It's hard work

Being a human is hard bloody work. There is so much to contend with. Setbacks and knockdowns, love and death, disappointments and frustrations. All the pesky negative emotions that I am only now, years after quitting drinking, somewhat decent at managing.

So many people find being a  human so hard that they turn daily to brain bending liquids to help them cope. They rely on their 5 o’clock alcoholic drink to help them deal with the day – I sure did. Over and over and over again. But it doesn’t actually help, all it does is disconnect us from what’s going on, delay making us deal with stuff and numb our true emotions.

It’s a trap that we’ve been tricked into thinking is a normal way to live. Step outside of it for a while and you start to see what a crock of shit it is. It’s a complete fallacy that alcohol is a necessary part of life. It’s a ridiculous notion that we need ‘help’ from a liquid drug to cope with our daily lives.

We have what it takes inside of us already.

Humans are meant to feel tricky emotions – they’re a part of life.  Sadness and pain and frustration and boredom are there for a reason. They’re telling us something. And if we let ourselves sit with these feelings, listen to them and experience them fully, they’re easier to understand and are more likely to pass quicker or prompt us into taking action.

Everything is better if you let yourself truly feel. Negative emotions make more sense and positive emotions are way more rewarding when felt as part of a huge mix of ups and downs. Being grounded and real and reliable and honest and true to who we genuinely are at any given time is the best way to live. It’s the normal way to live. It’s what we’re capable of.

Yet because we live in a booze-soaked world, living as a sober person is seen as the strange and unusual thing. How crazy is that!

Sober people aren’t strange and unusual, we’re not. We’re bloody legends. And I applaud each and every person who works hard to dig deep and become the best, most authentic, genuine, honest, robust and real version of themselves that they can be.

Bloody legends all of you.

Love, Mrs D xxx

This post was first published in 2018.