If you’re anything like me, you may find it difficult to turn down a Sunday arvo by the water flicking through the craft beer selection or fancy champagne options.
“I’ll just come down for a few cruisy ones” turns into a fun night with a cracking headache the next day for work. Now look, I’m not twenty anymore and if you’re reading this you’re probably not either. If you are in your early twenties, I wish I had your wisdom.
As we move into the festive season, how are you going to handle your relationship with alcohol?
Is it going to be another one of those summers where you just strap in for the ride and go into damage control mid-February?
Or
Can we be just a little more switched on to ourselves? Can we soak up the Australian summer vibe and keep our best interests at heart the whole way through?
Here are my 5 best ideas for surviving the Australian drinking culture this summer.
- Pick and plan your events now. Get a calendar out and make a decision now, about which events you’re going to and which events you will be drinking at. Forget creating too much pressure around number of drinks per session etc. Just give yourself a number of events that you feel are balanced for you over the festive season. Inevitably, other opportunities & events will arise, in which case, they will have to be a dry event for you. Bringing some discipline in, only makes your dedicated events more enjoyable. Leaving you feeling excited & grateful for your alcohol intake rather anxious or entitled.
- Aussie social events usually have booze as the indirect central theme. It has become so embedded that we get together to ‘have a drink’ rather than ‘spend time with each other’. Get your mates together and plan deliberate dry events. Create a new central theme around games, challenges, connection, physical activity, etc. and then ask yourself after the event ‘was it really less fun without booze?
- Don’t drink when you’re bored. Time off work and time away creates so much space that we sometimes don’t know what to do with it. Give yourself a summer project or explore something you have always been interested in. Dead space will quickly get filled with the opportunity to drink. Remember, life is not about drinking less alcohol, it’s about building a life that alcohol no longer fits into!
- Booze is the fastest legal way we can change our state of mind. Desiring to change our state of mind is as natural as being warm by the fire. Let’s look at the effects of booze directly, what does it give you? What state of mind draws you into it? This summer might be the perfect time to try new things that allow you to change your state of mind. Mindfulness, meditation, breath work, yoga.
- Ask yourself some honest questions about what matters most.
- What actually matters most to you, in your life right now?
- What do you need to do, and be aware of this summer to not lose touch with those things?
- Does your relationship with alcohol have the potential to put these important things at risk?
Are you noticing this isn’t about removing alcohol from your life?
It’s about getting your priorities in order so you can enjoy a guilt-free beverage from time-to-time.
Rather than smashing copious amounts of alcohol on autopilot and then feeling entitled to more no matter how shit it makes you feel.
Here at Drink Less Feel Fresh, we want everyone to enjoy the beautiful Australian summer and get amongst it all, whilst at the same time, staying switched on & honest with themselves.
Getting the balance right & sticking to your commitments, might just make this 2022 summer, one to remember.
Here’s to Drinking Less & Feeling Fresh.
Here’s to waking up proud of the person we were the night before!
Nat Hodges
DLFF