When you’re high on “all-natural energy”, life becomes a Joyride that you can’t get enough of.
I went through the cycle of trying Alcohol and Drugs to make life a little more “manageable”, but that didn’t go too well.
Drugs in any form whether it’s Cigarettes, Alcohol, Cocaine, Heroin or any of their evil Cousins are just means of a temporary escape. They allow us to disconnect from reality, put our conscience to sleep for a while and allow that inner-child to run rampant. And even though it sounds like an awesome way to have a fun time without a care in the World, the resulting long-term consequences aren’t that sexy.
The real tragedy of going down the road of “quick fixes”is that our Kids eventually start doing the same when they’re left to their own devices.
But it doesn’t stop there. If you smoke and you light up a Cigarette anywhere in the house (regardless of the location), that “invisible” smoke can make them a part of the 450,000 innocent bystanders who die every year as a result of passive smoking.
Besides, buying any form of addictive substance off the counter is really no different to buying a whole bunch of diseases and ailments from a special kinda “Diseases Warehouse”. If there was such a thing, I highly doubt you would walk in there with a huge grin on your face and say “Gimme one leg amputation tablet, two Nail discoloration syrups, a few Teeth Loss pills and some of your best Hair Loss Lotion.”
Much like anything that goes up eventually having to come down at some stage, anything that goes into your Body must also come out (through somewhere). And contrary to what most people think, the coming out part is messier than it appears on the surface. The Cigarette smoke doesn’t just come out through our mouths and nostrils. It floods every inch of our bodies and seeps out slowly through our pores (from all regions starting with the top of our heads, down to the tingliest parts of our toes). That’s why you can often smell the alcohol and the cigarette smoke in a person’s clothes (even when they’re wearing freshly laundered clothes that hadn’t been exposed).
In fact, this process is not much different to smoking Meat. The real difference is that instead of cooking the Meat from the outside, we’re cooking it from the inside out. That’s why it takes a while for the damage and the wrinkles to become more apparent on the surface.
Obviously, once the Chicken is fully smoked, you can’t exactly breathe life into it and expect it to start clucking away.
Likewise, when that happens to us, the parts affected would either start to “malfunction” or would need to be amputated (if it’s completely beyond repair).
So, losing 14 minutes of your life expectancy per cigarette or losing 23 years of your lifespan as a result of drinking two alcoholic beverages a day should be the least of your worries. I mean, everybody dies right?
So, why not smoke, drink and have a little fun in the meantime?
Well, here’s a glimpse of what that road looks like a few years from now. Let’s say that an unfriendly Giant from some faraway mythical land showed up at your doorstep tomorrow, and then after thoroughly enjoying the fine cup of Coffee you had prepared for him, he very impolitely starts plucking out your limbs one by one like a Rag Doll. And instead of just getting it over and done with, he falls asleep for weeks after each limb he tears off and therefore takes years to get through the process.
Then when your family finds out that your ticker’s not working anymore and that you’ve decided to go on a permanent vacation, they’ll have to live through that unbearable pain for the rest of their days. And as for your Kids, they’ll naturally be driven to do exactly what you had done when they grow up unless there was some divine intervention.
Most people are driven into addictions resulting from the lack of love and connection especially from the people they care about the most. Or they just feel misunderstood 99.91234% of the time.
So perhaps on the surface, you too feel that your family members hate everything about you too and hadn’t said anything nice about you since 500BC. It sucks I know (because I’ve been there). But nevertheless, they do love you like crazy. Otherwise, they could have just fed you to the Koala Bears or whacked you unconscious with a rolling pin and pushed you off a cliff or something. I mean, the reason why they stuck with you is definitely not because they handcuffed themselves to the kitchen sink and misplaced the keys.
Now, the situation with your relationships can be easily resolved (in as little as a few months) with the aid of a few highly-reviewed, self-help books on “relationships”. And before you discount self-help as another cheesy gimmick, give it a try first and then pass judge. Self-help is about as effective as cough syrup. In other words, they work as long as you follow the instructions and take action.
But at the same time, you need something to give you ownership of your own life and fill the void that you tried to fill with Alcohol, Cigarettes or Drugs. And you need something that will help you switch off all your worries, flush out all your stresses and feel ridiculously awesome all day long and all without jeopardizing your health or the health of your loved ones.
So, is there such a thing?
The good news is, there is! But it’s the furthest thing from a quick fix as it takes at least a month or two of consistent application to see results. But when you work at it diligently and ultimately bring it to fruition, you’ll be in for the most pleasant surprise of your life!
And you’ll start to look and feel so fabulous that you’ll have a hard time containing yourself. In fact, you’ll start feeling higher than an Eagle and happier than a Quokka.
So here it is, your path to awesomeness:
1. Drink a glass of water every hour – When you keep yourself properly hydrated, all your bad attitude toxins get “flushed” away regularly. This also does wonders for your mood and energy.
