Reflections (#50)

Sober October Reflections

The last couple of years I’ve done sober October which meant no drugs of any kind all month. I cut out caffeine, alcohol, and the occasional cigar I probably wouldn’t have smoked anyway. I’ll confess, I made an exception this year. My girlfriend bought us tickets to see a show in Milwaukee so we had some brews that night. I didn’t get too crazy with it though and stuck through it the rest of the month.

Each year I do this I have people ask me why I’m doing it; they also share an anecdote about how they can’t give up caffeine or alcohol. I’ve ramped up my caffeine leading into October, I was consuming somewhere between 400-1000mg daily. After quitting I was tired by 1-3p like most years. After about a week I leveled out, my sleep felt amazing, and I wasn’t too tired during the day anymore.

Sometimes we just need a hard reset. Challenges also force us to confront the underlying “why” behind what we do. Do I need the coffee during the middle of the day or is my sleep just whacked out? Do I need to have beers every weekend or can I just enjoy the company of my friends without one?

I didn’t learn anything new this year from Sober October, I reinforced the idea that I am really able to do anything that I set my mind to and that I can rely on myself to make changes when I feel like I’m being hurt by my choices (mentally, physically, spiritually).

In an effort to spend more time on other projects I also decided to quit this blog which is why I haven’t posted in a month. I thought my efforts would be better spent doing everything else. Instead, I found more reason to keep doing it. Writing for me has always been difficult but something I’ve wanted to improve. I also have the desire to share my thoughts even if that’s with only a random handful of internet people I never met. Most importantly, the reason for stopping wasn’t good.

Not having time for blogging doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it. I can be more organized and make this work. In general I haven’t been up to the standard I use to hold myself to when it comes to my business, so here I am back at it. Lesson being, the standard is the standard for a reason.

More good stuff coming soon. Make sure to follow on instagram if you don’t already.

Patryk