Dry January done and dusted? Next..

Well dry January is done, whats next Feb-fast? Back to "normal" drinking?

Personally I couldn't see the point of white knuckling through a month of abstinence, telling myself it was for my greater good but knowing that once the time had ended I would make up for it. Am I so out of control, I have to get sponsored to stop drinking for a time?

Binge drinking is like that. I know from experience after deciding in 2007 to stop my binging by going cold turkey.

I then spent eight years in the wilderness, white knuckling it.. that's possibly a record, living in what I saw at times as deprivation and loneliness, being different to all those "normal" drinkers. Personally being the problem rather than the substance, alcohol. Avoiding settings where alcohol was prevalent. It was probably an insane way to live really. A month wasn't going to help, as ultimately even after eight years sober I went back to drinking.

I guess it all depends on your approach, if you see a months dry as something to battle through, knowing that at the end you will ultimately reward yourself with a celebration. I have to ask, why are you bothering? Is it to be one of the "in" crowd, something that for a time as a drinker is socially acceptable. But not too much abstinence after the time is up, you might make the crowd uncomfortable. Is it to try and take control in some form, because you have realised you need to try something? Is it because you are having a hard time moderating yourself and you need some sort of carrot and stick to change your habit, at least for a short time.

If you look at it as a learning experience, dig into it and get curious about why you feel the way you do about drinking, it can help you change your drinking habits if you are starting to question them.

The beautiful thing is, you don't have to wait for Dry January, Feb-fast or whatever else is coming up. There are resources available now that I never had 14 years ago, these days you can use online programs, community support programs and groups, even working with alcohol coaches that help you understand why you do what you do and how to change it.

The key thing is to find a resource/program that imparts knowledge, digs into your beliefs around alcohol, changes the way you feel about it and helps you take affirmative action.

It was this approach that ended my decades of binging and over-drinking.. (a polite way of saying drinking to get obnoxiously drunk).

*NOTE: no bottles were harmed during the photography session.*