Good morning, friends! ☀️
I have just finished running a lovely 10k this morning in Regents Park, and I am now sitting in the garden enjoying the beautiful weather while writing this newsletter!
Life is genuinely bliss 😀
This week, I want to discuss something a little different.
For the last 500 days or so, I have been entirely sober, and I just want to talk about some of the benefits and my views on sobriety.
However, before we start, I want to clarify some things from the outset.
I am not against drinking.
I do not think I am superior in any way because I don't drink.
I didn't have a problem before I went sober.
With that out of the way, I now want to share some thoughts on sobriety.
The last time I had a drink was back in December 2022, so I have been sober through the whole of 2023 and 2024 so far. In total, it has been about 540 days, and I have no immediate plans to start drinking again.
Before then, I wasn't really a big drinker either. I may have a couple of pints every few weeks or so, but that would be it. There would be occasions where I would go out and have a little bit more, but again, that was like once every two months.
The main reason I went completely sober is because I had an unfortunate personal event that happened, and I did not feel in a great mental state. Couple that with drinking; even if it's like once a month, it can be a recipe for disaster, so I decided to just cut it out.
It wasn't that hard for me, to be honest, as I didn't really go out that much and wasn't a big drinker, as I mentioned. However, there were some surprising benefits that I didn't think would happen initially.
No Hangovers — I now always wake up feeling fresh and never have a hangover. Nothing is worse than a hangover, and the feeling of a lovely morning, like today, always outweighs it. Oh, and also, no hang-xiety either!
Money—The amount of money you save is ridiculous. A pint in London costs around £6, so let's say you have three pints a week, which really isn't that much. You are spending around £75 a month. In reality, people, including me, would spend more than this. So, even if you are not a big drinker, you are likely to save £100s a month.
Relationships — No drunken arguments or disagreements anymore, so the quality of my relationships has improved. Not to mention, I now never accidentally say something that I knew I shouldn't have.
Confidence—There is no more "liquid courage," so I have gotten better at speaking and interacting with people just being completely myself. When it gets late, like past midnight, it can become quite difficult, so I normally just head home then, which also aids in my sleep!
People are all different, so the way alcohol affects us varies, and if you quit drinking, you may experience other benefits to me.
Overall, drinking doesn’t really do much for me, and my life is a lot better with zero alcohol in it. Again, I am not opposed to drinking, and I think there is nothing wrong with it, but it's something I don’t see myself doing for the foreseeable future.
If you ever thought about cutting it out, I recommend trying it for a few months and seeing how you feel. Experimenting is the best way to find out anything about yourself.
Weekly Favourites ❤️
📚 Book — The Grapes Of Wrath. I am trying to read some fiction books and was recommended The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I read Of Mice And Men at school, so this is a real throwback.
🎤 Event — WWDC24. I am a bit late, but Apple had its annual Worldwide Developers Conference a couple of weeks ago, and to everybody's surprise, AI stole the show. I am looking forward to trying Apple Intelligence when it eventually goes live.
📰 News — Safe Superintelligence. Ilya Sutskever, former chief scientist at OpenAI, announced he will be starting a new AI safety company this week. Their website is just basic HTML and CSS, real GigaChad behaviour!
(PS: Some links are affiliate links that I get a kickback from with no extra cost to you 😎)
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Congrats!!
Be safe.
Congratulations on the 500 days