Got That Funny 4-Years Sober Feeling

ON QUITTING ALCOHOL

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to the guy who drank so much he had to quit alcohol forever, happy birthday to me.

So I turned four years sober this week, and just like birthdays, the more you have, the less people give a fuck. Something you realize pretty early on is that no one cares about your sobriety as much as you do. Nor should they.

After four years of sobriety, not drinking is no longer a daily mission, it’s just who I am now. In the beginning, you’re using a lot of willpower to get you through, but as the years go by, momentum does most of the work without you having to think too much about it. For me, willpower has been replaced entirely by the momentum I’ve built. Willpower is only called upon in times of weakness, which also reduces significantly with time.

I think momentum is under appreciated. In the beginning, you feel like Sisyphus who was forced by Zeus to push a boulder up a hill for eternity as punishment for… I forget what for. He probably had a few too many and called Zeus a cunt. Anyway, the beginning is hard because you are trying to form a new habit—a not drinking habit. So the boulder is heavy and you are pushing it uphill. But then, unlike Sisyphus, the terrain levels out and things get easier. The first six months is harder than the next six. And the second year is easier than the first. The third is easier than the second and so on and so forth.

And then there’s the sunken costs—or in other words, the effort you have put in to get to this point—which really prevents you from relapsing. After four years, the sunken costs are now far too high a price to pay for a drink.

Occasionally, I’ll have a dream about drinking. Sometimes I refuse to drink but most of the time I’ll go on a fucken bender. When I dream drink, I always wake up in despair though. My first thought is, fuck I have to start again. I know how hard it has been to get to where I am, and the idea of starting again is truly terrifying. The cost incurred for a drink is far too high.

So… it has been four years and I no longer feel like I’m pushing a fucking boulder up a hill for eternity. In fact, there are times when it kinda just feels like I’m rollin’ that shit downhill.

Ask Me Anything

In this week’s Ask Me Anything, we have a double. First question is from Shea Morgan and the second is from Myesworthy. Here they are:

"How does one know that they are actually funny?"

&

"How did you get into comedy? Like, what made you decide, that’s what I’m gonna do."

Enjoy.

WATCH NOW

It’s 4 years off the booze and Boyle makes his annual announcement of appreciation for every single one of his listeners. He also reflects on the importance of not sitting still, not becoming stagnant and what one needs to do in order to have some meaning in their lives.

Listen on your preferred podcast app:

SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS | GOOGLE PODCASTS | STITCHER | BULLHORN | PODHERO | RADIOPUBLIC

If you’re not signed up to the Patreon, well, you can’t watch this. But for just the price of a pint a month ($8 AUD), you too can become part of my community. Hit the link below:

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PATREON

Leave a comment