I’ve never been a heavy drinker, but still, since I completely dropped alcohol, some people ask me if I feel the benefits. I do feel them, and it’s not what I expected.
If I try to understand on a deep level what has changed in me, the first thing that comes to my mind is that now, I don’t have a substance to help me transition through some stressed, painful, or boring periods. And at first, that is not easy. It is quite cool to grab a drink when you’ve had a bad day at work, you fought with your partner or a friend, or you are bored at home just doing nothing.
Well, the problem with that is that by altering your consciousness in those moments, you are stopping the level-up process you were going through. You are literally canceling any progress made, as the answers are always on the other side of that pain. Or on the other side of the boredom. You need those moments to be able to reflect on them and grow. You know you have to, but it is very easy to escape from them and feel better. It is a shortcut, and it will not work.
Since I dropped the alcohol, I went through some bad stuff, as everyone else, but I feel since then, I’ve grown more internally than in the last 15 years. Try it for a while; you’ve already tried the other way.