Week #31 – Grumpy face

Yes, grumpy face. Grumpy face because these fucking anxiety episodes started again a couple of nights ago. First time since my daughter was born.

Deep down I was hoping that being busy taking care of Sofia would prevent me from being anxious. What a stupid thought! I should have known better if I was paying attention to what I wrote on this blog and read over the past couple of months!

Being busy is not a remedy. You can’t ignore your thoughts and feelings for ever just by being busy.

Mindfulness and acceptance are

Weeks #29 and #30 – The power of daily routine

 

I’ve read a couple of times in a couple of different places (I believe that one of them was the book called “The monk who sold his Ferrari“) that setting up a daily routine is a very powerful way to implement sustainable change in your life.

If you want to change something in your life, if you want to kick off a new habit, apparently you “just” need to do this new thing every day for 30 days and then it is supposed to kind of stick with you.

And to be fair, I felt that I have been experiencing this idea over the past 6 months when I started

Week #28 – The link between alcohol and anxiety

 Hello team,

I hope you are doing well and that you are staying warm – or, if you are living in the southern hemisphere, I hope you (lucky bastards) are enjoying your summer.

This week, I would like to say a quick word about my experience of the link between drinking alcohol and having anxiety and encourage you to read two recent articles on that topic.

Weeks #24 to #27 – 6 months! And Merry Christmas!

Hello there,

I have been quite bad at updating this blog recently. Based on my last post, it is easy to understand why but still, I’d like to be able to write more often!

Anyway… as mentioned in the title, I have now been sober for 6 months.

It is an interesting feeling to say the least. These days, when I think about this journey, the main things that come to mind are:

Weeks #22 and #23 – When the challenge gets more challenging…

Here we are… the cookie monster has arrived…

🙂 🙂 🙂

I am so in love with her.

But she is definitely bringing changes in our lives and routines!

After 11 days with her, I am happy to report that I have been able to meditate every day anyway. Ok ok I admit… some of these meditation sessions were 50% meditation, 50% nap but hey it’s better than nothing.

Let’s see if I manage to keep up like this!

Regarding drinking alcohol, I have not been tempted so far. Actually, I am quite pleased I stopped drinking because I would not like to add alcohol to the current lack of sleep, additional stress when cookie monster is crying and so on.

Oh and by the way, it has now been 5 months since my last drink.

Hopefully I’ll be able to keep on writing here every week or every other week because the journey is definitely going to be more exciting, challenging and rewarding.

Twenty-two weeks done. Thirty more to go.

Twenty-three weeks done. Twenty-nine more to go.

 

 

Weeks #20 and #21 – Tips and advice on how to remain sober during the Christmas season?

Hello amigos,

I hope you are not expecting tips and advice on how to remain sober during the Christmas season and that you noticed the question mark in the title of the post.

I am looking for tips and advice! I can’t give you any because it is going to be my first sober Christmas. And of course staying sober for Christmas is a fucking option.

So

Week #19 – It’s always about being able to face your discomfort and your fear, isn’t it?

Hey team,

I hope you are having a good week.

I have just finished reading a book recommended by my wife: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. And I really really liked it.

I might not do

4 months!

Yes today my journey is 4-month old.

4 months of daily meditation session.

4 months without alcohol.

My thoughts after 4 months?

Weeks #17 and #18 – The marshmallow test (part 2)

So my introduction to “The Marshmallow Test” was very long (and very boring) but…

It was necessary. And we learnt the great news that we can have a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset! What a relief!

Now what’s next? What do we that you’re asking? With that, we look at tips and tactics offered by the book to help

Weeks #15 and #16 – The marshmallow test (part 1)

 Hi there.

Oh boy it took me much longer than expected to write this post!

I hope you all had a good couple of weeks.

I wanted to write about a book I read recently: “The Marshmallow Test” by Walter Mischel.

I could not summarise the book better than how Amazon did, so here it is:

“A child is presented with a marshmallow and given a choice: Eat this one now, or wait and enjoy two later. What will she do? And what are the implications for her behaviour later in life?