{"id":590,"date":"2022-12-16T22:45:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-17T03:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/?p=590"},"modified":"2022-12-17T09:24:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-17T14:24:37","slug":"reflecting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/2022\/12\/reflecting\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflecting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drinking has become such a non-issue for me that I tend to forget there are millions of people going through the process of stopping at any given time, and I can share my experience to help make it a little easier. I meant to post in early November as that’s when I hit seven years free and clear. I never counted days, and pretty much forgot about it once I got over the initial obsession needed to stop.
That obsession about all things alcohol went away around the first year and a half of abstinence. Now I hardly ever think about it, which is why I rarely post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Angling I, a painting I just finished, since I’m reflecting…<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But as the holidays approach, I do remember going through that first round of milestones, holidays, weddings, parties, and dining out. It felt like a big deal. If you my read early posts, you’ll see what I mean.
As I write this, I’m sipping my evening cocktail. I call it a cocktail now but when I was stopping I named it switchflipper,<\/em> and that new name helped me enjoy an ethanol-free cocktail habit with all of the benefits and none of the detriments. There was a time when making interesting ethanol-free drinks was a creative gourmet distraction that really worked for me.
My favorite cocktail these days is 3\/4 sparkling water, 1\/4 Fever Tree cucumber tonic, a couple drops of juniper berry extract and a dash of Regan’s orange bitters. Yes, there’s a trace of ethanol in my drink, but it isn’t drinking to me. I am not afraid to cook with wine and sherry; I might have a sip of wine with an exquisite meal, or a couple sips of champagne at a wedding. That doesn’t make me a drinker. Alcohol just has no power; it was put in its place once and for all.
I realize there are some people who have to swear off even the smallest taste of booze, and I respect that. But in my case, the idea of tiptoeing around in a state of fearful avoidance was much more dangerous than just forgetting about it. I’m not obsessed about doing or not doing; I simply don’t. My holiday wish for you is to enjoy an easy and comfortable way of being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re still in the throes of stopping, I recommend This Naked Mind<\/a><\/em> and all of the resources Annie Grace offers. The book and Facebook group brought valuable support when I was in the process of stopping.
I recently got an email from Annie with all sorts of new resources. You can always go to This Naked Mind<\/a> site and click on Free Resources for encouragement and strategies.
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There’s a free app you can download from the App Store<\/a>, Google Play<\/a>, or access it online<\/a> to have help in your back pocket whenever you need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a live webinar: https:\/\/tnmclass.com\/ag-web-registration<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A moderation freebie<\/a> where you can download your copy of \u201cSix Vital Things You Need to Know About Moderation\u201d to uncover the 6 key elements of your unconscious mind that keep you addicted when trying to moderate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And podcasts to help you explore your relationship with booze<\/a>.
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It’s easier than you think when you start to relax around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy being present to the moment. Happy Holidays!<\/p>\n\n\n\n




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Drinking has become such a non-issue for me that I tend to forget there are millions of people going through the process of stopping at any given time, and I can share my experience to Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,8,51],"tags":[117,88,89,23],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-content","category-journal","category-strategy","tag-ethanol-free-holidays","tag-stop-drinking-easily","tag-stop-drinking-independently","tag-this-naked-mind"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":594,"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions\/594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heidimayo.com\/spiritblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}