Want More Me Time? Get Rid of Alcohol
Oct 31, 2020
It is Saturday morning.
I don’t have to get up.
It is 6:30 and still dark out.
I roll around in bed.
Pet the dog.
Lay and enjoy the slowness of the morning without the rush to get up.
My eyes are wide awake.
My body feels mostly good.
Maybe slightly puffy from the sushi last night, but my head is clear.
I awake with energy and joy.
I decide to get up out of bed and make myself my first cup of coffee.
I am excited for this early morning alone time, because I am at the end of a great book.
I turn on the lamp, grab my blanket, and settle in on the couch.
I finish this 5 star read, as the sun rises.
I treat myself to a Starbucks run for my next cup of coffee.
Today is Halloween.
I have a fun day of holiday baking, crafts, and movies planned with my teenage daughters.
Because of the COVID pandemic, we are not attending our usual costume parties, treat or treating, and other neighborhood activities.
We planned our own Halloween agenda weeks ago.
I look forward to everything.
How lucky am I to have teenagers daughter that want to hang out with me?
They say 85% of the time you have with your kids, is before they turn 16.
My oldest turns 16 in just a few months.
I want to have all the time with her that I possible can.
When I was drinking, I would lay in bed until 10:30 some days.
I would wrestle in and out of sleep, because I didn’t want to face the day.
There was nothing to get up for.
I was half asleep whether I was laying in bed or not.
I knew as soon as I my eyes opened, the hangover would set in.
I sometimes couldn't piece together exactly how the night ended.
Was anyone mad at me?
Did I do anything wrong?
How much did I drink?
When did I go to bed?
I would move very slow.
My daily routine of getting in the shower, making coffee, deciding what to wear, and logging into my phone and computer were all extremely challenging.
Everything was hard.
I would spill my coffee.
I would have to take a break while putting on my socks, feeling hot and shaky.
I couldn’t focus.
I was in a bad mood.
The slightest hardship could bring me to tears.
I felt like shit, but I didn’t always correlate that to my bad attitude.
I blamed my hangover suffering on other people, other things and circumstance.
I demanded myself to buck up and get it together.
A huge benefit of sobriety is the fog of hangover and self hatred have passed.
I have mental clarity and physical health.
It makes a big difference.
I move with ease and purpose.
I added 4 hours to my Saturday.
Four freaking hours!
That is a lot of time added up.
I am literally adding years to my life.
I save time in so many ways by being alcohol free.
And isn’t that what most of us want?
More time?
Free time?
Me time?
I mean, wasn’t that what we were drinking for in the first place?
Adding more hours of feeling physically and mentally well every single day, is an incredible benefit.
Being able to accomplish tasks, chores, and projects with efficiency and clarity.
Never wasting a minute of time being blacked out, browned out, or hungover.
No time or energy spent on thinking about drinking.
No liquor store runs, no waiting for Ubers when I can drive myself, no scavenger hunts for the things I lost the night before.
No guilt and no shame for resting, relaxing, and taking care of me.
Being able to do exactly what I want with the extra time I have created.
Being able to live the life I want every second that I have left.
This is magic.
This is time travel.
This is extending the one and precious life I have by being awake and alive for all of it.
