Have you seen the movie “The Matrix”? There is an iconic scene where Morpheus tells Neo about the red & blue pill? Here just watch:
This your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.
This is how you get when you start questioning your sobriety, what alcohol does to you, how it affects your life, and what it takes away from you. Most people, when faced with this choice, choose the blue pill – the story ends. They keep going down the same path.
To them – alcohol is fine. There isn’t a problem. They never drive drunk. They don’t get DUIs. They don’t yell at their kids or beat their wives in a drunken rage. Their hands don’t shake. They don’t worry about the effects of the hangover. This is life – everyone drinks – and they aren’t going to change.
But once you start questioning – once you take the red pill – everything changes. And you don’t have to hit rock bottom to do that point.
In life – you should question everything. Literally everything. You should take inventory of why you do the things that you do, and ensure that they are ADDING to your life, and not taking away. This is exactly where I started my journey to kick the alcohol habit.
I have never driven drunk. I don’t have a DUI on my record. I don’t yell at my kids or beat my wife. I never have had shakes. I used to not worry about the hangover – just catch the hair of the dog and be good! It was life – drinking was social – and I wasn’t going to change.
But as I went on a personal development journey to solve other issues in my life, I started questioning the habits I was doing. I took the red pill. I was in the rabbit hole and I wanted to see how deep it goes.
And that shit goes DEEP.
When you start down the journey, you realize just how addicted you are – and that is scary. You realize that most of your problems in your stem from ONE THING – the alcohol. You realize that media pushes the glories of drinking down our throat (literally), praising the beautiful elixir for exuberant stories, great love-making, unforgettable memories, and social memories that last forever. You realize that everyone around you is enamored with alcohol. Want to catch up with someone? Hit a happy hour. Golfing with the boys? Boys be buzzin’. Long day? Wine down a bit. Airport? Who cares what time it is – it’s vacation!
And this all is socially acceptable. Yet when you realize ALL the effects that alcohol has on your – you’d wonder why you keep ingesting it.
And while I plan to focus on the science behind each and every aspect that I know of on what booze does to your system – this post is meant to tell you to take the red pill. Question everything. See if this is something that is truly benefiting you.
Look – quitting is hard. Alcohol is an addictive substance that not many people understand trying to quit. If someone wants to quit heroin, people want to help. Hell – if someone wants to quit smoking, people are supported in you can do this attitude. You take 30 days off for Dry January? People call you on Feb 1 asking if you are drinking again.
I don’t care where you are on your journey to quit. You could have a mild headache from the bottle of wine last night thinking ‘what am I doing, or you could be reading this from an ER bed after a binge session wondering ‘what am I doing. That is the start – no matter where you are at on the continuum. Do you have to ask yourself ‘what am I doing? Is this benefiting me? Why do I do this to myself again and again? Is there a better way? Then do the work.
Yes – I am acutely aware that quitting alcohol takes WAY more than answering those questions. While I do think spontaneous sobriety is possible, that is far and few. Everyone’s journey is going to be different because everyone is at different places in their relationship with the drug (and yes – I will call it a drug).
But no matter where you are at, you have to be willing to take that red pill. You have to be willing to run down that rabbit hole. You have to me ready for the uncomfortable truths that no one is telling you – and most people don’t understand.
But that red pill is SO LIBERATING.
So take the red pill. Your future self will thank you.
