I didn’t give up alcohol because of some fitness goal. I never drank enough for it to impact my fitness results as I was a social drinker and I would only go out once a month and drink a couple of rum cocktails or mixers and that would be my lot for the night.

Me turning my back on alcohol came from being defiant. I gave up alcohol in January 2023 after fighting with the creator about giving up the previous year. 

In the early months of 2022 the creator would tell me that it was time to put away my love of rum. I enjoyed rum. Mount Gay was my favourite. It’s a Bajan rum and Barbados is one of the Caribbean islands that I’m from, closely followed by the Jamaican Ray and nephew Appleton estate. I always did dark rums.  (The white rums are for the unrefined) Not just any dark rum. You would never catch me drinking a Captain Morgan because the rum is an impostor. They use food colouring to get the colour instead of allowing the rum to mature overtime in barrels. Some barrels gave the rum their flavours and smokiness  and I enjoyed drinking it. I loved the heat it put on my chest after only a sip. I loved how well it went with ginger beer, not any ginger beer or ginger ale but it had to be a D&G ginger beer or how it went well in a rum punch. Not  the crap rum punches you find in  those gentrified areas such as Brixton or Peckham but the ones that transport me back to Saint Kitts and  Nevis where I’m laying on the golden sandy Beach watching my children play in the ocean and behind me I can see my grandmother‘s bright yellow house amongst the tall palm trees where everyone knows that I’m a Tyson from St Thomas‘s Parish. 

Does alcohol stop spiritual awakening?

But here’s the truth. I was being defiant. I was only two years into my spiritual awakening and going through the dark Knight of the soul everything was being stripped of me and I thought it was unfair of the creator to tell me I should give up alcohol considering I only drank once a month no more than 2 to 3 drinks at a time, I didn’t get drunk so I wasn’t abuse the alcohol (or so I thought) and I wasn’t doing drugs, having sex or smoking so why take this one pleasure from me?

Halfway through 2022, she said okay I’ll leave you to it. Well she didn’t say that she went silent and I took it as The Creator was leaving me to it but how wrong I was.

It’s January 2023 and it’s a Friday night my friend and I decided to meet up and go for a little drink in a pub in Dulwich. I’d arrive at the pub and see that there is an Irish family having a wake there.  At that point. I knew  it was going to be a lively night as the Irish are like the Caribbean. After the funeral ceremony the wake turns into a big party and loads of food and drink are always flowing. I thought to myself this is gonna be a good night.

I meet my friend and we order a drink. I ended up ordering vodka that night because they never had the rum I wanted. I ordered vodka and  lemonade with elderflower cordial. I took a few sips and my whole body shut down. It was like I needed to go to bed. My friend had ordered the same and she was okay. We were there for an hour before I decided to go home because I couldn’t stay awake any longer.  Once I got home I realised what had happened. I went to my altar and surrendered to the creator as well and gave up alcohol that night. 

So what was the creator trying to show me?  

How does quitting drinking change your mindset?

That I was abusing alcohol and in that I was not choosing myself.  My friends at that time liked to rave,  go to parties and I didn’t like those things but no one wanted to do what I wanted to do so to maintain a social life I would use alcohol to help me enjoy the night at that rave at that party. 

Once I removed alcohol I had to do the scary thing and decline invites out to places, I did not enjoy frequenting. Some friends dropped off and other friends made the effort to join me in activities that I actually enjoyed and they came to enjoy them too. 

I started to have the courage to go to activities or events on my own such as the theatre and live music events.

 I took up golf and fell in love with it. 

How does giving up alcohol connect to spiritual growth?

I became present without the alcohol and I soon realised that the creator wanted me to live a life I had chosen rather than living someone else’s because I was scared that I wouldn’t have any friends. 

 Two years on and I do not miss drinking alcohol. I’ve become a bit of a mocktail connoisseur and frequent Muslim restaurants because they make the best mocktails. 

 My friendships have dwindled  but the quality of the experiences  that I am having have increased significantly and I have no problems in saying no to certain invites without the fear of losing friends.

 I’m realising that surrendering to what is the best way to do life as change cannot be stopped, change is the only guarantee in life because it is forever constant. 

What are you scared to let go of? 

You already know what it is. 

The question is; Are you ready to let it go?

Sage x