SUNDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 2023
The mornings are getting lighter, the days are getting longer and spring is most definitely in the air – what’s not to like?! Valentine’s Day was survived with no champagne and no chocolate and a mid-term break bonfire was enjoyed with no toasted marshmallows.
MY WHY
With spring finally in the air, it seems like the perfect time to do a big shout out to Karolina Rzadkowolska, creator of become euphoric.com, author of the book, Euphoric, and host of Euphoric the Podcast. I first came across Karolina when I listened to her on episode 157 of the This Naked Mind podcast back in 2020. It struck so many chords that I immediately listened to it over again. I reckoned that, if anyone were to ask me to explain what my issues with alcohol were or why I was alcohol-free at that time, I could just point them to that podcast episode and say, “what she said”. Here was someone, who hadn’t hit rock bottom and didn’t even have any real alcohol horror stories to tell. She was a weekend drinker, who could tow the line during the week but habitually drank at the weekends and didn’t feel good about it. She frequently did periods of abstinence but found that, once the allocated dry period was over, she would go right back to where she had been before, because she didn’t really know what else to do. She was tired of the Detox to Retox merry-go-round and it finally dawned on her, after one particular period of abstinence, that she didn’t HAVE to go back, she could find another way. Here was a soberista that I could truly relate to. I actually came across her book by accident – I found it in the library catalogue when I was looking for some inspirational quit lit in early 2022 – and it wasn’t till I started to recognise the author’s back story that I realised it was from the person in the podcast I’d listened to. After reading the book, I started listening to her podcast and I’d say it was definitely instrumental in me taking the leap and deciding to take a whole year off of alcohol. Whereas Annie Grace helped me to look at alcohol in a different way and to see it for what it was, Karolina Rzadkowolska made an alcohol-free lifestyle seem enticing. She talks a lot about how taking a break from alcohol can help a person to uncover their purpose. Back in June 2022, I wasn’t even sure that I had a purpose. Now, 8 months down the line, I can see where she was coming from. Deciding to take a year off alcohol was the first step on a journey that has turned out to be about so much more than just not drinking. I wouldn’t say I’ve uncovered my purpose – yet – but to even think that I might have one is proof enough to me of how far I have come.
Theme Tune: Movin’ On Up by Primal Scream