Our friends at Alcohol Concern are mid-way through their Alcohol Awareness Week campaign #AAW2017. They have done a sterling job this week, but we couldn’t let this week go by without a supportive message from us…
Over the last week you may have seen some eye-opening, and sometimes heart-breaking stories from the Alcohol Concern team. Not to mention a lot of stats about the negative affects alcohol has on your body, your mind, and the relationships you have with your loved ones.
Given that most of you are already acutely aware of all of the negative impact of alcohol. If you have found this blog or if you are in our Facebook groups, you are already on the road to redemption. Instead, I wanted to talk about the ‘awareness’ side of the campaign and the journey you are on to (finally) realising that alcohol has a truly unhealthy grip on your life.
For me, I first went AF during a pig-headed challenge to prove to my wife that alcohol was not a problem. Or course it was, and of course my wife was right. Just how right she was, blew my mind, she is almost never right (only joking).
Three months into my sobriety challenge I had my epiphany. I could see so clearly it was a revelation. My eyes were wide open, I could see how detrimental alcohol had been to my life, I could see how much it was holding me back, I got fitter, happier, healthier and my marriage improved 10x what any of the counselling or mediating efforts we had put in previously. If you are pig-headed like me – take the challenge, find out for yourself what I am talking about. I promise you, you will not regret it.
The rest is history, I wrote my letter to alcohol (below) and I vowed not to drink for one year (at least) to get a handle on all of these things. Little did I know that the simple effort of not drinking would lead onto a deeper focus on my general and mental health. From that defining moment, my life has completely changed, my life has got progressively better, and continues to get better, right up until today.
I am sure you all have similar stories – we would love to hear them. Please let us know in the comments section here or the Facebook pages your defining moment.
My open Letter to alcohol… Enjoy (again).
Dear Alcohol
Thank you for the fantastic years together; you have been a great friend for so long. You have brought endless fun, gotten me into many hilarious and disturbing situations, got me laid, hired, fired, sent to A&E and even to a little town called Manningtree, when I was supposed to be at the church. We’ve had so much fun together over the years. We’ve had some laughs, we’ve had some tears.
But things have changed for me now; there are so many things I want to achieve in this life and you are holding me back. I find it really painful to tell you this truth because you’ve been such a good friend, but I can’t be around you anymore. You are destructive, and you have started to ruin parts of my life. I didn’t realise you were doing this; you’ve been doing it all behind my back. I wake up each day hearing stories of what you have been doing to me.
The lies, the pain.
I’ve come to realise that I don’t need you anymore. All the time I thought you were helping, you were destroying.
It’s heart-breaking that I put so much trust, money and time into our relationship, and you have been so cunning and deceitful.
The destruction to my family and my body and my life plans. I can’t take any more of this. So I have to let you go. I don’t want you to call me. Don’t chase me; just leave me, as I have moved on.
Take care, my friend.
An entrepreneur and former senior oil broker, Ruari gave up drinking after excessive consumption almost cost him his marriage, and worse, his life. Going alcohol-free improved his relationships, career and energy levels, leading to him founding OYNB to provide a support network for others.
