So, here I am on my third day of what may be called Dry January. As I sit writing this in my sobriety journal, I find myself thinking about drinking quite a bit more than I expected I would be. I almost titled this post: Dominic’s Very Very Quite Dry and Incredibly Boring January – Part 1, but I thought that would sound whiny and complainy, so Dominic’s Very Dry January Part 1 it is.
Zero+ ; Deuce ; M: 210 ; C: 170 ; P/U: 120 ; W: 5 mi
Only 3 Days Into Dry January?!
I find it hard to believe that I’m only three days into Dry January. It feels like a whole month already! I imagine that this incredible warping of my perception of time and space is a direct result of my sobriety lax Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve week.
A dry January means a filled hayloft.
– Sicilian Proverb
This particular week represents my single biggest drinking week since last summer when I began my sobriety journey in earnest. And its fallout is echoing loudly into dry January into two substantive ways:
- Drinkie has returned with a vengeance
- As has my sweet tooth (let’s call him Mister Sweets)
That leaves me in a bit of a quandry. Instead of grappling with just one voice of vice, I’ve invited two back into my head. At least Mister Sweets will be easy and straightforward to deal with. All I need to do to vanquish Mister Sweets is to perform a three day Plant Paradox cleanse.
Once I do the cleanse and reset my gut bacteria, Mister Sweets will take care to show himself the door. After the sugar craving bacteria die, so will Mister Sweets. But, more concerning is that I appear to be engaged in a game of chicken with Drinkie.
Alcohol Lied To Me
If what I learned from reading Alcohol Lied To Me by Craig Beck holds, I’m in for a two week detox process as I re-acclimate to a sober lifestyle. I expect this detox will include crappy sleep replete with tossing, turning, and a racing heart. I’m sure there will also be a bit of elevated anxiety and grumpiness to boot.
With 28 days left in dry January, I have really gotten myself behind the eight ball, so to speak. My excesses of last week were a bit surprising, but I’ve gone and done this to myself, so it’s time to pay the piper. I can’t pretend like I didn’t see this coming. That’s the price you pay for short sighted stupidity.
Dry January is 100 Proof
Given my recent sobriety lapses, there is a very strong need to prove to myself that I can go 31 days without drinking. For many people, this would seem like an easy and fairly straightforward task. I mean how hard can dry January really be? Well, for me, at this present juncture, the terminus of dry January seems a lifetime away.
And, of course, when I finally arrive at January 31st, it’ll most likely be a ‘Now What?’ situation. In other words, “Great, I made it through dry January in one piece! Now what? Should I celebrate with a six pack? Can I extend my streak into a dry February?” Or will the urge to drink (like my urge to smoke pot) be entirely and utterly vanquished? Will dry January be 100% proof of my ability to stay sober over the long haul or just another fleeting sobriety streak?
Maybe the answer to “Now What?” should be – stay sober, duh. My longest sobriety streak so far is 28 days. That lasted from two days after my sober Thanksgiving (with a lapse the day after) all the way to Christmas Eve. I had hoped to make it a Dry December to Remember, but it wasn’t to be.
Unfortunately my urge to drink rushed in with a vengeance on Christmas Eve after our long anticipated trip back east was canceled at the last minute due to the ‘Storm of the Century.’ I could have Rain’d that overpowering urge to drink away as I had done many times before, but for some reason I didn’t. I was emotionally distraught and let my guard down. So now I’m stuck, a week later, with Drinkie and Mister Sweets tag teaming me.
The Challenges Ahead
There are several challenges that stand between me and a successful dry January. The first of these is a scheduled trip to the mountains.
I have beer leftover from Thanksgiving in the fridge up there. So, I’ll have to contend with those shortly after my arrival. But, the good news is that trip is a couple weeks from now, and I’ll hopefully be in a better mental state by then. If I can make it to 17 days (we’re scheduled to go up there on the 17th) I’m sure I won’t want to blow it. That would be a real let down.
The good news is that, by then, I will be through the detox period complete with reset gut microbiome. Therefore, staying sober should require significantly less willpower. At least I hope that’s the case.
The next challenge is my birthday in conjunction with the NFL playoffs. Both have historically been excellent excuses to tie one on. If I’m to succeed in my dry January, I must make it past both of these hurdles. Mountains, birthday, and playoffs… Oh my!
Getting Back Into Daily Routine
New Year’s resolutions have always run a bit hollow for me, so I’m by no means going against the grain and making one now. My resolution to rewire my brain and rebuild my body began in June 2022, over six months ago as of the date of this blog entry.
While I sought to ‘relax’ myself a bit after fighting my way through Thanksgiving (both sobriety and diet/healthwise), I never thought I’d let myself slip as much as I have.
And while this slippage is unfortunate, it’s not too terrible, and, in fact, could have been much worse. But any way you slice it, it’s going to be challenging to get things going again. I’ve found it’s always quite difficult to reinstill change and new habits after a failed attempt.
Part of recovery is relapse. I dust myself off and move forward again.
– Steven Adler
But, that’s okay. I’ve learned a very valuable lesson that I will take forward with me as I continue on my wellness and sobriety journey into dry January and beyond.
I look forward to the year ahead and all the blessings it will bring both in terms of my personal progress and the many lessons I am certain to learn along the way.
Reset and Grow
The second half of 2022 was a psychological, emotional, spiritual, and physical reset. Now it is time to build upon that and make 2023 a year of growth.
Sure, I experienced some pretty substantial growth as a result of the reset, but I now find myself in quite a different position in 2023. Today I have the opportunity to give my life a complete makeover. This is because I’ve dialed in the important tools necessary to do so: daily meditation, exercise, diet, mindfulness, discipline, and persistence.
Most importantly, 2022 saw the end of my marijuana addiction. This alone is a huge win and accomplishment worth celebrating. Even if I hadn’t managed the rest (the weight loss, the 27 books I’ve read, the journaling, this blog, drastic alcohol reduction, etc), just the simple fact that I quit using marijuana after more than 20 years of daily habit is the big prize of 2022!
Now I have alcohol firmly in my sights, and the precedent is set. If I can quit marijuana, I can most certainly get a firm handle on my alcohol issues, which may result in my giving that up altogether, too.
In fact, two weeks from today will mark six months since I last had any marijuana. In so far as dry months go, from a marijuana perspective, I’ve had a dry August, September, October, November, December, and soon to be dry January.
I’m very proud of this and never thought it would happen. Yet here I am. It happened and continues to happen.
And there is so much more to do.
