YOU ARE THE CEO OF YOUR OWN LIFE
triggered an overwhelming desire to drink," one lady said by email. Another said, “I am so stressed by Christmas that although I say, I am happy to create new traditions, I am not, I hate not drinking." Drinking? already and have How does it serve my interests? It didn't, it damn near killed me. Women tell me …. I need to drink to socialise as I feel awkward and shy, I need to drink to connect with my husband as wine- drinking is our thing of an evening, I need to drink to survive family events as my mother is a narcissist, my Dad is emotionally unavailable, my sister is competitive, my brother doesn't understand me, my boss is a jerk, I need it to unwind after a 12-Hour-Day on shift as a nurse, as a doctor, as a therapist, as a Director, as a woman who stands on her feet 12-hours a day in a store, as a mother of three children, as the mother of teenagers, as the wife of a philandering assh*le, as the wife of a man who doesn't see me, to stop the white noise, to switch off, to end the flashback to trauma in my head, to mend my broken heart. And the list goes as woman after woman explains to me IN DETAIL why they NEED alcohol in her life. “Some people can hold their breath underwater for over three minutes. Some people can go out for one drink and be satisfied, I can do neither.” Alicia Gilbert Drinking? How does it serve my interests? It didn't, it damn near killed me. Each woman reading this IS an existing CEO of her own life.
Dear Sober Queens, This week we watched the Season 3 Finale of Succession (no spoilers) Gerri Kellman, the acting CEO of the family business was asked by Roman for her voting support in a family dispute and, she very astutely said, “But it doesn't serve my interests. How does it serve my interests?” I sat on the sofa thinking, that is why she is the CEO of a multi- billion-dollar hypothetical company, ruthlessly clear with no emotional history in her answer, how does it serve my interests? Imagine a life of asking ourselves ruthlessly, how does it serve my
interests? Drinking?
How does it serve my interests? It didn't, it damn near killed me .
For a decade I took my wine drinking all the way to the cliff edge knowing deep down there was nothing normal about sitting in a kitchen at night drinking wine, knowing that my intake daily smashed all national guidelines, knowing one bottle a night was reckless and dangerous. I did what I do, I took it all the way to the wire, stopping short of wine dependence, stopping short of fractured relationships, stopping short of irreparable damage, stopping short of complete self-loathing, stopping short of wounds that would run so deep that they would bleed forever and a day. I cliff walked one bottle at a time until I could walk no more, swaying across a bedroom floor in the dark believing I was fooling the people in my world. Drinking? How does it serve my interests? It didn't, it damn near killed me. “'My mother is such a trigger for me and she is spending Christmas with us, I feel
HOLA SOBER | MADRID
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker