time without alcohol, definitely not.
For years I refused to believe I was an alcoholic, because alcoholics are homeless lying around on park benches. They drink all day. I was dependent yes, alcoholic, no!
Mind you I still don't agree with that terminology. I have heard people describe themselves as alcoholics even when they haven't had a drink for 30 years. Of course they're not alcoholics, they don't drink!
I was terrified to stop drinking. I was afraid of what would happen to me if I did. I believed that because my body was so used to drinking, that it would just stop functioning if I stopped drinking. Maybe that was an illusion too, maybe my subconscious mind made that up as an excuse to keep on drinking, who knows?
But it was a belief. The medical model advises not to drink more than 14 units a week. I was drinking 70 on average. That's one bottle of wine a day.
I reasoned with myself though. Instead of talking myself out of stopping, I talked myself into stopping. I reasoned how could it be safe to keep putting high levels of poison into my body? Surely my body could only benefit from stopping?
I knew I may have some withdrawals but I also knew how to deal with my mind and I knew whatever I believed I could become.
I refused to accept that I needed willpower, that it was going to be hard. I told myself that it was going to be easy and that once I got past 10 days, all of the alcohol toxins would be out of my body. I used self-hypnosis to inform my subconscious mind that I had no desire to drink alcohol and that if I continued to ignore this information I would die.
You DON'T have to drink this Christmas. You CAN still have a good time. In fact you will remember and enjoy much more with a clearer head if you don't drink.
Stay safe. If you feel you need help to stop drinking please seek professional advice. This article is based on my own personal experience and research and is not intended to replace your own medical advice.
Happy Christmas
Jacqueline
http://www.hypnotherapy-darlington.co.uk
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