But why?

The question I typically get asked whenever I tell people I’m not drinking right now.

I’m not drinking because I’ve drank almost every weekend all through college and still several years after it. It was time to take a break.

Also, the beginning of this year I gave up alcohol for a spiritual fast for 21 days, giving up something you care about. I chose alcohol and I really questioned how difficult it would be for me.

A few weeks in a friend of mine told me he was going 1 year without alcohol. That inspired me to continue my no-drinking.

Now, 7 months later still no alcohol I feel good and really never thought I’d go this long without it.

 

Usually when I tell people I’m not drinking it tends to make them uncomfortable at first because it’s unusual, they aren’t prepared with what to say and it can make them question their drinking habits.

I never chose to give up alcohol to make others uncomfortable; or foresaw that happening. Maybe questioning their drinking habit is okay though. I have the philosophy to question what’s normal and not blindly accept things without understanding them first.

Now beyond my reasoning and initial reactions I want to go into some more details about the benefits and drawbacks of this decision. Hopefully you’re able to read the rest open eyed and not being uncomfortable or in your own head questioning your drinking!

I want this article to help you too if you’re thinking about giving up alcohol or wanting to re-affirm your own ideas. Or just curious.

 

Biggest Lesson

There are numerous benefits to not drinking these past 7 months, which I’ll go into detail below. I just wanted to highlight here what the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far is. This was an unintended effect and was actually the most difficult to deal with and eventually get past.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned so far is finding out how to deal with my emotions without being able to numb the pain. 

 

I was mainly a social drinker but would occasionally drink at home if I wasn’t going out or hanging with people. One of the biggest reasons I would drink, consciously and sometimes unconsciously, was to numb my pain for an emotional upset at work, a relationship problem or some other type of worry I was struggling with.

If you saw Avengers Endgame (spoilers), what I was doing was similar to what Thor was doing when they showed him at first.

If you’ve never seen the movies I’ll briefly explain. Thor is a super hero who’s basically always jacked and awesome. However, he failed to kill the main villain and as a result they all lost. So they now show Thor as fat and out of shape. He was drinking, ignoring truth and numbing his pain with alcohol, video games and laziness.

Okay, I’m no super hero god who’s gained 60 pounds and ran away from the Universe to escape my problems. However, I was doing something similar when I had emotional upsets in my life.

After not drinking I couldn’t numb the pain any more. So I had to sit with it. I had to deal with my emotions. I had to control and manage how I felt.

It took several weeks of agitation and desire to pick up a bottle, but somehow I persisted.

Then after I got through the worst of it and sat with my most painful emotions it didn’t really bug me any more. I had less and less negative, painful, emotion to deal with. It’s like I put off dealing with my negative emotions by numbing it with alcohol for so long that I didn’t realize what I was doing and had so much built up over the years.

That’s definitely my biggest takeaway from not drinking these past few months and I’m glad I went through it.

 

Benefits

 

1. Goal Achievement

I have managed to hit most of my big goals I’ve set for myself already, only halfway through the year. It seems easier to achieve the goals I’m setting for myself than when I was drinking. I don’t want that to come off as bragging but rather a comparison to what I’ve done previously. Historically, when I set goals I might get close to achieving them near the end of the year. Sometimes I didn’t even come close and I’d scrap them all together. Or… maybe I’m just getting better at setting goals and having the dedication to hit them. I’m sure it’s a combination of everything.

Whatever the reason, I seem to be able to hit my goals easier now that I’m not nursing a hangover every weekend. I find it easier to stick with my promises I make to myself. It seems I have better discipline. I can be committed easier without having to fight myself as much.

 

2. Health and Fitness Discipline

Now that I’m not drinking I’m more in control of my workouts and my health. Not only getting the benefits of not drinking but also by not binge eating when I’m drunk, eating poorly because I’m hungover or by having the debilitating headaches that come with alcohol that hinder fitness progression.

