A Proper Reason Not To Drink

This is a habit I can, and will, begin to embrace. UK Climbing’s caption for the above pic reads as such. “I can drink again!” Andi celebrating the end of sobriety having got the jug at the end of the hard climbing on Reg.
 – UKC News, 06 Dec 2013 © Guy Van Greuning

First, why should you change your habits at all?

I might say that it’s good to give up every habit you have for short periods but I would definitely say that you should give up your bad habits from time to time. It’s empowering to know you can, for one. You also get a real physiological change when you alter your routine. This process alters your brains functioning, in reset fashion, forcing it back to natural patterns that often get adjusted to meet whatever we’ve adopted as a daily routine. The importance of this varies, depending on how healthy your rituals are now, but it always has some positive effect in the big picture, which is why things like cleanses, and even vacations, are an important part of life.

I just came off a period of not drinking for my birthday challenge. While it was fine, it was also boring and somewhat unfocused because it didn’t have a clear goal. Having a light at the end of the tunnel makes habitual change challenges so much more focused, and therefore fun. UK Climbing, take it away,

It’s a massive achievement for me, and has really captivated me for several years, I’ve had a constant paranoia that I would lose the line to someone else. Especially as time wore on and I had invested more and more time into it. I would regularly do a drive-by of the crag on my lunch time to make sure no one was up there! I do feel very free now and happy to go somewhere different on a nice day for a change! 

I finally made a pledge this year to do it and after another “close” attempt three weeks ago vowed not to drink until I had it in the bag which was a big deal for a habitual drinker like myself. Twenty days on the wagon and the route was mine, I was at the pub a couple of hours later! It tasted sweet!”

Almost nothing in life tastes as sweet as a victory drink. As usual, I’ve employed this tactic before and its effects are fantastic on both fronts: during and after. Now I just need a project I’m psyched enough on to train specifically for.

To conclude today’s post, here’s a random vid of a gritstone test piece. You know, for motivation.

Related posts:

1. Drink Coffee, Live Longer
2. Why You Shouldn’t Drink Diet Soda
3. To Drink Or Not To Drink?
4. P90X, Recovery Drink, & The World’s Hardest Crack Climb?!