Friday 4 December 2009

Surviving Christmas

The festive season will soon be upon us all. For many Christians it is a time of contemplation and worship. For most of us, there is a lot of peer pressure towards partying and excess. It just takes a little too much indulgence to tip a perfectly good Christmas over into a downward spiral.

Alcohol: Remember, one unit of alcohol takes (on average) one hour to be filtered out of the body. If you really have to drink, take the following precautions.

1. Get a good night's sleep before your party. Tiredness exacerbates the effects of alcohol.
2. Eat well before you drink. Food absorbs some of the alcohol and acts as a buffer to stop you getting drunk too quickly.
3. When partying, drink a glass of water between each alcoholic drink.
4. Don't drive. Book a taxi, stay in a hotel, anything. Just don't drive.
5. Before you go to bed, get a large drink of water.
6. Get plenty of sleep afterwards to recover.
7. Do not party two nights in a row. Give your body time to recover.

Martial Artists: Be extra careful about getting drunk in bars and public places. You have been trusted with important skills that are not to be wasted on drunken fools. Many of the great Chinese masters liked a drink. But more often than not, they drank at home behind closed doors with close friends. Don't disgrace your Sifu/Sensei.

Exercise: I lose more tai chi students over Christmas than at any other time. It is such an all consuming activity that we often forget to exercise. The longer you stop, the more difficult it is to start again. So make sure that you stick to your regular exercises - whatever they are. They will also help you to digest your.......

FOOD..... peer pressure is very powerful at this time of year. "Oh go on, have another mince pie." If you don't want something, say no and mean it. Real friends will understand and respect your wishes. Whatever they may say, people do not judge you by the capacity of your stomach. Stick to your guns.

So plan carefully, pick your parties wisely and have a great festive season.

1 comment:

Andrew Jen said...

great advice for this holiday and many others, bless up!