Dry January. I write the words and instantly I am overcome by the feeling of accomplishment. Yet, at the same time I cringe because writing this almost feels similar to people who are vegan talking about how vegan they are. But, I’m a verbal processor so here I write. Let’s all cringe together.
I’m writing this as a bit of a time capsule for myself but also, so many blogs I read on this didn’t satisfy my need for the honest truth from people who had done this before. So, if you’re looking for that, I encourage you to read on. If you’re looking for the tl;dr version, here it is: Did it suck? Yes.
Here is what I learned:
People assume it’s because you have a “problem”. Now, I won’t argue with the fact that I love a good glass of wine...or two. But that isn’t the reason I did it. Why did I do it? Because I can. I think it’s good to challenge yourself to keep your heart, mind and body in check. Were people bored at that answer? Absolutely.
I received the gift of time. Not going to happy hours or as many social events, I had so much time available. I went to the gym when I planned on going to the gym, I read 6 books, baths became a part of my regular routine, I cooked ... a lot, my bedtime regularly was around 9pm and I even woke up before my alarm most days. It was great! Also, it sucked. I’m such an extrovert and that much alone time made me crazy.
Bartenders are awesome. As much as the last point made it seem like I crawled in a hole and didn’t leave until the end of the month, I still met up with friends for dinner AND even happy hour. I just avoided it more than I would because I didn’t want to be tempted. Anyways, I’m partial to sitting at the bar so naturally, the bartenders would ask what I wanted to drink. When I said I was doing dry January, they offered to make me a mocktail, which was awesome in many ways but mostly helped me not feel bad for sitting at the bar and taking a spot of someone who might be ordering actual drinks. I supported them by still buying a drink, and they supported me by making me an awesome alternative to alcohol. Cheers to bartenders.
People love talking about how much they drink, or don’t drink. I experienced both of these: their absolute disbelief that I wouldn’t drink for 30 days and others justifying why they don’t need to do something like this because of how much they don’t drink. Both I find awesomely defensive and equally amusing. Isn’t it interesting that when a person shares something they are trying to accomplish we often times jump to why we would never do that? I’m guilty of this too so really this is a “pot meet kettle...it’s black” situation. Here is even a recent example: I had a friend climb a mountain (I mean like ... a big tall scary one that took days and tour guides to make sure he didn’t die alone ... on a mountain) and as he was telling the story I instantly found myself having to justify why I would never do that and why I thought he was crazy. But like, he never asked me to climb a mountain. He didn’t need justification as to why I wouldn’t do it. He climbed it and that’s awesome. Anyways, I found that in almost any situation, the quick justifying why or why not dry January for any person, always came up.
I can do anything for 30 days. 31 if we are being technical, but who’s counting? ***Me every day as I rip off one link in my paper chain I crafted on January 3rd. Did I mention I found time to craft?*** Seriously though, I made it through a wedding. I even danced at this wedding.
Some friends are boring and suck. I am very blessed. I have great friends. I have friends that are adventure friends, lay around friends, happy hour friends, friends you could road trip across the country with and never get bored...I could go on. But, I discovered that some people I considered friends, only asked to hang out with me when our activity could revolve around “grabbing a drink”. Actually, I’m very thankful for this past month for the fact that I got that level clarity. I also am very thankful for the friendships that aren’t like that.
It was easy, then difficult, then it got easier again. Week one was easy because everyone is on a health kick the first week of January. Second week suuuucked. Those are the only words I can find to describe it accurately. After that, it just became normal and easy again. Truly, the last couple weeks flew by.
Sometimes, I’m socially awkward. And that’s ok. My cousin texted me about half way through the month (she was doing this with me) and asked me “Do I have a problem or like...am I always socially awkward but alcohol makes me not care?” She was at a social event and had the same revelation that I had a week before: yes, you might feel socially awkward at events you would normally have a cocktail or two. Embrace the awkward. That’s got to be a T-shirt somewhere already, I’m sure of it.
Here is the question I love asking anyone who tries something new whether it be a food order, a trip, an odd haircut decision: Would I do it again? Sure. I would do it again. Dry January ain’t no thang. But did it suck at times? Yes. Yes, it very much did.