06/12/2024
Is your monkey demanding? 🐒
Do all your plans have to include your monkey?
Does it wake you up in the middle of the night, disrupt your sleep, and make you feel exhausted?
Does it embarrass you?
Do you feel like you can not get away from your monkey?
Is there always an event or vacation coming up that you must bring it to?
Does your monkey get out of control and fill you with regret?
Does your monkey give you hanxiety?
Have you tried to get that monkey off your back, but nothing worked? Is it time for a different approach?
All joking aside, I know from personal experience how difficult moderation can feel?
Unbeknownst to me, I had already tried and failed to moderate for a long time. Negotiating with myself, “Only on holidays and special
occasions, only on the weekends, Thursday through Sunday, only one a day.” The promises to myself went on and on, made and broken over and over again, this taught me not to trust myself and affected my confidence and self-esteem. It left me wondering, “WHY” can't I do this?
So, I explored that exact question. "WHY" I started to learn “why” in a logical, scientific way. I did not have to believe in a higher power or shaming labels. It was based on facts, how our brains work, and what it does to us on a physiological and mental level. I learned that there was nothing wrong or defective with me. I learned to question my beliefs about it in society, the substance itself, and most powerfully, within myself. It was an unlearning
and relearning that happened.
I am coming up on five years since I explored changing my relationship with my "monkey" 🐒:). I am still learning every day, and I have learned that:
There is no rock bottom you need to hit.
If you ask for help, it does not mean you are labelled and doomed to a life of shame or forever.
There is no wagon to fall on and off of. Really!
You do not need to stop to get help.
Tasting it after a period of abstinence won't lead me to spiral out of control. It has become small and irrelevant.
Joy and fun are not being enslaved to a liquid in a glass.
There are no rules; you decide what you want and what works for you.
You can hold it lightly; this doesn't have to be a dark experience. I also had so many fun experiences that I don't regret; I'm still having fun now—without the hangovers or “not so fun” incidents.
If any of this resonates with you and you would like to learn more about it, book a call with me. I am happy to share. Book a call with me to learn more. https://calendly.com/karenlantigua/lets-chat
