News About Booze

If you read last week’s post, then, of course, you know that this past week I’ve given up drinking alcohol. All in all a week of not drinking is really easy. The real difficulty arises if I want to continue beyond this trial. Right now, it’s easy to tell people I’m not drinking, and it gives me a moment to explain the blog. Beyond this trial, I will need to deal with the often lengthy conversation of “I don’t drink,” which I did get rather used to last summer when I went thru a similar decision, though without a blog to write about at the time.

One moment of having to explain that I had stopped drinking came literally the day after pledging to give it up. A few minutes after posting, it dawned on me that I had plans to meet up at a bar that were made about a week in advance. My options were to cancel, change the venue, or to show up and explain that I had stopped drinking. I chose option three. I ended up getting a water and inspired by my abstinence, my associate ordered a 7-up. So there we were, sitting at a fairly packed bar, not a drop of booze between the two of us. I had a great time.

Before this trial, I’ve had a fair amount of experience dealing with social situations completely sober. When I lived in Texas last summer, I stopped drinking completely. I decided that I would only drink on my terms, not because I felt inclined to in order to deal with a certain situation. This decision was sparked by a couple nights that I simply felt the way I was acting while drunk wasn’t how I wanted to be known for acting, as I’m sure many drinkers can relate. One day, I just stopped and I definitely felt better about a majority of things in my life at that time. When I moved back to Dubuque, that habit sort of slipped. Coming back, I was surrounded by people I was habitually drinking with throughout the entirety of knowing them, and that led to many weeks of casual, and some not so casual, drinking. Which in of itself isn’t a bad thing, just a habit I want to try and break. I don’t want to rely on alcohol to get thru social situations, a place I know I’ve found myself in on a number of occasions. I do believe that simply not drinking for a few weeks will build some resolve even beyond this trial, at least I hope it does.

All in all, I’ve found that not drinking is pretty easy. Not only is it a clearly obvious health choice, but the amount of money I’ll be saving is quite nice. Do I expect to have an occasional drink when this is all over? Definitely, but again, it’s something that I want to decide on my terms, not because I feel it’s what I should do in a moment. I should be able to embrace any situation which others are drinking while stone cold sober and still have a great time.

As I mentioned in my last post, each week, I’ll be adding a new level to this trial. I’m going to be dipping into something a bit taboo in our culture though it’s something that’s been on my list to tackle for some time. Typing this is weird, especially since my mother is a frequent reader, but this coming week, in addition to not drinking alcohol. I will be not looking at pornography or masturbating. Well, this next post is probably gonna be little awkward…maybe you just shouldn’t read the next one mom.