Both of us had gotten into the habit of drinking a few beers after working throughout the week. It was nothing crazy, we'd just have a couple of drinks after our shift and go home, no big deal. Except this was happening maybe about 5 nights out of the week, and if you put the weekends into consideration, we weren't just having a few beers.
He approached me at work. "Let's not drink for a month," He said. "There will be consequences for the first person to cave. There needs to be something at stake, but I can't think of anything yet. Are you in?"
I looked at him, genuinely surprised at his offer. He was often the one encouraging me to have another drink when we were sitting at the bar, so this declaration was truly shocking. And yet, it seemed quite simple. Not drinking for a month? I can do that, easy. He's the one that's going to struggle. I'll be fine.
"Sure, why not," I said smiling. We shook on it. We agreed that the first person to cave had to buy the drinks for the first night on our upcoming trip to Peru, and more importantly, the loser also had to wear a Donald Trump pin for the duration of our trip.
This seemed like a halfhearted silly bet at first, but as the time went on, it proved to be seriously challenging. Of course, there were a lot of positives to this bet.
The first positive is, of course, saving money.
The amount of money I wasted on drinking in the past is astounding. I mean, on a good week, I probably spent around $150-200 a week on drinking or eating out at bars. So when we both decided to quit drinking for the month, I was able to save so much faster than usual. Having that extra cash that was usually used for alcohol gave me the ability to pay my bills on time, and then I had extra money that went straight to my savings. And since I'm traveling soon, this bet proved to be a blessing of sorts.
Secondly, my mental and physical health improved.
After about the third week of not drinking, I had noticed a change in my weight. I had lost about 5 pounds, and on top of that, I felt great. I had all of this random energy that I used to rely on coffee to create for me. I kind of had this pep in my step and walked around with a smile. Gone were the hungover days at work where I dragged myself around, and I looked well-rested and felt positive for a change.
Besides health and money though, there was
something more to this bet: the fact that it was actually a challenge.
For me, the not drinking thing was
especially hard because I suffer from social anxiety. Most of the time, I don't
feel comfortable around groups of people, and drinking usually helps cope with
that. I'm not an alcoholic or anything, but you know, after a few drinks it
just gets a lot easier talking to people. But going without drinking was an eye
opening challenge because it forced me to socialize and interact with people
without having to rely on alcohol. I went out and did things that I would
normally do while drinking, like seeing my friend's band play in New York City,
but I stayed sober, despite the drunken crowds of people surrounding me. It
really was a weird kind of social experiment.
And trust me, the temptation was
real.
But fighting that temptation is what makes
me proud that I saw this challenge through to the very end. Towards the last
couple of weeks, it got quite difficult. My co-workers asked me on numerous
occasions if I wanted to have a drink after work, because well, that's pretty
much the thing to do when you work at a restaurant. And after dealing with all
of the bullshit that ridiculous restaurant-goers put you through, plus some
bullshit thrown at you by the people you work with, a drink just seems like the
perfect relief after a hard night of fending off other people's nasty attitudes
and negative energy.
So, when someone asks, "Hey, are you
coming out tonight?" the long pause between sullenly answering
"no" to a question I so desperately wanted to embrace kept extending
until I nearly caved and said, "Fuck it. Sure. Drinks are on me".
Actually, there were a couple times that my friend and I almost caved together;
making up excuses as to why we should just ditch this silly bet and have a damn
beer. We would look at each other with a sort of desperation. Should we really
do this?
And the answer was no.
Despite the anger and frustration that
work put me through, despite the temptation of friends and family casually
drinking, despite feeling uncomfortable in social situations, I chose not to
drink.
Even though a month isn't that long of a
period of time, this small change in my life did have a major impact on my
mind, body, and general state of well-being. It's always good to give yourself
a challenge to focus on, whether it's quitting something that's bad for you, or
exercising more, or reading a book once a month. A small change can make a big
difference. And don't get me wrong, drinking is a lot of fun and I believe it
is a universal language of some sorts that unites people. But I felt as if I
was relying on it too much, and taking this month long abstinence from drinking
proved to be rewarding in a number of ways.
So live up to the challenge. You've got
nothing to lose, and a whole lot to gain.
