What's your crutch?

Everyone has a crutch I think.  Something to get them from day to day when life becomes difficult and, as long as we only use it for support occasionally, that's ok.  The problem comes when we start to rely on that crutch.  Approximately four years ago I gave up alcohol (apart from champagne on Christmas Day which I really think doesn't count) and have been thinking recently that it's such I good job I no longer drink.  My real problem is that I like the taste too much and have an inability to say 'no' when offered another glass.  Unlike most of my friends I find it almost impossible to drink only one glass of wine and, instead, drink until I fall over and then go to sleep.  This is not conducive to a fun night out and gets very wearing for those around me.  Drinking I think also becomes a habit.  I would get home after a stressful day at work and Ash would be waiting with a glass already poured for me.  If it had stopped at that things would have been fine but it seemed a shame not to finish the bottle.  After a really difficult day we'd open a second and then it seemed a shame not to finish that too.  The catalyst was Christmas four years ago.  A night out with friends resulted in me 'losing' the next day and the same thing happened to Boxing Day.  It just disappeared, never to be seen again.  At that point I realised that, although I liked the taste of red wine very, very much, I didn't like the way it made me feel so I stopped, just like that and I've never looked back.  Life has been very stressful recently (an understatement some might feel) and I realised a few nights ago that in a previous life I would have have been drowning in red wine at this point which would have been so unhealthy in so many ways.  I would have slept even more poorly than I am without the alcohol, I would have put on weight, I would have had a permanent headache ............ but I do still need a crutch, everyone does, so what , a friend asked me last week, is mine?  Actually it's this blog, it keeps me focused on the positive, it gives me something to think about (what topic? is the grammar correct?  have I spelt everything properly? the crutch is in the detail and attention I give to it).  So my crutch is the blog, what's yours?


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Comments

Lesley said…
Mine is my garden and allotment. Getting engrossed in simple tasks like weeding, sowing seeds, deadheading, digging and simultaneously enjoying fresh air, birdsong and the scents of the season is a tonic for me like no other. I'm just reading a book called 'The Wild Remedy' by Emma Mitchell which chimes with the ideas I have about the benefits of being outside in the natural world and is a beautiful record too using photos and illustrations of things the author has found on her walks. She says science backs up the therapeutic affects we feel and I don't doubt it for a minute - very much worth a try!
Sarah H said…
Online Solitaire and Radio4!
Sarah H said…
Of course . . . getting out in the garden - always relaxing and wonderfully distracting . . .
Lesley said…
Haha! I do online scrabble - worried I'm slightly addicted!
Michael said…
Our Grandson Sebastian, he gives us both joy watching him growing up and I have a large garden to keep me occupied!
Lesley said…
Lots of my friends have recently become grandparents - I'm just a little jealous as they seem to be THE best tonic ever! I will try to be patient!
Jane said…
I never thought I would hear myself say this but grandchildren are the very best thing for making you live in the moment, for making you appreciate what's happening around you and for helping you realise what's really important in life.