Six Months Later

Roughly six months ago, somewhere around the middle of March, I decided to give up alcohol. Completely. I didn’t have to, but I did it anyway. It came as a surprise to myself, especially because I come from an environment where drinking alcohol is a normal, even celebrated thing.

Out of nowhere, the thought of not drinking came to my mind. I thought about being sober a lot in March, when I was literally fighting against my brain and coming up with arguments why it is good. Nowadays I know why it is good. There are literally zero downsides to sobriety. Alcohol is unnecessary in my life and has no added value.

I survived big family occasions without drinking now. What is more important, I survived the questions and the remarks about me not drinking. It pissed me off at first. But I realised, people maybe don’t mean it in bad faith. They are just subconsciously justifying their drinking. Maybe. I also learned not to care about it anymore.

Nowadays, when faced with such questions, I just shrug them away. It’s really nobody’s business. I quit, because I felt my alcohol (especially beer) consumption was getting out of control, and I have a family and a life to care about. I wasn’t pushed by anyone, I didn’t find any new meaning in life.

Six months later, I rarely think about that. Along with cutting out beer, I cut sugar consumption too. Especially processed sugar. Doing this made me realise, how much stuff I do because I feel pressured by the society to do so. It’s not the time to list all the things, it’s just something to think about for the future.

I am happier and especially my sleep has improved a lot. During the week I rely only on tap water, coffee in the morning and green tea if I feel like it later. I even cut the non-alcoholic beers to a minimum. Every other weekend or so. I am still not missing anything. But I do like the thought that I remember what my son tells me when he is falling asleep and I don’t have four beers in me while my mind is turned off.