Part 2 can he found here

If you've made it this far, now it's time for the good stuff. Now you might read what's to come but you have to digest it. You need to internalize it and make it your own.

The reason why people drink, is the same reason why I had still not yet conquered my depression or social anxiety, and this is basically I was living a half life.

Living a half life is fairly common and it doesn't mean you aren't externally somewhat successful, but you're not being true to yourself. Simply put you've lost connection with yourself, and your environment.

So all this is, is the rewiring of these connections in such a way that they don't become undone again and can last till the day you die. Once you're reconnected with yourself in relation to your environment you won't want to drink.

Now I do want to point out 1 disclaimer, that is when it comes to social anxiety, I'm talking about having it at manageable levels. I do not believe social anxiety can ever be fully cured. It's about having it so well mastered that it doesn't interfere with your life, goals and dreams. Depression however I believe can be obliterated, and any addictions absolutely.

So let's jump in. Right back to basics. I don't care what happened to you over the last decade, last year, last month, or yesterday evening. It's a new day, so let's embrace it.

You are you, a participant in this thing we call life. In life we have space and freedom, we also have time. We have this thing called a brain and this body that can take us places, and until the day we stop breathing we're participating.

Now unfortunately it isn't a Disney dream, and life can be full of all kinds of severe bullshit that comes our way, and since many of us were not taught correctly how to deal with this shit, and also born into bad childhoods etc, we've been navigating life without the correct outlook and stumbling around in the dark getting psychologically injured in the process. Some of us worse than others. And yet it is our psyche (Austin powers mojo) that's crucial in life, it's our vehicle.

Imagine if I gave you a car and you didn't know how to drive, but you only got 1 car for life. So you drove around and crashed it a few times, wheel alignment was out, shocks completely fucked, leaking oil, and yet you still had a long journey ahead of you. So it is with the mental state of many on this planet. If your mental health is not ok, you're going to have a hard time getting to where you need to be with some comfort.

But still, we're both breathing, you and I, and the realities of life are still here, You might have work in an hour, some deadline. And so we just have to make do with what we have.

I want to talk about time. And I don't want you to think this is morbid, on the contrary this is the best part.

You see none of us asked to be born, and yet it seems our participation is compulsory. I'm here to tell you it isn't.

You see you really can put an end to all this shit. You do not have to live. You really do have that choice so embrace it. If you want to be truly free in this life, if you don't want to live a half life. Then you need to be fully in control and know that you have the option to end your own life.

I'm not directly advocating you kill yourself, what I'm saying is if you're an unwilling participant in this life, how the fuck do you expect to be truly happy or achieve personal success? If you don't even want to play this game. Well think about it.

People don't like talking about death, they put it out of their minds, they get completely destroyed when someone close to them dies because they find themselves completely unprepared. Many consider death unnatural. Suicide a huge taboo, guess what - EVERYONE is going to die.

And this is not bad news, it's liberating. It's completely reliable and liberating. There is an end. I'm not even talking about what comes afterwards. I'm saying life, by definition, this life as you know it will come to an end. And that means that on a timeline you have A (where you started) B (where you are) and C (when it will end).

And why is this liberating and not morbid you might ask? Because it is inescapable. Oprah will die. Trump will die. That lady with her baby sitting next to you on a bus will die, and you will surely die.

This brings things heavily into focus. By understanding and accepting our own mortality, combined with the realization of the choice to end our suffering we are left with 3 choices.

a) End it right now.

b) Continue living as willing participants

c) Continue living a half life (unwilling participants).

Now let's talk about reality. Many of us, even on this very sub have had massive disappointment in our lives. Those of us who were married had our dreams shattered, combined with a huge financial knock. Many of us are shadows of our former youthful selves. So we find ourselves at point b (where we are now). So we need to be somewhat realistic about our expectations from the time we have from B to C.

Stop living by the rules of society. If you don't need to live the American dream or cannot achieve it, then stop trying and stopped being depressed about it. Instead do some realistic assessment of where you are and what you want to achieve in the time remaining. Your milage may vary depending on how much time you have left.

Regardless of whatever you do, learn to cover the basics VERY WELL. I mean keep your bills paid, make sure you have a job you're relatively happy at, keep your living space tidy, keep your car (if you have one) in good running order. Master the basics before moving on. Trust me the basics alone can be a challenge when done right.

You can be happy living by an alternate set of rules. Instead of having that house with kids and a wife. You might live in smaller and cheaper accommodation and yet travel every month. Shit you might invest all your money. You might start your own business, who knows - but don't limit yourself to the classic and boring "American dream". Especially if the pursuit of it has gotten you to where you are now.

So I want to give you the bomb analogy. Imagine if there is a bomb in a room that's set to 5 minutes. You're stuck in this room and cannot change the outcome. The bomb will go off. Are you depressed? Or are you focused.

What if I gave you 1 day. It's a boring room, and it will most likely be the worst day of your life, but you'll be focused.

How about 1 month, but instead of a boring room, a 5 star hotel full of the hottest hookers, swimming pools etc. Do you think you could have a good time in that month?

How about if we left the hotel, and I gave you 10 years, and the freedom to do anything you wanted. But you knew that in exactly 10 years that timer would go off. Would you plan a strategy?

Now nothing in life is certain, but we do know that that bomb will go off for all of us, it might be tomorrow, but it might very well be in 30-40 years from now. So your task is to accept that you have a considerably amount of time left. Hell I'm 40 now, I might live to 70. That's 30 fucking years.

So embrace that time. Own it according to your strategy. FORM A STRATEGY. Stop living a half life. Sure it might not be everything you expected, after all you got to point B by partially living this half life but you will be amazed at what you can achieve if you simply try. And if your plans are totally realistic.

Even if your plans are to save as much as possible and to retire early. Or if you intend to save cash and have 2 long holidays in Thailand per year or relocate there. Who cares? They're your plans own them and embrace them.

This approach to life - knowing and embracing your mortality, has a way of prioritizing noise. People you work with when they come with their petty shit, you can box it in the petty bin. Office politics or bickering you can be the voice of reason. There will be something different about you. Things you feel are important and that should get said, you know you only live once and the clock is ticking, so why the fuck not? You'll be partially above the petty aspect of life, because many (most) people around you are living some halflife. Just making it through the week so they can get drunk on a Friday and try and forget they're alive until Monday where their horror story (which is their life) begins again.

Fuck that, that's not you. You'll be putting another brick into your plan.

Am I saying it will be easy? No. Will you utilize every breathing minute like some robot? No. But you certainly won't be making life any worse for yourself either. Even if you don't realize everything, even if you don't put in 100% effort, chances are you'll put in much more effort than sitting around drinking feeling fucked and hoping to die.

So to recap - if you want to successfully quit alcohol. You need know that you will die (c) and plan accordingly by living your remaining time with a sense of purpose and urgency (b-c) this means you have no time left for any mental blocks or bullshit from your past (a) and that baggage will dissolve (depression, social anxiety) as you become motivated to move forward with your plans before you inevitably die.

Focus is on realistic personal achievements not what society and the media set out for you.

I think that just about covers it.