I gave up alcohol for 30 days. That was over two years ago now. I had never intended to stop drinking long term, in fact I had entered into the 30-day agreement with my boyfriend Aodhan under the strict condition that it was for one month and not a day more.
So what changed? Those 30 days were sometimes difficult, occasionally boring, but mostly a positive experience for me. I didn't miss the hellish hangovers and delighted in the early morning productivity and increased energy. My skin began to improve and I felt less low-lying anxiety as I went about my daily tasks.
During that first month, I spent the days being active and the nights laying low. Although I loved the daytime benefits, I had to admit, if only to myself, that my cup of peppermint tea to celebrate the weekend just wasn't really cutting it. I stayed at home on the weekends because I didn't believe that I could actually go out and socialise without drink. How could I? I'd been drinking my way through social occasions since I was about 16. Who was I without it?
Towards the end of the month, I sat down with Aodhan to discuss how we were getting on. We weighed up the pros and cons and decided to give it another month. No major commitments. Just one more month and then we could see if we wanted to finish the 90-day challenge we had been reading about.
Source: Kate Gunn, Irish Independent, 30th January 2019
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