Piglet: Oh Owl, I don't mean to c-c-complain, but I'm afraid, I'm scared. Owl: Now, now, Piglet, Chin up and all that sort of thing. A rescue's being thought of. Be brrrave, little Piglet!
Piglet: It's awfully hard to be b-b-b-b-brave when you're such a small animal.
Piglet: It's awfully hard to be b-b-b-b-brave when you're such a small animal.
To all the Piglets out there, go forwards; be mighty and bold. Don’t let your fears eat away at you, preventing you from growing and finding out about all the stuff that exists in the big wide world: stuff that’s really exciting, that will give you a monumental buzz, a massive high, free from artificial chemicals and mind-numbing poisons.
I strive very hard to step away from Piglet mode these days. Sometimes I find myself virtually paralysed with fear, or just ground down with niggling anxieties. What if this…or what if that…or what if the other…? But I shove these thoughts to the back of my mind and decide I will try it anyway (whatever it may be) and then make up my mind. I won’t be prejudiced. I won’t decide that something isn’t for me unless I’ve experienced it.
People often tell themselves that being a big drinker is an exciting thing, rebellious and a bit out there. But it’s not. Drinking too much all the time shrinks your existence to fit into a miniature world filled with restrictions and don’t-go-theres and lockdowns and mind-your-backs. It caps your dreams.
And the obverse, when you are back in the driving seat of your life, goes something like this: common sense, gut instinct, daring, spontaneity, reward, positive affirmations, an increasing sense of self-worth, a desire to broaden horizons.
All of a sudden, there is no reason to not drive (you’re over the limit). There are no obstacles to human connection (you’re so nervous you can barely hold eye contact with people). There is no substantial justification for hating yourself and thinking you don’t deserve good things to happen (every time you get drunk you chip away at your self-esteem just a little bit more until there’s barely a scrap of it left - and that’s kicking around on the floor, covered in shit and dust).
This is what I tell myself nowadays whenever I’m faced with an irrational fear: ‘
You quit drinking. You can do pretty much anything that you set your mind to. So go on, what are you waiting for? Go and get it. It’s all yours’.