One single mom’s attempt at Dry January…
Day One…
Hello everyone, I recently decided to journal about my attempt and experience of staying sober for the month of January. Doesn’t that sound like fun?! Yes, I thought so too, ha! You see, I had been thinking about taking a break from the juice for awhile and even made an attempt at Dry January last year, making it two weeks without a drink, but this morning while meditating it came to me that I should write about my experience. And that I should share that written experience in real time on the internets. So here goes….
I have been a single parent for 4 years. I have been a lover of wine for many, many more years than that. I am 44 years old. My children are 16, 13 and 10 and until today they have spent the majority of their time in my care. Today we started 50/50 custody with their dad. I am thrilled to have some time to myself and also to have them spend more time with dad, so this is a really good thing! However, I don’t want to spend my time alone drinking while they’re gone so it’s time I get my drinking “problem” under control.
I don’t know that I plan on getting sober and staying sober forever, but I don’t know that I’m not interested in that either. I hope I can make it a month without alcohol and then reassess that decision. I will be journaling about the ups and downs of this experience as well as the affects it may or may not have on my physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, the wellbeing of my children and the wellbeing of my bank account. Mostly excited about that last one because alcohol is expensive! I expect I will have some days that are easy and some that fucking suck. My strategy to avoid alcohol for the next 31 days is this:
- Drink lots of tea.
- Read about the negative affects of alcohol on my body and mind.
- When I get desperate for a drink, meditate for 20 minutes or walk the dog instead.
- When I can’t stand it any longer, make a mocktail!
- Increase self care techniques, love myself more, love alcohol less!
- Take a nap! Why must we be awake all the damn time anyway?!
Hey, it’s a start. I bet in 31 days I will read this and laugh about what kind of strategy I thought would get me through. I hope you enjoy following along on this journey and I hope that it provides some insight and opportunity for reflection on your own journey. After all, as Ram Dass said, “We’re all just walking each other home.”
