Humans 101
How Sober October is Going So Far
Join to prove something to yourself, stay for the awesome side effects.
This is not a story about the perils of drinking too much. I’ve covered that plenty. This is a story about the remarkable benefits rediscovered in taking a break from alcohol. I say “rediscovered” because, like many people partaking in Sober October — the simple act of not partaking in alcohol — it’s not my first booze-bucking rodeo.
This time, my wife is doing it with me, which is really helpful. The buddy system makes any behavioral change easier, especially with alcohol, given its powerful 5-o’clock-somewhere pull.
So far, it hasn’t been a particularly arduous challenge. We’ve had a few foo-foo fake carbonated concoctions, and I almost OD’d on ice cream the first night, but we’ve quickly fallen into new routines to fill the vacuum of mind-numbing beer, wine, hard kombucha, vodka, whatever.
We normally drink most nights, me consuming more than she, me often one too many, me sometimes two too many. But we’ve quit before, for days, weeks and even months at a time. And surprisingly, that can be a problem if you’re not careful. When you know you can quit, it’s easy to use that as justification to just keep drinking, night after night, habitually. Never…
