Dry July: The Next Step
feabhsu
You're doing so well Mari! Also great cause...
Thanks Laura! I feel proud of myself. The confronting truth is that for the entire first six months of this year, I probably had fewer than 20 alcohol-free nights, so it is a big deal for me.
beyourowntailwind
Do you think that you'll begin drinking again Mari? Or was this the beginning of cutting alcohol out completely?
I’m really not sure about cutting alcohol out completely Joey, but I do know I want to be very sparing with alcohol consumption in future. I certainly do not plan to rush to the bottlo on the 1st of August. There’s no doubt abstinence would be the best thing to do, particularly with my IBD. Societal pressure to drink is immense; the alcohol industry is gargantuan and powerful; and alcohol is integrated into the fabric of our culture at every level, so one must be very determined. There have been a few - not many - times when I fancied a wine or a beer this month. But staying strong for a finite period is relatively easy. Long term will be harder, particularly once the shield of saying I am doing Dry July is gone.
It’s a hard fact that people are uncomfortable around non-drinkers; they go to great lengths to make a sober person join in and drink. People don’t want to argue with supporting a cancer charity but once the official period is over, Dry Julyers will be fair game for judgement and ridicule.
You save a lot of money if you don’t drink alcohol, and you really notice how seriously it blunts the manners and wits of people (although they think otherwise). What is hilarious and clever when you’re drinking appears boorish and stupid when you’re sober - and you realise you are probably just as bad when you drink too much. And that’s at the mild end of negative behaviours - at the other end is risk-taking, aggression, violence, drunk driving, which all can lead to death and destruction.
Abstinence comes with a ton of recognised mental and physical health benefits. My health has not been great this month so I may well have been feeling a whole lot crappier had I been drinking (actually, booze is like a sledgehammer on the bowel, so I mean that literally as well). The benefits of not drinking have crept up I think, so I can’t say, “oh wow, I look so fabulous and feel so sharp!” July is our most miserable and blustery Winter month, and the height of the cold season - no-one looks that great! But I suspect if I suddenly had a few wines tonight, I would feel like shite in the morning.
No-one likes to think alcohol has a grip on them. But it does. On millions of us. Quite scary really.
