Alcohol Issues?
There is something better
In todays’ post I would like to address a very serious subject, that of alcohol abuse.
This is a very delicate issue but one which quite likely has affected us all at some stage in our lives, whether that is seeing a family member struggle with this (an alcoholic parent for instance), a friend going off the rails, pals who ruin nights out by getting aggressive, or perhaps even something you are dealing with yourself right now.
We all know that there are recommended, social and even accepted levels of alcohol intake, but for those who are doing the drinking, this is NOT something we often want to hear about.
Feeling ’In control’ of the situation we would all take this as if we are being talked down to and that this is nobody’s business but your own, unfortunately though this is not the case, as it greatly upsets those around us and those who love us.
If you call someone an alcoholic, this will always be met with denial and often partnered with aggression.
The main reason for this is because admitting to such a thing needs to be up to the individual to recognise that there may be something wrong with them themselves, and that THEY are willing to do something about it, and as we all know, before we look at how to approach a problem, we need to recognise there is a problem.
I have never discussed this topic before, one reason because this subject is so delicate, and two, because I did not really know what the answer was, until this week, when things really started to become clear, to me at least.
To give an example of this delay in understanding:
I am always telling students to relax, whether this is to reduce telegraphing, prevent overcommitment or to be more alert in Chi Sau etc. and so many times had senior students come to me, years into their training and after having had me constantly saying this to them, only to have them then say:
“I get it now, when you say to relax, I finally get it”
Now this is not because I am a bad teacher (I hope!), or a case of ‘They hear but they do not listen’, but more because this is almost like a rite of passage, where the student needs to understand in their own time.
We all hear of, movie stars, saying:
“Follow your dreams, never stop believing and one day you will make it”
I have little doubt this is true, but for the fact that we prevent ourselves from making it, from getting to where we want to be, usually because we don’t actually know where it is we want to be, and so the drinking creeps in and the dream is lost.
Understanding this is how we can tackle alcohol abuse.
Just before I get to the crux of this and give you the answer, I must admit that this is not coming directly from me, but me sharing something that made things clear for me.
I have heard this, answer, said many times to me by learned people, by doctors, by therapists and even by recovering alcoholics, but it did not register so clearly until I watched a YouTube clip by Jordan Peterson talking about alcohol, titled ‘Jordan Peterson on Alcohol’, which, when I first read this, did not think was the best title for this topic as it initially made me grin.
In this interview he even praises drinking in some ways, saying how this is a good thing for anxiety etc. but we must remember that for all the highs, there are the also the lows, the key theme here seems to be, to try to replace the alcohol with something better.
“You wanna figure out something that you’re doing with your life that’s worth not getting drunk and screwing up”
Rather than try to repeat all the interesting points in this interview, I have left the link below for you to watch yourself, asking that when you watch this, pay particular attention to what is said from the 35sec mark to 1min 35sec mark, as this one minute of dialogue was what hit home for me.
This statement Jordan Peterson uses, “You wanna figure out something that you’re doing with your life that’s worth not getting drunk and screwing up”, the point here is that most people do not have that something in place, and that is where your Wing Chun can really help.
Why not give yourself a challenge, a real goal, to see if you can take your training to the highest level, a level where you can not only use these skills but share them with others through one day teaching.
At WingChun.Online we can help you reach that goal, giving you that something else to aim for, because when you join us at wingchun.online, you’re not just joining a school, you’re joining a community, a family.
I hope you get from this interview the train of thought I am trying to send across and that it helps you as it did me.
Thank you for reading and the best of luck
with all your personal discoveries.