I will be sober for 1 year
In the beginning of this week, I decided to be sober for a full year. I basically woke up that day and decided I won’t drink until the same day next year. The reasons are obvious: alcohol is simply bad for my health, and I want to make a better use of my free time.
There have been two periods in my life of abstinence from alcohol. Both lasted a month. The very first one happed in 2020. With the pandemic lockdown, I found myself drinking more and more, eventually to a level where I was emptying a bottle of wine by myself on what felt like a daily basis. I had to stop. I lost 10 pounds after quitting drinking for just a month. Not drinking glasses of wine every night meant a lot less snacking on cheese and olives. What broke the sober run was my first Bumble date with who is now my husband, Steve. The craft beer tasted so good. He drove me home, and the rest is history.
The second streak of abstinence was pretty recent in March, 2023. After being aware of the danger of drinking in 2020, I had been drinking less, but the habit of turning to alcohol when stressed and anxious persisted. It bothered me. Research showed me that the most effective way to start tackling the dependence was a prolonged abstinence. My friend had another resolution she wanted to work on, so we decided to keep each other in check. I got out of the abstinence with not much changing. In fact, all I thought about that 30 days was “the day I will be drinking again.” On April 1st, I had three glasses of wine.
So this time, I am committing to be sober for not just 30 but 365 days. Alcohol abstinence works opposite to say, running a marathon. In marathon, knowing that the finish line is not that far away might feel motivating. When challenging oneself to be sober until a certain date, you are counting days, hours and minutes. Now that I pushed back the finish line far enough to be invisible, I feel surprisingly comfortable.
Okay, sorry. I hasn’t even been 2 weeks since I started this challenge, and I think I am being cocky with just 9 days of success. Might you be interested in finding out if I actually succeed in a year? Come back to find out—will you?
#soberchallenge #alcoholabstinence