2. Always stand up tall, keep a smile on your face and breathe in slowly and deeply throughout the day – By changing our Body language we can change the way we feel almost instantaneously
3. Never look down (unless you’re talking to a squirrel or something) – Always keeps your eyes straight or pointing slightly upward. When we look down without a good reason, our mind just takes a U-turn and starts tiptoeing down memory lane
4. Dress well even when you’re on your own – When the person who looks back at us looks good, we feel good. Besides, we don’t wanna scare the mirror and cause it to burst into a thousand pieces do we?
5. Keep the house clean all the times – Clearing out the clutter around us also clears out much of the clutter in our minds. It also limits the habitability of the household to just Humans and cute animals.
6. Exercise for at least 30 minutes each day.- I do 4 days of the P90X3 program and use a nifty little Gym-in-a-stick called the Bullworker for the other 3 days. If there was a single magic pill that allows you to look good, feel good and stay healthy all rolled into one, this would be it. Working out every day also flushes out a good amount stress from your body and keeps those joint related cranking and clanking sounds at bay.
7. Switch everything you consume for 6 full days to all Raw Foods – I have 2-3 smoothies every day made with RAW fruits, Veggies, greens, nuts and skim milk every day. On top of that, I also have 2-3 egg salads made with Raw Veggies, Greens, Salads, and Eggs and seasoned with fresh Herbs, Spices, Sea salt, Ricotta Cheese and Sesame Oil.
So, that’s what I have for 6 days a week, aside from the Coffee in the morning made with Milk and Honey.
When we eat what Mother Nature’s provided us with, in the way she’s provided them to us, our Bodies start running on our Creator’s equivalent of rocket fuel. And this particular brand of rocket fuel makes us run all day like an energizer bunny with little or no noticeable fluctuation in energy or mood. That’s why it’s advisable to wear some padded gear and a helmet when you’re downing those delicious smoothies.
8. Meditate for 30-60 minutes each day – I either do the “Mindfulness of Breathing” or “The Relaxation Response” in the morning and finish the day off with a session of “Life Flow”. It doesn’t much matter which type of Meditation you choose, as long as it helps you to breathe deep, relax, bliss out and kick the asses of all your cares and stresses into oblivion.
9. Light up the whole house (apart from the bedroom) with daylight bulbs – Daylight bulbs boosts your alertness and keeps you perky all day long. However, these extra bright bulbs are not recommended if you’re a Vampire.
10. Have a Water Feature in your office – This not only hoses down any residual stress remaining in your system, but it also serves as a “Do not disturb” sign for any negative thoughts that come knocking on your door during the day.
11. Keep your cool at all times – Implementing the steps mentioned here alone would give you a boost in your ability to stay calm, collected and cool. But where absolutely necessary, reach out for an ice pack or two.
12. Do or say something nice for someone every day – When you take the time to touch someone’s heart in a special way (even a complete stranger), it makes you feel awesome and it floods your brain with Endorphins (nature’s happy drug) and maple syrup.
The above 12 steps will help you live a clean, sober, empowered and fulfilling life. But getting to that clean and sober state may take a bit more effort, especially if you’re currently struggling with your own fair share of addictions.
But all it takes to shift the winds in your direction is a subtle change in your thinking and your daily routine. And that alone can flip the entire scorecard in your favor. In fact, I am sure you have witnessed this (or even experienced it firsthand) in those rare comeback victories we talk about for years. And, if your efforts hadn’t paid off so far, all it means is that you had been trying to unlock your door to freedom with the wrong key. But if you keep trying one key after another, you’ll eventually find the right one.
So, here are a few resources that’ll help in your journey:
1. “Informal prayer” – Whether you believe in a higher Power or not, when you’re feeling overpowered, just look up the sky and ask for help. And you don’t a religion to do this. Our Creator is fairer than “people” give him credit for.
But when the Winds do change in your favor (and they will after you do this), then repay his kindness by making a commitment to help people in need for the rest of your life. Saying, thank you once in a while might not be such a bad idea either.
2. “Easy way to quit smoking” by Alan Carr – This resource has already helped millions of people to quit smoking successfully
3. Quit Tea bags – Pop one of these suckers to brew, every time you get the urge to light up
4. “Easy way to stop drinking” by Alan Carr – There’s a reason why no Recovered Alcoholic ever touches a drop of alcohol ever again. They know that you can only play with fire for so long before getting burnt
5. “Rewired” by Erica Spiegelman – If there’s one book that could read to help yourself or other people overcome an addiction, this would be it.
By the way, I am not affiliated with any of these resources. And they are definitely not the only tools out there to overcome addictions. So, in the unlikely event that they don’t help, try a different resource and then another and so forth until you shatter those monstrous walls down and break free. And when you feel like giving up, remind yourself of what’s at stake here.
Now, whilst it’s possible to tackle alcohol and cigarettes on your own and often times with the support of your loved ones, some addictions require a bigger support group and the constant attention of trained professionals.
Therefore you may need to find a good rehab clinic to help you with your recovery.Also if your DIY approaches recovery aren’t paying off within a reasonable length of time, again consider the possibility of enrolling in a good Rehab Clinic. You’re not doing it for just yourself. Your loved ones have to endure the brunt of the pain, even though appearances say otherwise. And if you believe that they’re the furthest thing from being supportive, it’s only because they’re convinced that quitting an addiction, is as easy as flipping a switch.
