Today is the 38th day since I’ve had a drink, and tonight was the first outing I’ve had with the guys from work. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle the decision, as everyone would be drinking and I wasn’t sure if I’d choose to have one or two, or skip completely.
Going into the process of trying to get my drinking habit under control, my expectation is that I’d someday be able to drink normally, like other people do. That means have a couple at the bar after work, or enjoy a beer or two with my grandfather on a sunny afternoon. But, that’d be it — no daily slamming of Pit Bull or anything like that.
The question is, at what point do I allow myself that luxury? Here on day 38, I’m somewhat still striving to “keep the streak going”, but at the same time, I do believe I could probably have a couple beers and not drop back into my daily drinking habit again.
So, when the guys from work wanted to head-out tonight, I was unsure what choice I’d make: would I keep the streak alive or try my new “normal” drinking?
Well, I decided to skip the beers, as tasty as they sounded.
Nobody at the table made any comment about not drinking, other than asking what I did have in my glass (a limonata San Pellegrino) and they went about having their beers and we hung-out without any pressure. That was pretty cool.
I did find that my tolerance for the loud, noisy environment in the restaurant, combined with some discussion topics I don’t really relate to, was reduced when not drinking, so the time wasn’t as fully enjoyable as I had hoped. But still, it was nice to get-out and see what it’s like to not-drink in public, rather than just not-drink at home.
Thinking back, this may be the only time, or certainly one of a very few times, that I’ve been out in the evening in my adult life and not drank. That’s in 20 years!
Tomorrow brings day 39 because of the choice I made tonight. One day at a time…