My Easy Way To Stop Drinking: Relationships — The Good and the Bad — 2 Months In

I seem to be undergoing a transition of sorts from where initially, alcohol cessation was all about the ways and means of getting it done—arriving at that point of no return—to now, increasingly, towards a more observant and deliberative consideration.

Preface

Kind of like: the chicken or the egg; what comes first? Do you get plastered because life sucks and it's an effective acute-pain reliever for that; or, is it that you typically drink for a multitude of reasons (or excuses), it eventually gets out of hand, and then proceeds to 'suck' up your life to the point that alcohol becomes a veritable coping requirement?

"Oh, boy...I could really use a drink."

...Or is it both, since the real answer to the question about chickens and eggs is that there's not the one, without the other. They're inexorably integrated, inseparable.

But still...I can wax philosophically or psychologically all I want, but it all has to meet a single criterion for me:

Does this nugget or tidbit or realization or actualization or idea or aha moment...bring someone to the Easy Place? Because let's face it: you're probably not going to brute force this thing to success. If it sucks, then it's likely going to get suckier and the suckier it gets, the more likely you are to fail.

...But fear ye not!

...That failure can be "magically transformed" into success, see? All you have to do on the back-end of failure is float the notion that it was just a test to show that you actually can abstain and now the test is over.

See? "I can quit anytime I want!"

...Though I've surprisingly not faced this [what would be] understandable criticism anywhere, it nonetheless nags at me a little. What am I doing, essentially creating what purports to be an authoritative gospel for kicking the bottle when I've been at it such a short time?

It smacks of unbridled exuberance—like when you're a kid and had your first beer. Or, you've discovered a hammer and so now, everything is a nail.

But that's just me and has always been me. Once I really get into something I take it up with a very rapid gusto so I can master the essentials, which is a process of shit-canning most of what's out there, leaving only the valid stuff. That's why most stuff is easier than it looks—or is purported to be by those seeking your money. They want you to think it's hard. Not to worry. They're here to help.

Those with the most just and valid reasons to ask you for compensation are those who are constantly simplifying, clarifying, and deconstructing for ease of implementation and better chances of success. Others continually complicate, obfuscate, qualify, manufacture exceptions, and issue rules that are self-serving, requiring endless guidance and management.

C'mon, look how simple I make shit: don't [eat, drink, or do X] too much, too often. What's amazing is how damn difficult it is to get out a simple message like that, undercutting all the abject bullshit. It's because it's perceived to be obvious, so of little value. Ironic, that, isn't it?

In most things being touted and marketed, "simple steps to..." are never simple. Rather, they are intentionally near to impossible. But all that will be laid out in the next release, at a good price...and so on.

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Richard Nikoley

I started writing Free The Animal in late 2003 as just a little thing to try. 20 years later, turns out I've written over 5,000 posts. I blog what I wish...from diet, health, lifestyle...to philosophy, politics, social antagonism, adventure travel, expat living, location and time independent—while you sleep— income by geoarbitrage, and food pics. I intended to travel the world "homeless," but the Covidiocy Panicdemic squashed that. I became an American expat living in Thailand. I celebrate the audacity and hubris to live by your own exclusive authority and take your own chances. ... I leave the toilet seat up. Read More

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