Catherine Gray > Quotes

“When people become addicted to alcohol, it’s seen as their failure. They didn’t pass the ‘moderate use of an addictive drug’ challenge. They failed at drinking! Society expects us to regularly use an addictive drug, without becoming addicted to it. Alcohol is the only drug where, the second you stop taking it, you’re seen as being too weak to handle it. It’s truly bizarre.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“One of my sober friends once said, ‘Feelings are like children. You don’t want them driving the car, but you shouldn’t stuff them in the boot either.’ Let them chit-chatter away in the back, and get on with your life. Amazing, right?”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“When you no longer need approval from others like the air you breathe, the possibilities in life are endless. What an interesting little prison we build from the invisible bricks of other people’s opinions.’ – JACOB NORDBY”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“I didn’t have a drinking problem as such. I was great at drinking! It was the stopping. I had a stopping problem.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“What I was really thinking was: Don’t even for a minute think I’m vanilla because the truth is I am so hardcore I had to quit. I drank so much it was a matter of life and death. I’m like a rock star compared with you… you should look at me with a touch of fear and awe because I am such a badass you would quiver just to think about the amount of rot gut I’ve ingested over the years. So step off with your preconceived notions, okay?”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“Richard Wiseman, a psychologist and author of 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot, says, ‘When you gossip about another person, listeners unconsciously associate you with the characteristics you are describing, ultimately leading to those characteristics being transferred: to you. So, say positive and pleasant things about friends and colleagues, and you are seen as a nice person. In contrast, constantly complain about their failings, and people will unconsciously apply the negative traits and incompetence to you.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“I learn that we become our thoughts, which is why it’s so important to believe in a friendly, rather than a hostile universe.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Single

“I've now learned that when you share the darkest parts of your life, and find that thousands of people say 'Me too', it transmutes those black memories into spun gold. Sharing is like alchemy.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Single

“I found myself with dozens more hours in the week, heaps more energy, £23,000 more money over four years, deepened friendships, revived family relationships, better skin, a tighter body, tanned legs for the first time ever, the ability to sleep for eight uninterrupted hours, a bone-deep sense of well-being, a totally turned-around positive outlook and an infinitely more successful career. What’s not to like?!”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“Drinking steals happiness from tomorrow’ – UNKNOWN”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“Nothing good ever happens in a blackout. I’ve never woken up and been like, “What is this Pilates mat doing out?”‘ –AMY SCHUMER”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober: Discovering a happy, healthy, wealthy alcohol-free life

“As Annie Grace says, ‘We protect alcohol by blaming addiction on a person’s personality rather than on the addictive nature of alcohol… The concept of addictive personality lets us close our minds to the fact that alcohol is addictive, period.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“On playing games in relationships "You're not a performing seal. If you need to perform tricks to keep his/her attention, you never really had it to begin with. Imagine how exhausting that would be long term. You're starting an intimate, supportive relationship, not joining the circus”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Single

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.’ – LAO TZU”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“The eternally epic Anne Lamott says, ‘There is almost nothing outside of you that will help in any kind of lasting way, unless you’re waiting for an organ. You can’t buy, achieve or date serenity and peace of mind. This is the most horrible truth, and I so resent it. But it’s an inside job.’ (Watch Anne’s TED talk on the 12 truths she’s learned, it’s glorious.)”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“He says it’s all about the bounty-hunting, rather than the actual finding. ‘It’s not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place. Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence.’ As the brain gets used to seeking out the positives, it becomes more efficient at finding them, he explains. ‘Then, it simply takes less effort to be grateful. Everything is interconnected. Gratitude improves sleep. Sleep reduces pain. Reduced pain improves your mood. Improved mood reduces anxiety.’ It’s a daisy-chain of benefits.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“If I drink one, I want five. So now, I just don’t have any. *Cheery shrug*”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way and the only way, it does not exist.’ – NIETZSCHE”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“Life moves fast – evolution is slow,”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary

“THEY SAY: ‘CAN’T YOU JUST HAVE ONE?’ Oh, man, I never thought of that! You’re a genius! Just one, you say? Rather than five or six? Thanks, Captain Obvious.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“He gave me so many anti-anxiety techniques. Reciting the alphabet backwards if I'm walking to a boozy party and feel my heart start to jackhammer. Tapping along to a song, which does something fancy in the brain. Or holding somebody's hand. I still use these tools to this day.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“We’re living both in the shadow of Baby Boomer expectations, and free from the pressures they experienced.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Single

“I'm free from all of that "where's the next drink coming from?" stress. At one point I mislay my water. So what? If that had been wine, I would have been crushed, and annoyed for the next hour. I probably would have regaled my friend with how miffed I was, for an hour too.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“The act of making a decision feels scary, since you may fail, but once you make a decision and set a definitive goal, the brain likes it more.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“A big report published in 2015 showed why the government is so keen to silence the Professor David Nutts of this world. It showed that the total costs of alcohol use in England (including the NHS, police and welfare) amount to £3.9 billion. While alcohol taxation in England rakes in £10.4 billion. So, heavy drinkers make the country £6.5 billion, after the costs of taking them to hospital, policing them or giving them benefits. A tidy profit indeed. Now it becomes clear why the British government don’t want people to stop drinking. ‘Shut it, Professor Nutt.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“Sitting on the train home, I realize I don’t feel like I need another week’s holiday, to get over the holiday. I feel refreshed and ready to go back to work.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“Did you know that simply walking through a door-frame can break a repetitive thought-loop? It literally causes a memory lapse, which is why we leave the living room and go into the kitchen for something, and then stand in the kitchen cluelessly scratching our heads. In a fascinating study aptly called ‘Walking through doorways causes forgetting’, professors at Notre Dame University discovered that this worked in both virtual and real-world settings.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“If I quit eating cake, would people make jokes about me ‘not being able to handle cake’? No. I don’t think so. If I quit imbibing cheese because I wanted to commit suicide after eating cheese, would people ask, ‘Can’t you just have a little bit of cheese? Just one piece of cheese?’ *Pleadingly offers up the cheese* HAVESOMECHEESE.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“We're not meant to drink, despite what the world tries to tell us. We're meant to eat, exercise, shag, sleep, love people, stroke animals and drink things that hydrate us rather than dehydrate us.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change’.”
― Catherine Gray, The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary