Is ALCOHOL the new CIG? I've been curious about it..... here is what I've learned.
Updated: Jan 16, 2023
CURIOUS ON LIFE: the Blog vol. 8
Rebecca Guevara Wingler
certified life coach/ artist/ grey area drinking/ reiki practitioner
I remember when cigarettes were welcome everywhere. In the board meetings I would attend, when I was in banking, there could be nine colleagues in a closed room for sometimes up to 2 1/2 hours at a time.
Five of the nine were chain smokers.
It was understood, there really was no choice but to sit in that smoke filled room until the meeting was over..
It was the norm, nobody questioned it back in the 80's.
On an airplane, they would sit smokers in the "smoking area" in the back,
as if the fuselage was airtight in the last 6 rows of the plane. Really? Crazy.
Again, everyone just went with it because this is how everyone travelled. Dinning at restaurants and bars..... forget about it.
And teachers lounges at schools, same thing.
Wow, have things changed.
As evidence that smoking causes lung cancer become common knowledge, cigarette sales declined.
The filter tip cigarette was a direct response to the publicity given to evidence linking smoking and cancer. However the "benefit" of filters were illusions. As it turns out, filters were not really filters in any meaningful sense. There is no such thing as a clean smoke.
What about consuming alcohol, is any amount healthy? It is marketed to us in all sorts of ways, Our life will be better some how.
More glamorous, sexier, happier, and even more fun!
You have heard "it takes the edge off", as if it is good for our mental health.
On my very own sober curious journey, and then even more so as I studied to become a certified alcohol free and grey area drinking coach, what I discovered was mind blowing.
Not just is it a very addictive liquid drug, it is very toxic and damaging to our mind body and spirit.
It can take such a toll.
We know it causes inflammation of the liver, which is potentially fatal, it increases blood pressure and damages the heart muscle.
There are so many alcohol related heath problems. Cancer, eyesight issues, oral health issues, gum disease just to name a few.
What about our Mind? Drinking for long periods of time run the risk of serious changes in the brain.
It causes mental confusion, paralysis of the nerves that move the eyes. Our mind will shut down and we drink too much, we experience black outs.
It shuts down the part of the brain that has reason. It creates false highs with dopamine hits.
What about my essence, my soul?
I was being affected from my daily wine habit.
I drank wine every evening for decades.
I am a artist. I used to believe it made me more creative. In my 50's, I began to feel my vibrations lower.
I wasn't waking up hungover from several glasses of wine the night before,, because I had a high tolerance, but I was foggy and not clear headed and ready to go, as I am now that I kicked that habit, I have made alcohol small and irrelevant in my life.
I think as we strive for healthier living, especially as we age, questioning our relationship with alcohol is a positive thing to do.
If you are like me, you never thought you had a "drinking problem" I mean not really. Did I know that occasionally I drank way more than I should? Yes, but didn't everyone? I didn't question it because it is everywhere.
It is expected.,
Like cigarettes I think we are getting smarter around what we have been conditioned to believe and how to behave.
Looking back, I'm so glad I got curious about what my life could look like if I didn't drink.. You don't have to hit a rock bottom to question it.
I didn't have a rock bottom per se, but little by little it was definitely taking more away from me and my life than it could ever give me.
Get curious. Stay curious.
I'm here and easy to reach if you ever just want to chat about any of this. You can book a "free discovery & discussion call" and discover how to live your best life. You deserve it, we all do.
Thanks for reading
Until next time, with love and wonder,
Rebecca