Reclaim your right to happiness
Firstly, Happy New Year! What an incredible month it has been so far.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your generous donations. Friends of Jersey Oncology, FOJO, are absolutely delighted with the money raised. The money will go towards creating memorable experiences and activities for cancer sufferers and their families who are going through oncology treatment.
From the get go I imagined handing over a giant comedy cheque to Katie from FOJO. We finally got our moment and it felt so good!
I have made the lifestyle choice now to be alcohol free, reclaimed my right to happiness and am feeding my soul with good things and experiences. This year is all about nurturing the seeds which have been planted and watching them grow.
Note to self, studio lighting is not flattering!
I have really enjoyed sharing my story with the media who have all been incredibly supportive and have covered the story, which is great for raising awareness for both mindful drinking and for FOJO. I especially loved our interview with Carrie at BBC Radio, I’ve recorded it in case you’d like to take a listen! You’re welcome :-)
Observation…I say that I’m crazy a bit too much and I love the word ABSOLUTELY. Ha!
2019 finished with a bang (literally the best fireworks display, thank you Mr & Mrs Smith) and lots of sober socialising and dancing with friends. I came prepared with Brewdog and some alcohol free bubbly for 12 o’clock. When I first arrived, I felt a bit out of sorts, there was lots of disco lighting (which looked great) but it really made me anxious and a bit wobbly - no idea why, it was the strangest feeling. I found it hard to talk to people as I was distracted by the lights behind them and it took me a while to adjust. There were also a lot of people at the party that I didn’t know and so I guess there is still some work to be done on my confidence and feeling 100% being comfortable without that numbing feeling….I guess that is a constant thing that can sneak up on you when you least expect it, even when you feel like you have nailed it. Thankfully I adjusted and got into the swing of things and had fantastic evening! I thought that people might try to get me to have a drink at 12 o’clock…But apparently I massively underestimated my friends, who were all amazing and supportive and didn’t suggest it at all. They were being so lovely and animated about how proud they were of me and how they might try the challenge themselves. It really filled my heart with love and made the night even more special. I felt accepted in my new form.
So many people got in touch with me at the start of the year to say that they were doing the challenge for 90 days…not just a month off in January, but 3 months off! I found this really exciting, as after 90 days I think you really start to see a shift. The friends I know who are doing it, have had ups and downs over the past couple of weeks. I have reminded them how I was during this time - it wasn’t pretty! It’s not an easy thing to do if you have habitually used alcohol as your way of unwinding at the end of each day or as your reason to meet up with friends for as long as you can remember. You have times of feeling full of energy and then times when your body just wants to sleep…you have to listen to your body as it is going through a change, you are re-wiring your brain and creating new habits.You will be feeling emotions that used to be suppressed with a glass of something before and that is sometimes uncomfortable. It’s OK not to be OK. Be kind to yourself, practice self care…a bath, face mask or dare I say it an early night? It’s been great to see people’s new zest for life too, instead of status’ about feeling hungover and not remembering the night before, it’s been so lovely to see photos of weekend walks and adventures, embracing nature and feeling alive.
Speaking of feeling alive and enjoying the outside, here’s a little video to make you smile of me being silly on the beach. I borrowed the go kart from my little friend. Great fun!
I have been letting go and truly dancing like nobodies watching at a Woman’s Movement Medicine evening. I have been looking in from the outside at this group for the last year and I am not sure what stopped me from attending. I am so pleased that I joined the beautiful Bonnie and the other ladies in this community. This warrants its own blog post, so more to come on this soon. For those who are intrigued, here’s a link to Bonnie’s website, she’s away at the moment, but back later in February.
I’ve been keen to get dates in the diary for more sober sessions, but I have been busy at BWI and then got struck by the hideous stomach virus that has been doing the rounds which knocked me off my feet for a week. I have had the day off today and have spoken with the team at Project 52 who have put the 27th February in the diary for a session, so save the date - tickets will go on sale soon! I figured this would be the half way mark for those doing the 90 day challenge and having something to look forward to would be nice. Remember, you don’t have to be doing a challenge to join us, you might just fancy a night of real connection without the hangover the next day…all welcome!
““Make happiness a priority and be gentle with yourself in the process””