Sotally Tober

Today is Day 11 of my (almost) month of leveling up and a big part of that is being totally sober.

About twice a year I like to give up alcohol for an extended period of time.

Usually it’s January and October-ish.

It’s a great reset for just remembering how it is not to drink.

Not that I drink a lot… well, I guess that’s a relative statement, right?

I like to drink, I like the taste, I like the effects and I like the experience it creates with others.

Which means I rarely turn down the offer for a beverage.

Which sometimes slowly creeps up to more frequent consumption.

Weekend drinks turn to Thursday happy hours which turns to wine with dinner and an occasional “I need a beer” Mondays.

Is that a lot?

That’s not really the point.

The point is that twice a year I like to reset this habit, hopping on the wagon for a month.

I heard about a study that says if you do a dry January, it drastically reduces the amount of alcohol you consume all year. I’ve found this to be true.

And so I started doing it twice a year.

The benefit?

Purely from not putting it in my body, there are health benefits. Without changing much else, I look better at the end of the month. I work out a bit more. I drink more water. I get a boost of commitment to health.

There are some social benefits, too, like doing more active socializing rather than passive alcohol-related activities.

And generally, I just feel a bit better and realize that I don’t really need to drink as much or as often.

But then the month ends and I slowly dip my toes back in, taking it easy, making good consumption choices that inevitably pick up steam for a couple of months… and the cycle repeats, for now.

I see these periods of not drinking becoming longer, interspersed with a far less active period, and again, eventually probably leading to years without it.

But that’s later down the road… for now, I’m looking forward to that Halloween beer 🍻