How I Quit Drinking Alcohol

I got on the acid last Saturday night at a super chill wedding celebration. It was the first time I had been out partying and socialising with people in a LONG time (as in, with people that like to party hard, in a good fun way, not a "lets get fucked up" way).

I have done acid before a couple of times and they have always been amazing experiences I will always remember.

When I quit drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes and weed in May 2014, I didn't consciously decide to quit any other illegal drugs because I knew I wasn't addicted to them (even though, I used to do them a lot, especially in Canada where it is so much cheaper than Australia). Just to keep things clear, I hadn't done any since quitting drinking, and before that, it was more of a special occasion/party thing only if it got offered to me.

Anyway, I'm not going to lie about it and I thought I would just put it out there and that this is what I did. If you don't like it, get over it.

When I was making the decision to have some or not, I thought "is this going against what I believe in?"

So, what I did was go and consult my values, which I have written on my wall on post it notes. I spent a day in December 2014 figuring them out, which is something that I highly recommend anyone to do. It helps me to make decisions, like this one, which challenges me to think about whats more important in my life... which are my values.

I know values change over time and they can be very personal but what I did was just got to...
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_85.htm

You can check this site out and go through the steps to figure out what your values are.

My top 10 values at the moment are:

1. LOVE:

That everything I do comes from a place of love (this is what my life coach Natalia Dewiyani lives by). That whatever I do is done with awareness, positivity, gratefulness, balance and faith in myself. Unconditional love for myself and my life so that I can give love to others. Having an abundance mentality and a win-win character.

2. HEALTH: 

To have a healthy body (food and fitness) and a clear mind balance. The first thing I do in the morning is wake up, write in my diary, drink water, stretch, do yoga/run/walk, shower, eat a healthy breakfast. I don't let anything else stop me from doing this morning ritual because I value my health above most things because I love myself.

3. COMMUNICATION: 

To listen to others and seek to understand before being understood. To speak openly and honestly, with assertiveness and respect. To be a leader and communicate with enthusiasm. I value this highly because I realised most of mine and the problems of this world arise from poor communication. After making a conscious decision to become a great communicator and studying, learning and practicing it, I have grown, achieved more and become a better person.

4. POSITIVITY: 

I just recently changed this to be incorporated into LOVE, because I believe love IS positivity, awareness and seeing things with gratitude.

5. ACHIEVEMENT: 

Daily success, personal growth, commitment, perseverance. This is very important to me because I need to have achieved something every day to be able to go to bed and sleep well, knowing I had done/learnt something.

6. FREEDOM: 

Time and Money. Being able to live on my own terms. Having the freedom of time and wealth to do what I love doing. This is what I am working towards with my businesses; SNOWrise, improving peoples lives at Falls Creek, other ski resorts etc. so I can be paid to snowboard, travel and live the life I'd always dreamed of.

7. RELATIONSHIPS: 

Having open and honest relationships, seeing all people as equal, treating everyone fairly, having compassion and seeking to understand first. Seeing every person as an opportunity to be an amazing friend and/or new relationship, not as unimportant, or making judgements. I'm thinking of lumping this value together with COMMUNICATION because communication with myself and others IS my relationship to them... I think.

8. INDIVIDUALITY: 

My sense of self, uniqueness, creativity, expressiveness. Who wants to be the same as everyone else?

9. CONTRIBUTION: 

Service to others, making a difference in the world. I value contribution after individuality and all the other values because how can I give to world without filling myself up first? I'm not going to do something to help other people that's exactly the same as someone else, I will do it MY way.

10. FUN: 

Having adventures. When I was drinking and smoking, having fun would have been my top value, along with individuality and relationships. Of course they would have meant different things to me, like fun=getting fucked up and communication/relationships=having lots of "friends", being "cool" etc. I still have FUN in my top 10 values because what is life without enjoyment?? I now see fun as internal enjoyment I can put into everything I do, but I am not going to seek out fun in external things eg. alcohol.

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So, there are my values, or, what I believe my values are, in priority from 1-10.

Anyways, I had this decision to make. Do I take acid or not? Well, IF I do it, it all depends on HOW I do it.

Do I do it all the time? NO, so its not going to affect my physical or mental health and even though FUN isn't a top priority for me, it doesn't mean I can't let my hair down every once in a while.

I am not taking it because I want to "get fucked up" or be "cool" because I no longer feel the need to fit in or be accepted. If I cared about that shit, I would be drinking and smoking still, it's NOT something I value anymore.

Instead, I can take acid with awareness and positivity. By being aware of the decision I am making and knowing that I am not going against my values and that I will be able to be strong enough not to drink, smoke, go back to any old habits, empowers me.

"Its not what you do it, its how you do it. Its not what you see, its how you look at it. Its not how your life is, its how you live it."

So, for the first time in a long time, I stayed up till 3 to 4am laughing, hanging out with my friends who I had not seen in a long time and enjoying eating yummy food, seeing people's positive energy. I had a couple of epiphanies (which sometimes happen when you take acid) and made me realise many things.

One realisation came to me when I was looking at a photograph on my wall of the beach in LA, California of the pier with the ferris wheel on Venice Beach. When I was there I was lost, broke and lonely, but I thought to myself "I want to come back here, and when I do, I'm going to be happy and successful." Seeing that photo "come alive" (because of the acid) helped me see how much I desperately wanted to achieve the life of my dreams and that NOTHING can stop me.

So, do you think I can look at drinking alcohol as something that helps me achieve my goals as well? No, I know that drinking alcohol is bad for my health and puts me in a negative mindset where I want MORE, leading me back to my addiction.

It's definitely something to think about. After that night, being able to watch people to stupid drunk things, I still have no desire to drink or smoke. Even when the acid had faded away, I was still able to have fun with my friends without feeling the need to stay on the high level with alcohol. I woke up the next morning feeling fantastic because I had drunk soda water all night and had such a great time.

I won't be doing acid all the time and I am not planning on doing any more in the close future either. You can see this any way that you like, but I know that I kept to my values, that this experience had nothing negative to do with giving up on life or quitting alcohol and I made the decision very consciously.

Peace xx