6 Ways My Life Has Improved Since I've Taken a Break From Drinking

I Am More Productive and Active

Growing up, I was always super anxious. I would constantly be skeptical about trying new things and a lot of the time my anxiety prevented me from figuring out what I did and didn't like to do. I was always worried that whatever I tried I would fail at, which would cause me to feel embarrassed and inadequate. I learnt that staying in my comfort zone kept me feeling "safe". However, looking back at my life now I can clearly see that staying in my comfort zone and not exposing myself to risk of failure and other fears was hurting me in the long-run rather than helping me. When I stopped drinking, I realized that I was going to have to find other activities to entertain myself with. I also realized that I had to push myself to try a bunch of new things in order to figure out what it was that I like. I was determined to fight some of my irrational fears and expose myself to things that made me anxious, such as completing a ropes course (fear of heights, check!) and paddle boarding/swimming in a waterfall (fear of fish, check!). I had so much fun doing those two activities and I felt a sense of accomplishment after I had finished. It turns out, facing my fears isn't as scary as I though it would be and even though I wasn't the best at the ropes course, I still put in my best effort and managed to enjoy myself. During this past month I've found a bunch of new things I like, such as kayaking, paddle-boarding, hiking, swimming in rivers/waterfalls, being outside, croquette, pool, ropes courses, etc. Lately I have felt super inspired to keep trying new things and pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and it feels awesome.

Building Meaningful Relationships

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I am working on building more meaningful relationships with people in my life. For far too long, alcohol was the main foundation for a lot of my friendships with others and I found it hard to connect with some of them over anything other than what we did last night. I have come to the realization that for me to feel truly connected with others, I need to be vulnerable and open. So now I am really working on improving the relationships with people in my life. After being in a long, unhealthy relationship where I was treated pretty poorly, I had become terrified of being intimate with others. I was seeking out other emotionally unavailable people, like myself, in order to avoid any chance of intimacy developing, which would run the risk of potentially getting hurt again. I even felt hopeless about how I would always find myself gravitating towards unhealthy and toxic relationships. However, over these past couple of weeks, I was forced to put the focus on improving my relationship with myself, which is something that I had been neglecting for a long time. As I worked on myself and starting feeling a bit better, something totally unexpected happened. I met and connected with someone, who is surprisingly similar to me (it's kind of weird, in a great way). We connected through similar vulnerabilities and as we get to know each other more, I've realized how nice it is to have a real, genuine bond with someone who treats me the way that I deserve. This guy is now my boyfriend, which was the last thing I expected to get out of my experience this summer.. but I'm not mad about it at all!

I am Finding My Voice

I am continuing to practice finding my voice and being vulnerable. I originally started blogging as a way to become accustomed to putting myself out there and being vulnerable. I starting my blog as an outlet that I could express myself on. It makes me feel better when I can honestly express myself and for others to be able to relate to it. However, something I have been struggling with this year has been writing blog posts for myself and not for others. Meaning, if I had a bad day or bad month, I would feel anxious about sharing my feelings incase someone was to judge me for it, or think I wasn't doing well. I have realized, though, that I am human, and far from perfect, and life is full of ups and downs. I will have good days, months, years and bad days, months and years. I will most likely continue to make mistakes -- that is the only way I'll learn. I actually even struggled in finding the courage to post this particular post because I was anxious about what others may think, or assume, or even label me as. I was also nervous that some of my friends might treat me differently. But then I realized that all that really matters is what myself and those I care about think about me. Alcohol was becoming a problem in my life because I was using it to cope with uncomfortable feelings and painful life events, and so here I am now, taking a break from drinking, addressing underlying issues and already feeling some relief. This doesn't mean I am never going to drink again, however for the moment I am choosing not to. I am hoping that as I keep working on myself and moving towards a happier, healthier person, than I'll be able to drink in a moderate, less-destructive way. But for the meantime I am focusing on living a healthier life style.

A Better World

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I am even more eager to help others and make the world better. The definition of compassion is feeling and understanding the pain of others, and then wanting to reduce that suffering. Through out my life, I have become increasingly more compassionate and eager to help other's who have been through similar things as me. There is so much pain and suffering in this world and I feel even more motivated than usual to make a difference, whether that's in one persons life or in many. I am planning on going to graduate school to get my Masters in Social Work, where I can eventually get into counseling and therapy. I would love to be able to help others become the best person that they can be because that is what I am passionate about.

I Feel Better Physically and Mentally

I feel better physically and mentally. It is so easy to drink your calories and slack on exercise and diet after a heavy night out, especially while in college. Without really doing anything except cutting out alcohol and eating more balanced meals, I have lost some weight since I've stopped drinking and it feels pretty good. My complexion is much clearer, my face is less puffy and the bags under my eyes from lack of sleep have become significantly smaller. Not only do I feel as if I look better, but I also feel better. Each morning I wake up feeling refreshed and motivated to do something productive with my day. I don't wake up feeling confused, ashamed or anxious about something that happened the night before. It's empowering. Also, for the past couple of years I have tried to stick with and improve my yoga practice, however I would constantly find myself missing classes to go out for drinks in the evening, or waking up too hungover to go in the first place. Yoga is something that I really enjoy and it leaves my body and mind feeling clear and refreshed. I've been trying to practice it three to four times a week over this past month and I can feel my practice improving every time. I am hoping to stick with it long-term and really improve my practice.