For 2017 I have decided to give up alcohol.
A statement like that probably makes you think I have a particular problem with drinking or something like that, which is not actually the case. This was more of a discipline thing for me. As 2016 raced towards its end, taking celebrities here there and everywhere, I was thinking about giving up a few things. Coffee and chocolate were the other two but in the end they made the cut.
A TEST OF ADDICTION
Choosing to not drink alcohol for a year was a way of me adding discipline to my life. Not only that but it’s also a test of myself I guess – is this something I can do? After all, if there is something that any of us have an “I can’t live without that” attitude about, then surely we need to start thinking about addiction conversations. Am I controlling this thing or does it control me?
We live in a world where discipline is often not rewarded or encouraged. Except maybe in sport or some work environments. But when it comes to life we are encouraged to live free, do what we want, seize the day and YOLO (You Only Live Once) it out.
Also everything is fast-paced and so we tweet and text instead of calling, we microwave instead of slow-cooking and we binge watch series instead of taking it one episode at a time per week.
SWIM UPSTREAM
In this context, fasting is an attitude and action that says, “I am going to live a little differently, a little slower.” Fasting screams defiance at the lie that “Everybody is doing it” (That’s not true, because I am currently not doing it). Fasting often creates a space for introspection and the opportunity to notice some of the other issues in your life that might need working on.
So as you are reading this, does anything from your life jump out at you? If you decided to join me for this Fasting in 2017, what would your options be? Maybe there is actually something that takes up too much of your time or feels like it is having more control of you than you’d like. A friend of mine told me this week that he has given up Facebook for this year, as another example.
I was also at an event last night where the one guy was doing Teetotal January – so my fast but on a smaller scale. I didn’t get a chance to find out why he was doing it, but when alcohol was brought to our table I was actually one of three who declined and that felt good.
YOU READY TO JUMP IN?
So how about you? A lot of people choose Lent as a time to give up something for a certain duration, but I think to many that has become a routine or tradition they do for tradition’s sake.
My encouragement is to choose a time period from once a week to a month to a whole year. Figure out something that you actually enjoy and that it might be a good discipline to see if you can step away from it. Maybe find a friend who will do this with you because safety in numbers definitely applies here. The longest food fast I ever did was ten days and I joined a friend on that and the group dynamic and accountability was what made it doable.
Then go for it. Make yourself accountable to a friend or family member. Or be brave like me and post in online – nothing like having everyone you know keep an eye on you for an entire year just to see if you’ll grow through with it.
Embrace the discipline. Find out who you really are. See if any things to be worked on are revealed. And become a stronger person because of it.
Let us know in the comments below if this is something you are going to try to what your thing is going to be.