Self-Control Leads To Happiness

Disgruntled drunks lose control in downtown Vancouver (again) after disappointing hockey loss, Image: Vancouver Sun

“If a man will understand how intimately, yea, how inseparably, self-control and happiness are associated, he has but to look into his own heart, and upon the world around,...Looking upon the lives of men and women, he will perceive how the hasty word, the bitter retort, the act of deception, the blind prejudice and foolish resentment bring wretchedness and even ruin in their train.”      

-  James Allen

If we can't control ourselves there will never be enough police. If we can control ourselves, we don't need police.

Adaptability - Change Is Good

The human species is wonderfully adaptable. We have learned to live in a variety of climates, and under a huge range of cultures and conditions. We are able to survive the harshest, most brutal conditions, and come out on the other side stronger. When we have a higher purpose in mind, we find the strength to deal with anything.

Since we have been going harder on the low-impact life, Linda and I have instigated many changes, and others have been imposed on us (as tends to happen in life). In our pursuit to lower our ecological footprint, and live our dream we have had to remain flexible and open-minded. Change has been our constant companion, and we have been developing our adaptability tool kit.

Some of the larger changes in recent years that come to mind are:

• moved from a large city to a small town
• quit full-time work for part-time, contract, and casual work
• reduced driving and other travel by 90%
• became alcohol-free
• switched from caffeinated coffee, to de-caf coffee, and recently to green tea
• moved from a 1500 sq.ft. home to a 500 sq.ft. home
• reduced our possessions by 70%
• cut our budget by 50%
• and in the biggest change of all, Linda has gone from being able to walk to using a wheelchair as her multiple sclerosis progresses

All of these changes have involved a certain degree of stress and discomfort. But what has amazed me is how we have happily managed to absorb everything into our lives like a big blob of protoplasm.

Not only have we managed these shifts in lifestyle, but after overcoming the initial fear and resistance, we have also come to enjoy them. They are exciting challenges - learning experiences - tests, if you will, of our natural human ability to adapt.

My dad always said, "Just living is a full-time job", and he was right. We have found that when you make your life your work, and continual improvement your goal, you can adapt to anything. And it can be done with curiosity and joy.

If the human species has proven anything over hundreds of thousands of years it is that we are  survivors. When pushed to the brink we adapt.

But we can also choose to take on the challenge before we get to the edge and are pushed. Change and adapt now while it is a choice rather than wait until it is a necessary requirement forced upon you by rapidly morphing conditions. That way you can enjoy it more, and feel good about being proactive rather than reactive.

2009: Our Year of Not Buying Alcohol

Today Linda and I mark one year of not buying anything with alcohol in it. It has been an interesting, and occasionally challenging experiment. Time to raise a glass of apple juice and toast our self-control, not to mention the hundreds of dollars we saved.

I used to enjoy drinking more than I have lately. When I went to university the hot 'n sweaty booze-fests at the Students' Union were a fire-code-busting right of passage. Hoisting a couple with friends on a hot summer day is a pleasant way to pass the time. But is it the booze, or is it the friends?

I think it is more about recovering from work and our fast pace, than having fun. I noticed over the past year that the time I felt most like buying alcohol was when I was working the most. I also felt that this was when I most "deserved" a drink. Driving home after a long, hot day of grounds keeping was the worst - cold beer called, beckoned, promising instant body/mind liquid relaxation. I kept driving.

Still, set a cold beer in front of me and my reflex will be to drool and reach for it. Is it any better than a cold lemonade, or is that just drink industry propaganda? Somehow you are more adult and happening if you drink alcohol. It is strange that part of the reason I started drinking as a teen was to be rebellious, and now, 34 years later, quitting is the rebellious act.

Is it possible to enjoy life without alcohol? Advertisers will tell you that you can't. Is history on their side? Can 10 000 years of beer consumption be wrong? Beer has been around longer than bread. That must count for something.

A WHO report found that in 1998-99 twenty-two percent of Canadians were non-drinkers, including 17.8% of men, and 26.1% of women. Compare this with Egypt at 99.5%, Cambodia at 85%, and India at about 50%. Are all these people having less fun than drinkers? If my past year is any indication, I would have to say no. Drinking non-alcoholic beverages when socializing made things no less special or enjoyable. Decaffeinated coffee, green tea or water sufficed nicely.

A few years ago we quit buying alcohol at the liquor store in order to trim our budget. We started to brew beer and wine at the local U-Brew establishment. It was an educational, enjoyable process, and the product was acceptable to us. It was a fraction of the cost of store-bought beer and wine.

Then around this time last year we discussed not buying any alcohol in 2009, and decided to go for it. We knew it would be a challenge socially - almost everyone we know drinks. Gradually we came to more or less forget all about drinking. Reading about the weekly car accidents in our community due to drinking made it easier to stay away.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, in 2004 alcohol was responsible for 4.6 percent of global death and disability, causing 2.5 million deaths, including 320,000 deaths among young people between the ages of 15 and 29.(1, 2) When WHO compared the burden of disease from alcohol, tobacco and 24 other risk factors in 2000, alcohol ranked just below tobacco in its impact on global health and had a greater share of the global burden of disease than unsafe water and sanitation, cholesterol or obesity. http://www.globaldrugpolicy.org/3/3/commentary.php

Will we buy any alcohol next year? No. We have broken our habit. We are not buying the whole "have to drink to have fun" myth perpetuated by advertising. Life is fun without it - we still get silly with the best of them, and no hangover or empty wallet. And if work and life are so busy that you "need" a drink to get you through, I recommend slowing down and working less, not drinking more.

Happy New Year.