I am taking a break from wine. I don't know if it is permanent. Probably not. I just know I haven't had anything wine all week.
A friend of mine went to an Ayahuasca ceremony a few months ago. She came back reporting she had a good trip, but the message she got was that alcohol is poison. I'm not going to go that far, but I heard what she said and I know what she meant.
I will order a drink or a beer if I go out to dinner, or I am with friends. But at home, I'm not drinking. What I find is that my anxiety levels have been reduced to almost nothing. I wake up happy, and have energy to do things throughout the day.
Let's see how long this lasts.
I seldom drink so I have no idea if it affects my anxiety or not. I just know that if I drink, I don't get much done. Perhaps it relaxes me too much:)
ReplyDeleteHa!
DeleteIt will be an interesting experiment
ReplyDeleteYes, it seems to be.
DeleteEver one to watch my sugar intake, I prefer chocolate and pepsi to wine. But I am of the belief that both of those are just as bad as the wine. We all have to pick our poison.
ReplyDeleteAnd the thought of those Ayahuasca ceremonies terrifies me. No way, no how.
Yes, I don't see myself doing Ayahuasca at this stage of my life. My friend has received a lot of insight, and I'm happy for her, but it's not for me.
DeleteI've thought about giving up wine as well. I'm interested in how your wine-less adventure goes. I truly hope it is good in every way.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Robin.
DeleteI quit drinking alcohol in the early 1990s and haven't missed it at all.
ReplyDeleteBravo! That's what I want to hear.
DeleteIt was in the news that alcohol in even the smallest and infrequent amounts is carcinogenic. I have taken that scientific/medical pronouncement seriously and let go of my "wine o'clock" attitude that an alcoholic beverage is in any way good for me; that it's a luxury I deserve.
ReplyDeleteI know people who aren't willing to consider there is any truth to the "carcinogenic" theory (or fact, I guess). After all, different facts may be discovered in 5 years, right? That's my attitude toward science, too, sometimes; particularly when a new discovery is not what I want to hear.
I'll still have the odd glass of wine, and because it's going to be a rare treat, I will enjoy it even more than I did when I was having an end-of-day "shot" far too often. I've given up the habit, though, and instead will have ONE drink when with friends or on a special occasion -- both of which don't happen very often. But the every-night or every-weekend business is over, for me.
All the best to you in changing your habits, if you are determined to do it. I've taken a friend's simple question and adjusted it to my own needs. I look at a glass of wine and say to myself, Do I want this wine or do I want to live? It makes the choice easier for me.
Also, there is alcohol-free wine, isn't there? Is there anything unsatisfying about it? (No buzz, for sure.) The wine industry has played us well, convincing us that drinking wine is cool.
Plus, who doesn't like sipping from beautiful crystal goblets?
This is what I aspire to. I'm hoping I'll also lose a little weight, and have a little extra money. But most of all, waking up happy is gold.
DeleteI'd be afraid to try ayahuasca too. My friend's son came away from it with schizophenia and/or mental health problems he has yet to heal from. He may have had them before, but the ayahuasca experience made them more intense.
ReplyDeleteThat happened to a couple of people I knew in the late 60's/early 70's with LSD. I don't feel I'm mentally stable enough to experiment with psychadelics at this point in my life.
DeleteI stopped drinking alcohol due to the diagnosis and meds I have to take as part of living with a chronic disease. It's been over 20 years now and I haven't missed it. I take the odd sip at new year but it means nothing. In the beginning there were rumours that I was a dry alcoholic, especially from the Irish part of my family and I felt the need to explain but now I don't give a shit what people think. My Man Is a dedicated red wine connoisseur and takes care of visitors. He occasionally asks me to smell a specific wine he thinks is outstanding but to me it's all the same old but I understand his enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel some benefits from it.
Thanks, Sabine. Just feeling less anxiety and more energy makes me happy.
DeleteSounds like your abstinence from wine is doing a lot of good. Jenny and I have been drinking a lot less wine lately and I think it's doing us good as well. One glass of wine with a meal is quite enough.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
DeleteAfter spending a college night with my head in the toilet after too much Southern Comfort, I never saw the point of alcohol. Chocolate has been my drug of choice ever since. I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteChocolate is a most excellent drug.
DeleteOne way of cutting down on wine is to drink progressively more and more expensive wine. I mean, what would you regard as expensive? For me the barrier is £35 a bottle (= $42.43) but no doubt it's a higher figure for you, after all I am a poverty-stricken European. Beyond that I start asking myself: am I drinking to get drunk or to go bankrupt?
ReplyDeleteThere is a useful restriction here. Bottles of expensive wine taste better but they're harder to find. I dunno where you source your wine but you're unlikely to find a Ch. Latour 1968 at an expressway service station.
Another useful restriction is to limit yourself to European wines; as the price goes up some of the labels are difficult to prounounce. Considering Alsace wine: are you absolutely sure you could say "gewurztraminer" correctly straight off, without stumbling. The shame of being seen as an oenological isolationalist might stay the hand that holds the credit card.
Yet another restriction. If you drink costly wine it's only natural you should want to make it last. More bangs for your buck, as you ex-colonialists are wont to say. So you start drinking out of a shot glass. As a result you become socially unacceptable in the neighbourhood; reduced to sipping in the garage with the lights off.
Just a few thoughts from someone who wishes you well but - fortunately for you - lives 2000 miles-plus away. Is unlikely to ring your doorbell unexpectedly with more helpful advice.
I'm pretty sure I can pronounce gewurtztraminer correctly. I took German in high school, where my class name was Liselotte and I practiced saying Frau Lübke approximately ten million times before the teacher agreed I had approximated the umlaut sound. I have yet to live in a state where they sell wine at gas stations. Every state has their own quirky rules about where various types of alcohol can be sold. I've only lived in 5 states, so it's possible they do so someplace. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteGood wine with good food is the ultimate signpost of civilized society and I refuse to give it up!
ReplyDeletePlease don't then. If you did, I would have to consider you a copycat. :)
Delete