 

3. Weekends Aren’t Ruined

Whenever I was drinking I would typically drink on Friday and Saturday night consistently. Therefore, I was hungover every Saturday and Sunday morning, consistently. When you’re hungover you don’t really want to do anything. And the first half of Saturday and Sunday were mainly focused on nursing me back to somewhat normal functions.

Now that I’m not drinking I will wake up earlier in the morning and get in a workout, write a blog post, train a client, read or just get up normally without having a throbbing headache.

 

4. More Money

By having no alcohol I have an enormous amount of money each month. I would be spending sometimes $200 to $300 a month just on alcohol. Going out and having a $15 drink was normal. I spent $80 one night just having a casual hangout with a buddy. I wouldn’t blink or think twice at spending that kind of money.

Now, I can spend money on passions and other things I’m interested in without fear of breaking the bank.

 

5. Better Memory, Focus and Energy

This one’s more of the obvious benefits but I still wanted to put it in here. Whenever I would drink I couldn’t recall events or details too well. My memory was not the best and my recollection would always be fuzzy when trying to remember an event that I’d had a few drinks at. Also, I have significantly more focus and energy than when I was drinking.

It’s like having two cups of water. The water resembles my energy level. Now imagine both cups filled to the brim and sitting out in the Florida sun mid-day. Eventually they’ll both just evaporate over time. However, when I was drinking, the next day always felt as though someone, figuratively, punctured a small hole in one of the cups. My energy levels and focus on hangover days would be like the water levels in the punctured cup.

 

Drawbacks

I am pumping up not drinking a lot here. However, I want to include some drawbacks I’ve noticed too.

 

1. No More Buzz

The entire point of drinking alcohol…The BUZZ! The good stuff. The bliss and joyful feeling that first starts as a warm sensation in the gut then happily spreads up to your head.

Gone. No more.

Just sobriety. However, after a while you forget what the buzz feels like and it loses it’s control over you and therefore it’s significance.

But once and a while I think about it…

 

2. Socializing Made Difficult

Socializing is meant to be fun and a joyous occasion. However, there is a bone thrown in the mix when you can’t have an alcoholic drink. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy socializing any more but it is different now and I find myself searching for new ways to hang with friends that don’t involve “grabbing a beer” together. I miss that.

 

3. Constant Explanations

I find that when I’m out with people at any event that has alcohol I’m constantly explaining why I’m not drinking to nearly everyone. I know that it’s a bit odd and uncommon and, again, I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable. I notice that when I’m out and don’t get a drink I always have to explain why and then I usually get a head nod indicating boredom or introspection on their end.

I don’t want this to come off as I’m frustrated with people or their reactions only that by sharing with people I’m not drinking right now it just makes it a very boring and dry (pun intended) conversation at that point.

Maybe I’m just not delivering it in the right way too, very possible.

 

4. Miss An Entire Part Of My Life

I was passionate about finding different breweries and I would grab a couple friends and we’d go hang for a few hours. It was my weekends!! It was fun. It was care-free. It was emotionally uplifting. Now it’s just all gone. I had a real passion for this too. So I definitely miss that side of it.

 

FAQ: Why Not Just Cut Back On The Drinking Instead Of Eliminating It Completely

Doing that would actually make it WAY more difficult for me to do. Right now I don’t have to use discipline. Alcohol is just completely OFF LIMITS to me; and I put that control hard on myself.

However, if I were to open it up to “occasional drinks” or “once and while” I know that sooner or later it would turn into what it was before or very close. I have the type of personality to go all in. To be obsessed and addicted.

I am finding ways in the future that I may be able to make this work where alcohol isn’t just completely eliminated. For now, it stays gone 100 percent.

 

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this far and I hope you got a lot out of my lessons and experience so far of going without alcohol for 7 months. It’s not a huge accomplishment by any means but it is a significant change I made in my life and maybe my story can help you make a choice for something you’ve been struggling with. Even if it isn’t alcohol maybe there’s something else in your life that alcohol was to me.

Remember, the more you face your fears and work through your negative emotions without numbing yourself the stronger you’ll be.

Keep charging along my friend and please leave a comment below to share your experience or thoughts!

Cheers,

Chaz

 

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