About six and a half years ago, I read a book titled "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr. I had 'quit' several times before. Every time was a failure, and on top of that, I was absolutely miserable the entire time I was abstinent. But I knew the very second I closed that book that not only would I never smoke again, but that I'd never even want to. At the time, the idea of never craving a cigarette again was extremely foreign, and I could hardly even believe myself. But I knew it to be true. I was finally presented with a perspective that I could not 'un-see.' 

A few months later, I went and bought another book by the same author, titled "The Easy Way to Stop Drinking." However, I was terrified to actually read it. I knew how well the first book had worked, and I was not ready to take that step with my beloved alcohol. That book sat on my shelf for six years. 

Over those years, I attempted to quit or reduce my drinking several times, all miserable failures. As I entered my mid thirties, I realized that I had become complacent. Not just with drinking, but with life. Upon this realization, I became less afraid to give the book a shot. I couldn't find it (I had stashed it in my glove box for a road trip I took in 2012), so I downloaded it in iBooks for my phone. It was titled differently. "The Easy Way to Control Alcohol." 

The Outcome

It's been about three months since I closed that book, and as you may have guessed it, it produced the same result as the smoking book did. I put the word "matrix" in this title because it feels exactly like that (if you're familiar with the movie). I honestly had major doubt that I could be given a perspective that would prove to me that alcohol never had any major pros in my life. I had convinced myself that I enjoyed drinking, when in fact all along I was only enjoying the relieving of stress, boredom, and insecurities that were created by drinking in the first place. I had convinced myself that I became more 'social' when drinking, when in fact almost all of my social mistakes were made under the influence. I had convinced myself that drinking gave me confidence, when in fact it was slowly stripping me of my confidence. I had been robbing myself.

Were there times that I enjoyed myself? Of course. Imagine you used to have a job that you absolutely hated. But in the afternoon, when it came time to take out the trash, you loved it because the long walk to the dumpster had a scenic view of the sunset. You always loved that one part of your shitty job. Now, looking back, you can remember those walks and cherish them. But does that make you wish you had your old job? Not a chance in hell.

Imagine finding out that you've been getting robbed by a long time friend that you've shared many good memories with. No matter how good the friendship was, it's memory will always be tainted with the fact that it was all bullshit.  That friend was never a real friend, and now that you know that, you would be a fool to wish a continuing relationship with that person.

This isn't your regular quitting of alcohol, nor is this a constant work in progress like most of society would have you believe. Notice I've never said that I 'quit' drinking, because even that word 'quit' presumes the giving up of something. 

Do I have fears? I don't fear becoming a drinker again. But I do fear moving forward in life without an excuse for being lazy or non-productive, which is pretty weak I'll admit. But most of all, I am terrified at the idea that I may have never come to such a simple basic conclusion on my own. I could have been stuck in that trap for the rest of my life, just like many of those I see around me. I needed to read a book. That's a big blow to my ego for sure.

People generally ask me what the book says, and I honestly cannot do it justice. If smoking or drinking is something in your life that you are willing to change, I highly recommend these books by Allen Carr.
A great philosopher once said, "To see the cage is to leave it."

Most of us can agree on the fact that we do not have a sustainable economy, culture, or environment. If you disagree, then you are either maintaining contradictions in your mind, are uneducated, or you don’t have an opinion on the subject because you are too busy living life and accomplishing things (in which case, stay right there! Ignorance is bliss).  For those that do agree, we can also agree that we need change. Big change.

Most people I know, when they approach these issues, try to apply their already existing knowledge and experience to specific circumstances. Nothing wrong with that, seems normal. But what if we’re not questioning the foundation of what we know? What if the foundation of all our critical thought was based on lies? We would never know, and we would all be chasing our tails trying to find the right answers to this change we need. Changing someone’s mind (or your own mind) on any given issue is tough, mainly because of our ego. People don’t like realizing they’re wrong, even when it’s just them proving themselves wrong and there isn’t another person or party to “guard” themselves against. But changing the very foundation of how one thinks? How life works, how society works, “obvious” rights and wrongs… that’s a whole different ball game.

We need to stop being afraid of challenging our entire foundation, ESPECIALLY when we can agree that it has led us to unsustainability. We need to start digging deeper, and questioning things that we chalk up as “truth.” 

The NAP is a great standard. It's a very useful tool, for people that have been told what to do all of their life by religion and authority, to come to the beginnings of a philosophy of self-ownership. But, when you take this principle and try to make it a "one size fits all" and apply it to every single individual situation, it becomes a law. And when it's taken by it's letter rather than it's spirit, it can be twisted just as easily as every other law. We're all so used to being told what to do and telling everyone else what to do. It's like people can't come to a common sense solution to a problem anymore. You give them something as simple as the NAP, and people honestly ask if it "allows" the murder of everyone who votes, because voting is an "act of aggression." Wow, just... wow.