

Yesterday, I went over the way that I was first prompted to consider this health change because I was experiencing some pretty uncomfortable BODY reactions to this regular habit of drinking wine. I explained yesterday, that while these BODY reactions were not only caused by wine, but rather the ramifications of the lifestyle I’d been engaging for some time, wine nevertheless made them much much worse for me.

In spite of the physical pain that drinking induced into my body, it was not just because of those body reactions that I was able to just up and quit drinking wine.

I actually tried to do just that, but it didn’t work.

I would tell myself, “Ok, I’m not going to drink tonight.”

But sure enough, when I got to the dinner and everyone was drinking some delicious bottle of buttery
chardonnay, it would take all of 2-seconds to cave right it! Call it the “Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO) or just plain caving into peer pressure, every good intention I had would fly right out the window when around the good juice.

So, in what I call the Becoming WISEher phase to change, I started to really think through what was going on with this regular habit and started to question why I was having such a hard time cutting back.

Some of the questions I asked myself were:

1. Do I have a drinking problem or an addiction here?

I think this is always going to be the first question you ask yourself. It is a fair question for not just particular substance of WINE, but for anything we consume or indulge in. Anyone can become addicted to anything and I think certainly food, drinks and drugs are at the top of that list.

I was lucky that I was pretty able to assess that my drinking was not an addiction. I did the online self test and passed. Also, I did my own examination and I did not drink every day and had gone several months without drinking. Also, when I did drink, I didn’t spiral out of control and consume copious amounts at one time (although, I do admit that has happened before, just not on a regular basis). I also very rarely got “drunk” but would just enjoy the act of drinking socially.

If you are asking yourself this same question, with love and compassion, I highly suggest you take the same linked test and also self evaluate your life. Alcohol, or any substance we over consume, can be detrimental to our health and well-being. It can also has a negative impact on your life. Some people who may be struggling with alcohol addictions may need someone to help register them into a residential alcohol treatment center. The individual may not want to go, but often going to these places can turn people’s lives around for the better. I know how common every day drinkers are in society today, but just because we are like everyone else, doesn’t mean we don’t have an addiction. It could very well mean “we all” have an addiction. Out of love, I hope that everyone who might feel this inkling from overdoing any substance visit this link first!

2. WHY do I always want to drink wine?

So if I’m not addicted to the wine, why am I having a hard time stopping drinking?

I know the reason why I LIKE wine, of course.

It tastes good. It helps me relax. It goes well with dinner. It helps lighten the mood with others. It is a bonding agent with friends and new people I don’t know. It’s fun to do with my husband etc.

But from this list of things—- this process lead me to the BIG WISEher QUESTION:

3. Are any of the reasons why “I like it” bigger or more important than my health?? Is it more important than feeling good in my body every day?

Surely, you would know that being in the health and fitness field, I would of course immediately want to
answer “No, of course not!!” as I slam my fist down on the table and take up my torch to march off to throw out all the bottles of wine in the house (cue my husbands gasp as he reads this comment :-))

But, when I got honest with myself the answer was actually, “Hmmm…..I’m not sure.”

And THIS answer bothered me. It REALLY, REALLY bothered me.

Logically, I wanted my answer to be a no brainer that I was choosing my health over all other reasons. I am someone that appreciates my body and I want to use it to my best ability.

This question became what I’ll call an ONION question. It’s the type of question that has LAYERS.

It prompted a layer of questions like:

-Are you dependent on wine?

-Do you need wine to have fun?

-Do you need wine to have people like you?

-Do you need wine for you to like people?

-Do you need wine to feel like yourself?

And these types of questions are not questions where I consult my brain and my mind and try to find the most logical answer. Contrary to popular belief where you think you just need to “think about this more.”

No, if I wanted to REALLY get to the bottom of my WHY, I needed to go deeper, yet again. I needed to travel down from my head……to my heart and what emanates from there.

These questions are actually questions regarding my values, my character, and my virtues.

These are questions from my SOUL.

Look for how I dove even deeper into my Spiritual and thus TRUE path to health tomorrow!!

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