David Testimonial
Welcome , David and congratulations on completing Just the Tonic transformation program and taking control over alcohol. Thanks for doing this interview.
First, lets start with how much you were you drinking? And then also, why you wanted to make a change, or why you why you got in touch.
Well, I have been drinking obviously over many years, and it sort of creeps up on you. You know, drinking in the evening and drinking a lot. I mean 2 bottles of wine, the minimum, more, and then you wake up in the morning with all that anxiety and not wanting to do it and then by about 5 o’clock you have talked yourself into it. So, you are in this perpetual cycle, which is awful. And I knew I needed help to get out of it.
Has your drinking gone up as you were working less, like for some people, they realize that when they have more time?
It goes up because you do not have to get up in the morning. You do not have to do this, that and the other and nobody starts off saying, I am going to end up drinking 2 bottles of wine a night. I read somewhere that John Lennon, at some point, was drinking 3 bottles of vodka a day. But you do not start off like that, but it is always where you end up.
Our first call was a week ago, and you decided you were going to act; do you remember how that felt?
It was quite an important thing for me to do, but I needed to do an important thing. I thought, I must, you know, really do something, and get into a decent program and really give it a hundred percent. There is no doubt about it. I was in a dark place when I signed up for the program. Signing up was quite cathartic in the way that you just thought. I am doing something for me.
Can you remember when you came on your 1st zoom call? What was that like?
Oh, I think well, you are obviously nervous coming onto this onto the zoom call for the 1st time. But it is reassuring because they are all such nice people and everybody in their own ways is quite good at what they do. It makes you realize you are not on your own and there are many people in similar situations, which is the biggest part of the program for me, the people.
How did that feel in the early days just to go from drinking that amount, saying, right, I am not drinking?
Well, it was not easy. It was hard, I mean I wanted to have the interview with you and not have a drink the night before. So, I had not even signed up to the program. I did not drink that night and thought to myself, well, this is probably if I can do this.
How long has it been now since you had your last drink? And I am going to guess the 20th of April?
Yes, 82 days. The elephant in the room over the years has always been drinking, and I always said if I can sort the drinking out, then I am sorted.
How does it feel now in terms of you being alcohol free versus at the beginning?
Well, I think you know, when I started the course if you just said to me, I was going to write a journal every day and brag book and do the meditations and stuff like that. I wouldn’t, you know believe it, but it’s having gone through it and come out the other side you, you realize what a fabulous process it is.
I think that the problem is that alcohol sort of takes over your whole life, you’ll spend the evening drinking, and then you wake up in the morning, and you got a thumping head, So you think, well, that’s a good start to the day, and you, you know you walk the dog in the morning, and you’re not feeling great. Then, at 4 o’clock walk in the afternoon with the dog. You are then thinking, well, I might be all right to have a drink tonight. and your whole life has been taken over by alcohol.
How would you describe yourself if you were in a dark place before, and how would you describe your overall mood now?
It is a great cause. I mean, just wake up. It is amazing. Take the dog out, you feel good. Well, I will not say I jump out of bed, I am 64, but you know, it is different. It is like that cloud that you have sat over your head is gone. It is gone, and it allows you to do so many more things that you normally would not have, and you find yourself having a lot more time.
I’m probably more worried about whether we’re going to be playing Bellingham or not in the next round of the euros rather than am I going to drink tonight? Cause that’s not a question that is coming up anymore.
Did you ever think that you would miss the taste of wine? Quite a wine connoisseur?
Well, it is interesting. Cause. Obviously, yes, I have a cellar. I walk over every day, and it has still got bottles of wine in it. But yeah, I never end up touching it, but I think in some ways, with this passion for wine that you might have, I think in a way it is you trying to hide the fact that you have a problem because at the end of the day, no matter how nice the wine, its ethanol.
What would you say to somebody out there reading this and they are saying to themselves, I can really relate to this guy, that’s what I’m drinking, and they want to take action and book a breakthrough call but they are also worried about doing that and trying to tell themselves they don’t have a problem?
Do it!
You know you have nothing to fear but fear itself.
So, you’ve got to do it. I think most of the people that I’ve met on the course, everybody’s come to the course because you do run out of road, I think and I think you know anybody who’s drinking 2 bottles of wine a night which is 20 units a night, 140 units a week, you don’t have to be too much of a mathematician to work out. That is, you need to do something.
Yeah, and even if you know you, you will have this conflict with the self-talk that says, no, we’re fine with, you know. We can carry on doing this. No, just look at it. Just write it down. If you’re doing a hundred plus units a week, you need to be on the course.
And just one last question, what are you looking forward to about your alcohol-free journey? What excites you about it?
Well, at least when my grandson gets up at half past 6 in the morning, I will not be hiding anywhere with a hangover. So yes, really, looking forward to that, really looking forward, going cycling with him. That has been one of my things that you know I can. I can go over there, (Australia), and I never thought I would have holidays (without alcohol), because when you are thinking of giving it up and then you say to yourself that it is all right (to drink) Well, now, I’ve been away and not drunk when I’ve been away as well. So, it’s yeah, you just don’t want to go down that road. So, it’s yeah for my for me and my grandson. I’m really looking forward to it. So, it. It opens a whole new chapter for me.
Massive congratulations and thank you