With every new year, there are new resolutions and challenges. There is one famous challenge that we all know, but don't exactly love- Dry January. I, the ambitious 22 year old that I am, decided to that my 2020 wasn't enough of a challenge (ps. this was clearly written in a sarcastic tone), but I was going to go into the first month of the new year, completely sober. Now before you start calling me crazy, I know this sounds soooo hard and why would I do this, but there is a method to my madness. I really wanted to prove to myself: that I don't need to have alcohol to get through life and while yes that sounds extremely dramatic (and in a way it is), I wanted to remind myself that there was a time before alcohol. I have been seeing everywhere that you should not celebrate in the same way that you cope with being disappointed. For me the first thing I think about is the term "getting a drink". You just got a promotion- "let's get a drink to celebrate!", you just got fired "let's get a drink to cheer you up!". I wanted to put this to the test by taking away the common source. I also just wanted to prove it myself that I can complete a challenge start to finish. Today, I will be debriefing my experience with this challenge now that I am on the other side.
Enjoy!!
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I'll be honest, I haven't been drinking that much since the summer because I have had various jobs where I would have to be awake in the morning and when I get hungover, I am in PAIN. But, during the summer, I did not care- also the summer was one of my big depressive episodes, so it was not really the best time in general. Anyways, I have not been drinking nearly as much or as regularly in general, so I thought I could totally through the month with no worries at all. I do love a nice cold beer or a glass of wine at the end of the night, but I really don't get "drunk" anymore.
So starting January 1st, already facing temptations with New Year's Brunch, but I powered through and honestly it was not that bad. For clarification, I was eating brunch with my family at my house, nothing like bottomless mimosas or anything, so it was not the worst thing in the world to get through. For most of the month, it was pretty easy. There were some family dinners that I wanted to glass of wine with my meal, but for the most part January was a good month for me- I didn't really feel the need to cope for anything which is something I am really grateful for. The top two biggest temptations I faced during the month were 1) when I got my job offer- I wanted so badly to pop a bottle of champagne or toast with a beer with my dad. 2) this one week that I was struggling a lot and frustrated from my job in the mall and just wanted to "take the edge off", so I just ate some ice cream.
I am not going to lie, the fact that I did not experience a hangover the whole month was a beautiful thing and it made me realize that pregnancy is just eight more months of this (yes, I know that is so future thinking but it is true!). Towards, the end, it was getting harder and harder to restrain myself because at that point, I was just craving it not even feeling like I "need" it. That in my opinion is growth- being able to identify the difference between the two! I want to continue the year of 2021 to being mindful of my intentions behind drinking. Obviously, whenever we are all able to go to parties and bars again, those intentions will be completely drinking than the happy hour and casual drinking settings. In terms of drinking on the weekdays, I do not need to have three glasses of wine at the end of the night and I have learned that I can get through days without alcohol entirely! Now, I usually have one drink a night just to satisfy any craving I do have!
I will say to anyone who thinks "it's impossible"- it's not. It really is not that big of a deal at all and also it felt so good to prove to myself that I got through a challenge without cheating! Being stubborn will get you far and this time it made me sober for 31 days!
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Stay UNIQUE,
Sara Anne
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