I stopped drinking 9 days ago. I decided to press pause for a couple of reasons. First is my health. Drinking is part of the culture where I live (Austin) and in my industry (tech). Alcohol is so normal and easy to find, you really don’t think about drinking. You just drink.
I read a lot about it before I decided to quit. Everything I read said a 30 day pause would help your liver reset. I’ve already lost weight, and can see a difference in my skin. So yay.
The second reason was because the anniversary of my dad’s death is looming. I wrote about how his declining health made me feel as he started getting really ill (this time last year). In fact, the last time he was hospitalized was the last time I saw him. I had to change my ticket to San Francisco for VMworld to leave from Fort Walton Beach (my hometown) instead of Austin. I knew I was telling him goodbye when I left him there.
I think this feeling will always be tied to VMworld from now on. And I am scared if I drink, I won’t work through these feelings, I’ll just bury them. And I don’t want that. My daddy wouldn’t want me to do that. Maybe it’s another way of remembering him.
I’m not sure if I can make it 30 days to be honest. It’s so hard! You have to be conscious about your decision to not drink, and decide beforehand if you want to go to that happy hour, what you will drink, what you’ll tell your friends. And to top it off, a good friend is turning 40, and there are shenanigans planned. And then we have VMworld, which is 5 nights of parties. I’m super excited VMunderground is planning a alcohol-free option at their big party. That’s one night I’ll have a viable, easy option.
So, have you tried to go alcohol-free during a big conference or when you had big celebrations coming up? What were your strategies to stay focused and on your program? Looking for all your awesome hacks.
Good for you Gina. I’m still working on being alcohol-free for my whole career. I basically switched to milk at parties when I started work in my 20s. I woke up smarter every day. Give it a try.
Not sure if I can do milk (I get kidney stones from calcium). I have been having soda water with a little bit of cranberry juice. That’s pretty tasty too!
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