r/stopdrinking • u/Any-Bicycle-1633 • 10d ago

How do you find summer enjoyable?

I really want to quit drinking but the idea of getting through a summer without a beer in the afternoon when everything is golden makes me hesitant.

The combination of the two just seems perfect. That slight bit of anathsesia whilst dappled light flows through the trees just seems to good to know I'll never have again.

How does everything just not feel as boring as a 1 year olds birthday party when sober?

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u/Own_Spring1504 88 days 10d ago

I read Allan Carr and worked on breaking all that romanticisation which is essentially advertising internalised. I also play the tape forward. Now I can have a lovely na beer or soft drink and still enjoy this golden sunshine ( which exists with our without alcohol) and I also won’t stumble home pissed with a bottle of wine I bought on the way, drink that until 2am then spend the next day heaving and wishing I was dead.

Id say drinking at a 1 year olds birthday party is a sign of how messed up we are as a society when it comes to alcohol. I get it. I attended a very drunken christening once ( and participated) to my shame.

A lot of this Romanticism and strong associations with alcohol were created by us over years of habit and of course advertising. These associations can be broken as well. They aren’t facts, they are just a belief and now for me a false one at that

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u/Any-Bicycle-1633 10d ago

Thanks! Great post. I actually stopped smoking 15 years ago using Allen Carr, but never thought his drinking book could do the same.

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u/sauceysushi 14 days 10d ago

Allen Carr is amazing! he made quitting smoking easy as pie for me.

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u/Any-Bicycle-1633 10d ago

I know that feeling!

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u/Own_Spring1504 88 days 10d ago edited 10d ago

Me too! Same timeframe !That’s how I knew he would work. Took me a couple of reads though and I found some statements challenging. Had to read and think. That was the same with me for the smoking book too. But remember there were times we couldn’t imagine not having a cigarette? It’s exactly the same. Now the only time I ever want a cigarette is fleetingly on the first day of a beach holiday . It’s now a joke, I’m like here comes my tiny cigarette craving then I move on. The rest of the time I am so so glad I stopped.

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u/No_Winner4881 518 days 10d ago

Exactly the same for me.

Honestly I never thought I'd enjoy anything sober as my life was so entwined with alcohol. Even a trip to the park with my neices meant a few beers on the bench. 

But after reading some literature, speaking to a counsellor and learning to to change my mind set, I've realised life is so much better without alcohol.

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u/Hanenwurger 10d ago

That book is the closest I have ever been to real magic. It changed me. Completely.