Tuesday 28 June 2016

Doom and Gloom

It's all a bit doomy and gloomy around here.

Since the Brexit vote on Thursday the pound has fallen off a cliff, stocks and shares are down, the Prime Minister has resigned, and half the Labour shadow cabinet have walked out.

It looks very likely that the next to leave will be all the good people of Scotland, as there'll be another Scottish Referendum.

Boris and Gove, who led the 'Leave' campaign, seem to have gone curiously quiet, and nobody's got a clue what to do next.

The black and white nature of the referendum vote and all the emotive language used in the debate, stirring up issues like immigration and inequality, has turned families and neighbours against each other.

Then, to add insult to injury, we got knocked out of the Euro 2016 football championship by Iceland. Iceland, who have a population the size of Croydon.

Not only is Tom Hiddleston no longer single, but he's flaunting his new bird all over the media.

And, worse than all of that, last night was the final episode in this series of Game of Thrones. We have to wait at least a year to find out whether the White Walkers can be defeated, and if Daenerys, Mother of Dragons, and Jon Snow will ever snog.

At depressing times like these it's very easy to find your mind fast forwarding to Doomsday scenarios.

Mine goes something like this: aarrrgggghhh. Mr SM is going to lose his job. We'll have to sell the house at a fraction of what it used to be worth. The kids will need to move schools. Then all the stress will bring my cancer back and I'll DIE and my children will be MOTHERLESS until Mr SM gets seduced by a large breasted, face lifted temptress who doesn't love them and spends all the remaining family money on HANDBAGS.

We drinkers are very prone to what is known as 'monkey brain.' I like to think that it's because we're all very clever and creative. Perhaps we're just slightly unhinged.

In any case, many of us used booze as a way of silencing all the endless CHATTER in our heads at the end of the day. When we quit, one of the hardest things to deal with is all that noise.

Plus, it turns out that all those random thoughts make us miserable.

A chap called Matt Killingsworth created an iPhone app that tracked the happiness of 15,000 people on a daily basis all over the world. He discovered that 'mind wandering', or monkey brain, makes us unhappy.

Funnily enough, even if our wandering minds are thinking about lovely stuff we are less happy than if we stay in the moment.

So, when we stop drinking we need to find ways of stopping our thoughts getting out of control, of staying in the now, that don't involve booze.

Many newly sober folk take up running, or yoga, gardening, colouring, knitting - anything that keeps you totally focussed on the task in hand will do.

Or why not try a box set - like Game of Thrones? Oh, bugger.

Love SM x

22 comments:

  1. Oh yes. Staying in the moment. Must do more of........ oh look a butterfly on my window.

    I was reading my school reports last night and from year one to the end of school, they were the same. Needs to focus, slow down and concentrate, stay focused.

    I always thought it was alcohol that made me behave this way. Turns out, it's been me all along. Though I have no doubt drinking ecentuated the behaviour.

    I'm also really sad about what is going to come of our world. Especially if Trump gets in. Do Boris and Trump have the same hairdresser?

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  2. You did make me giggle with some of the things you said. Especially the big blossomed lady.... With a Dutch accent who tried to change my point of view. Sorry Rod Stewart just knocked on the door 😜😜😜

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  3. Maybe Roy Hodgeson could be the new Prime Minister. He seems like the only one with a coherent plan to get out of Europe. if push comes to shove you can sell up and move to the continent. Good schools are cheap in France as is food and housing. Fear not SM. Every cloud has a silver lining! Hugs, xx

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  4. On point as always SM. Doom and gloomness has seeped over here too (maybe it's Zika virus) and I found myself down the maudlin, crazy 'what if' path too. Just plain silly.
    I really do think there should be more episodes of Game of Thrones per season. It's only June for goodness sake. Do you think there is someone I can write to? Haven't watched last episode yet as on a promise for Friday night when Dear Husband comes back.
    Anyway, back to the moment and observing the thoughts. Wow, there goes another one.

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  5. Yes! Have to find new ways of silencing the itty bitty shitty committee as it were. I relate to that a lot.

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    1. So the monkeys from monkey brain all sit on that IBSC? Love it!

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  6. Let's just keep sweeping our own little porches and planting flowers in our tidy flower boxes because, in reality, that's all we can do, keep our own little piece of earth as peaceful and lovely as possible.

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  7. It does seem all chaotic at the moment doesn't it? I spoke to my mum in London, and she refers to "Boris Trump"....I have a BIG confession to make...I've never watched Game of Thrones...

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    1. Oh lucky, lucky you! You have such thrills in store! Start right now! Xxx

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  8. Games of Thrones! That's what I took up. Half way to the finish line.

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  9. Why do they make us wait so long.......
    Yes. My mind can do that too. Sigh.
    Back to the moment,

    Anne

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  10. Oh did I laugh at your scenario! Thanks for the chortle. Exactly like something that my monkey brain would come up with! My hubby is always fairly happy.....because he is in the moment and doesn't have monkey brain - dang him!! Laughing!

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  11. I feel very off kilter. I am ashamed to say I spend far too much on handbags....

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    1. Your not alone! I deal with Doom & Gloom by resorting to a little Dolce & Gabbana x

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  12. Nothing whatever to do with SM's great blog but Time and Bottle is back - https://timeandbottleblog.wordpress.com. Sorry SM but I missed TATB. Crap day here, went for an interview yesterday in Bristol - didn't get the job, car needed 2 front tyres, it rained pretty much all day. On the plus side, my favourite rose in the garden is flowering prolifically and Saturday will be 6 months clean.

    Justonemore

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    1. Sending you huge hugs, and big congrats for Saturday! Awesome!

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  13. It is not very happy and cheery on this side of the pond either. Market is up and down. Very volatile. 401Ks are losing some money. Game of Thrones is over and the finale was amazing. I am back to blogging, trying to pull myself out of the personal doom and gloom. So here we are... :)

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  14. SoberMummy.....oh my gosh, I have a major case of "monkey brain!" Thank you for naming it! Truly, I never thought of it in this light, but it is one thing that will keep me awake at night, will make me feel insecure etc.... No wonder I looked to copious amounts of wine to help soothe it over and just "check out" for a bit. Yes, don't have to look far for gloom and doom. My daughter will be studying abroad this fall at Westminster, we are visiting and then heading to Singapore to visit family, with a connecting flight in Istanbul. After yesterday's tragedy, I wanted to change flights straight away...but do we live our lives in fear and foreboding? That is exactly what is being strived for in all these attacks. And the truth is, it can happen anywhere. Thanks again for a thought provoking blog...in my third week of taking on the beast of alcohol.

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  15. Hi
    I am wondering if you read my blog on Soberistas because you are describing exactly how I am feeling and this was what I needed to read.

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  16. Yes it's all over the news here too. I too have a tendency to create the worse case senator in my mind, the stress out like it's true!

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