Today is my 4 month anniversary of being Alcohol-Free so thought I would do the usual reflection on how it's been. I haven't touched a drop despite lots of temptations and going on holiday with people who liked a drink and where they brought shots of Raki out with every bill after a meal.
The one thing I can say for sure is that I am doing so much more on my weekends. I am going places, doing activities as a result of not spending half of my weekend feeling rough and curled up on the sofa saying "ooohhh never again" lol.
It's been made easy too but having the Buckt activites every month as I get to try new things that I may otherwise not have even thought of.
I also noticed other week where I had invites to do two things, one on Saturday night and I one the Sunday. In the past I would have either agreed to do both and then cried off on the Sunday because I couldn't face it and just wanted a sofa day. Or only agreed to do one or the other. Instead, I was able to do both events and just drove to both.
I'm not going to lie now and then when other people are having drinks I have occasionally thought, "I could just have a one or a couple just so I don't look boring". Then I remind myself of how rough I would feel the next day when a couple leads to a load just to please other people. I've had some people say "well you can always have one at special occasions" or "don't say never cos you might feel like one". I honestly haven't felt I have missed out on anything though. I have alcoholic drinks in the fridge at home if I really wanted one bu it hasn't even entered my head. I have set myself the goal of doing a whole year without touching a drop so it doesn't feel unachievable. Once I hit a year I will see how I feel and if I now and then feel like a glass of fizz I might decide to have one, but I think once I have done a year and seen the benefits, I can't imagine I will want to go back to drinking. We shall see.
My mental health has improved vastly and I have fewer days where I feel down or demotivated so that in itself has helped the work side of my life as well as the stuff I do for The Virtual Tavern.
Well done Neil, I did 4 months alcohol free in 2021 and felt great and was amazed how many people ask ‘Why are you doing that?!’ I caved when celebrating my 50th but am going to give it a go again.