It is now almost 3 months since I started this project. And what an interesting time it has been!
Life has been as hectic and stressful as it could possibly be, perhaps a little more than usual. Work, home and personal agenda has seemed to ramped up. Not out of control, but very high pressure. Yet I have not felt the need to open a bottle of red and drown my anxieties as I used to. I go out to restaurants, conferences and meetings and remain alcohol free without any real effort.
It is just what I do now.
The challenge as not been so much one that I have had to deal with, but one others have had to deal with. What do you do with or say to someone who is drinking sparkling water while you open your second bottle of wine? After you have asked if he his still not drinking, what comes next? It is a conversation killer!
Invitations out become less and less. You are only invited now to be the designated driver, the one who can blow in the breathalyser without risk. Not drinking places you on the outside of the cultural divide. You are no longer normal or accepted as being normal. How can you live without a drink sometime today seems to be the message? Surely no party is a party, no gourmet meal a feast without a drink?
Not drinking doesn't make you feel better necessarily nor does it make you a better person. It just makes you a sober one who is aware of what they say and do and has the freedom to say and do no thing at all. And just a little more fiscally better off!
Try it. It is safe to do so.
