Today (8 September) is R U OK day so I thought it was timely to ask the question: “Are you okay?”.
I know that whenever I was asked how I was, the response was usually – ”Fine, busy, just the usual”.
However, while it was true that I was busy trying to juggle all the things I had going on in my life, it wasn’t true that I was fine.
I was actually stressed, tired and anxious.
And, on top of that, I was worried that I was drinking more than was good for me.
Yet every time I tried to cut back I couldn’t do it … at least not for any length of time.
Wine was my stress reliever even though I knew (somewhere deep down) that my concern about drinking was actually causing additional stress, not alleviating it. A bit of a Catch-22!
So, if anyone asked if I was okay my answer would have been ‘sure’ but in reality I was not fine.
I just didn’t have anyone to talk to about it as most people I knew also drank to relieve stress. They simply didn’t see it as a problem.
Back then I wish I knew about alcohol coaches and that I could reach out to somone specifically trained in this area who could support me to gain back control of my drinking.
Someone who could understand what I was going through and who had the tools and strategies to help me change the way I was drinking.
That’s the reason why, after years of struggling to change my own relationship with alcohol and finally finding a way that worked for me, that I decided to become a certified alcohol coach.
If you do not feel okay with how you’re drinking and want to know more about my coaching services, I encourage you to book in for a free discussion call.
Photo by cottonbro (Pexels)