You guys,
I don’t have a drinking problem.
I just enjoy wine and can’t be around my family for too long without an alcoholic beverage in hand. And sure, I drank six of the past seven nights but never more than three glasses and I always felt fine the next morning. I’m hoping to be pregnant soon anyway and then I won’t be able to drink for a year so I might as well enjoy myself now, right??
Even though I’ve come a long way from my nights of countless Jameson shots and weekly blackouts, I still struggle with my relationship with alcohol. It feels like the less I drink the more guilt and depression I feel when I do drink.
In January I did a guided visualization - something I’ve never done before - and was instructed to picture my “future wise self” walking toward me. She was sober. I’m not sure how I knew because the rocks glass in her hand filled with ice and clear liquid with a lime wedge certainly looked like a cocktail. But it was water.
This past week I told my girlfriend about the visualization and she asked if that meant I was going to stop drinking. I looked down at the second glass of wine in my hand and told her I didn’t know what it meant.
But I did start reading the book, Quit Like A Woman: The Radical Choice To Not Drink In A Culture Obsessed With Alcohol.
The introduction closes with,
“This is the truth about alcohol, and the thing about truth is once you know it, you can never un-know it. You will never look at drinking the same way again.”
I closed the book and decided to not read it for a while.
A month later I tried again. Here’s a line from Chapter 1:
“There is the life that most of us live, and then there is the life we buried deep inside us, the life we know we’re supposed to be living.”
I’m living a pretty awesome life. I’m the happiest and most fulfilled I’ve ever been.
But I know it can be better. I know there is an even better life waiting for me.
So I’ll keep reading.
Essay of the Week
During my parents’ visit last week they couldn’t believe George sleeps through the night. They kept telling us, “You’re so lucky.”
Even when I showed my Dad the sleep training book that says on the cover, “Giving Your Infant The Gift Of Nighttime Sleep,” he brushed it aside, rolled his eyes, and said, “You’re still really lucky.”
He’s right. We are lucky. But no one is ever “just” lucky.
I wrote a short essay about luck and how to capitalize on it.
Goodnight
Last night on Clubhouse Darya Rose and Andrew Huberman discussed How To Get Better Sleep.
Here were some quick, actionable takeaways:
The magic combo of supplements to take 30-60 minutes before bed:
Apigenin (says it’s for prostate health but it’s also for healthy sleep!)
L-theanine
magnesium
If you wake up during the night and can’t fall back asleep try Reveri, a free digital hypnosis app that provides immediate relief from sleeping problems, among other things.
If you wake up too early and can’t go back to sleep, try starting your day with guided NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) yoga nidra. You’ll come out of it feeling as if you’ve slept! (If you do happen to fall asleep, that’s okay, too.)
The temperature of your body makes a huge impact on your sleep. Try Eight Sleep. It’s a mattress topper that cycles through different temps throughout the night to give you better sleep. Darya loves it.
Getting sunlight through your eyes within an hour of waking is vital. No sunglasses, no window.
Darya announced that she will be starting a new podcast called The Darya Rose Show. This Clubhouse conversation was recorded and she’ll be sharing it in the coming weeks.
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Until next week,
Charlie