Well, there you have it! I got my second ever ‘Twice Lucky’! And I feel it was well earned since I had two six packs of beer in the fridge and copious clouds pungent pot smoke wafting through my cabin.
Zero+ ; Twice Lucky ; M: 164 ; C: 126 ; P/U: Rest ; W: 6 mi
No Weigh In – Mountains
The Sweet Pungence of Pot Smoke
I mentioned yesterday, it wasn’t enough to tempt my sober aspirations with just some beer in the fridge. I needed to kick it up a notch. So, I invited an old friend (and my pot dealer) to come stay with me at my cabin. For the better part of the past twenty years, Stan (not his real name) has not only been one of my very best friends, but also the guy I bought all my pot from.
The two of us have smoked pot together more times than I could ever hope to count. On camping trips we’d often throw in some mushrooms for good measure. But the last couple of years, I’d pop by his house on Sunday evenings with some beer and a joint and we’d get high and watch football. If past were prologue, last night would have been a pot smoke toke-a-thon.
Stan doesn’t drink anything stronger than O’Doul’s, so I made sure to have some of that in the fridge along with my Athletic IPAs. He doesn’t drink, but he does smoke a lot of pot.
I Thought I Had Dodged A Bullet
Stan and I hung out for a couple hours, took a hike, had dinner, and enjoyed a couple of non-alcoholic beers together. He had an O’Doul’s and I sipped on an IPA. It was a chilly night, so I lit a fire and turned on some classic rock.
After a little while, Stan went upstairs to “use the bathroom”. A few moments later, as I sat by the fire, I got a big ol’ whiff of pot smoke as it wafted down into my living room.
I love the smell of pot smoke! There are so many memories it invokes of concerts and camping trips through the years. The scent of marijuana is still quite alluring to me, and Stan always has the best sh*t.
Wave after wave of pot smoke filled up my house. He was hiding up in the guest bathroom smoking like a chimney. To be honest, I appreciated that he was trying to conceal it from me since we had discussed my quitting marijuana on our hike earlier yesterday afternoon. He was being a good friend, but a good friend who wanted to secretly smoke some weed. And I’m cool with that.
I chuckled a little bit to myself as I sat there breathing in this musky marijuana incense. In a strange sort of way, I felt like a parent whose kid was in his room getting high thinking he was getting away with it. I found the whole situation quite humorous. When Stan finally came back downstairs bleary eyed, I didn’t mention it. We hung out for a few more hours before turning in for the night.
Double the Temptation, Double the Fun
Being on the cusp of a ‘Twice Lucky’ and marijuana sober for 126 days (just over four months), there was no way I was going to smoke any pot last night. So I didn’t. Nor did I drink any beer (other than non-alcoholic beer).
During the experience, I noticed a couple of interesting things happening within me:
- There was NO Pavlovian Reaction
- I did not need to RAIN on the desire to smoke pot. Smokie never showed up.
- I had zero FOMO (fear of missing out)
- I was not tempted by any addiction transfer
In the face of twice the temptation, I achieved a ‘Twice Lucky’ and I didn’t trash my marijuana sobriety streak. I am very proud of this accomplishment. The fact that I had no physical reaction in terms of mouth watering or a powerful craving is evidence of some pretty serious brain rewiring on my part.
Today, I’m setting my intention on a new alcohol sobriety record of 15 days. The only thing standing between me and my new record is a Friendsgiving celebration back at home. I’m not anticipating any great difficulty with this, but another alcohol infused social occasion puts a fine point on how challenging it can be to be Sober On a Drunk Planet (great book I’m just about finished reading). This is especially true during the holiday season as I navigate past Sober Halloween, through Sober Thanksgiving and Christmas, and on to Sober New Years.
Having survived the gauntlet of the dual threat of cold beer in the fridge and pot smoke filling my house, I feel like I’m up for any challenge! Bring on 15!
