I’m only in day 9 of a Dry January. Can I make it a dry month?  A personal trainer friend of mine suggested the idea to me and my wife because it’s what he does with his wife every year. I’ve not not had a drink in January since I was 17. It’s only day 9 but it feels weird. Not necessarily in a bad way just fundamentally different than what I’m very much used to doing – having a couple of glasses, sometimes a whole bottle, of wine every night. I’ve also found out that my youngest brother does a Dry January every year. What has my world come to?

So far, the most difficult moment came during Friday night’s Blazers vs. Cavaliers game. As an adult, up until a couple of days ago, I had never been to a professional sporting event without at least some alcohol in my blood. According to an article in Good Housekeeping, there are 8 benefits of doing a Dry January including:

1. You’ll get a mood boost. …
2. You’ll sleep more soundly. …
3. You might notice less bloating or weight loss. …
4. You’ll save money. …
5. You’ll have a stronger immune system. …
6. You’ll feel better in the morning. …
7. You’ll have a new relationship with alcohol. …
8. Begin journaling.

I have three weeks to go and I may check in again with you, dear reader, to provide an update on my progress.  I don’t feel fundamentally any different meaning I haven’t seen a mood boost or I’m not sleeping more soundly but I’ll admit I do feel better in the morning.  Most mornings I feel significantly dehydrated but not in this last week.  I am waking up feeling less like I have to drink a gallon of water to rehydrate.  So maybe there’s really something to this.

My relationship with alcohol does probably need to change.  When young, the point was enebriation, but I have continued the drinking for the last 43 years.  I can trace nearly every single mistake I’ve ever made to drinking too much alcohol.  Sadly, I’ve been “that Guy” one too many times.  I’m not proud of some of the things I did but I did them because my internal filters were significantly altered.  I have no one to blame but myself.  I wouldn’t say I had bad role models because my parents didn’t drink.  My fascination with booze started during my senior year in high school and really didn’t stop.  I’ve mostly been a beer drinker, then moved to bourbon and water because that’s what my father in-law drank, and it’s now on to red wine at the advice of my doctor.  His advice was to drink red wine in moderation to lower my bad cholesterol.  I don’t think he meant 5 glasses.  What can I say?  I buy good wine and it’s hard to stop at just a couple of glasses.  I don’t want to think about the harm it does to me…only the good.

We’ll see how this experiment goes.  I’m not all that confident I won’t slip up this month but then again I can be disciplined when I want to be.  I can do this.  At least, I think I can.