Saturday, June 20, 2015

May & June - Months 5 & 6 (mostly) down! Halfway point!

Summer officially arrives tomorrow, and I'm lovin' breaking out my sundresses and hair flowers! I can't believe we're halfway through 2015 already - it has gone by so fast.

I did have a moment of weakness this month, when I realized I was in month 6 of my year-without-booze. A conversation with Megan:

Me: "You know, I was thinking...I would like to drink again and go to a brewery or something. It's not like I have to prove this to anyone, it's just something I'm doing for me. I mean, I've come this far. I've proved I can do it."

Megan: "Yeah, but you've come this far, you know?"

Me: "Yeeeeahhhh... I guess."

Megan: "But I mean - you've COME THIS FAR. Yeah, you're doing it for yourself, but you'd be throwing in the towel. You've already made it 6 months. What's another 6?"

Me: "You make a valid point."

End scene!

And, as usual, Megan was totally right.
I've come SO FAR! Yes, I proved that I can live a perfectly happy life without booze. But I also made a promise to myself. No booze for 2015. The whole year. So I'm sticking to it!

The book club girls meet Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists!
One of the coolest moments from this past month was that me and the Book Club girls got to attend the Word Tasting Tour!

This included meeting Ryan Nicodemus (of The Minimalists) and Colin Wright (writer, traveler, entrepreneur) as well as Skye Steele (beautifully talented musician), and Josh Wagner (amazing poet & writer).

We read Everything That Remains by The Minimalists for Book Club, and we absolutely loved it. I personally took a lot of their ideas to heart, and truly believe that living minimally (not putting weight in THINGS but instead investing in relationships, time, and experiences) is an awesome way to think and live.

One of my favorite things said the entire evening was from Colin Wright. During the Q&A session (pictured below), someone asked for one piece of advice from the guys. His response was: "You have one life to do everything you want to do, ever." This is something I will carry with me forever - it's a beautiful way to think about life, and what you do with it!

I was thrilled to meet everyone, and I even got to talk to Ryan a little bit about my resolution to give up booze for 2015. I mentioned that one of the biggest things that I get from people when I tell them I've given up alcohol for the year is "Oh, I could never do that."
The guys of the Word Tasting Tour!


My realization after hearing that comment over and over again is: It's not that you CAN'T do it. It's that you WON'T do it. We can do whatever we want, we just have to make the decision. I don't like the idea of people limiting themselves by saying that they can't do something. We can do anything, accomplish anything, if we just make the choice to do so. 

Ryan agreed.

That's the big thing I learned the last couple of months.

I've also lost 4 pounds, 1 3/4 inches, and saved approximately $1,358.00 (from not spending money on alcohol), all in just 6 months. I also feel amazing, happy, and more fulfilled in my life. So there's that!