I’m not an alcoholic.*
But, almost since birth, there may not have been one year in my life when I haven’t had alcohol.
From the story about my dummy being dipped in rum to aid my baby sleep (not an especially uncommon practice back then—apparently) to the one about multiple relatives giving this then one-year-old the dregs of their wedding glasses (and said toddler ending up pissed), I’ve grown up with alcohol as a big part of my life—from day one.
It runs in my family too.
My great-grandfather got drunk and walked in front of a train (not fast enough—apparently) and since I don’t want to end up like him I thought it was about time I took a break. It’s what you might call a bit of a ‘social experiment’: where the ‘social’ is seeing how I handle old patterns/environments/etcs and the ‘experiment’ is trying something different. In the past I’ve abstained for weeks—and even a month or two—at a time, but never a whole year.
Until now.
Today I’ve committed to a year liquor free; 12 months OFF the sauce; 52 weeks ON the wagon, 365 days sober.
Bring it.
Sincerely,
B.G. Mitchell
Friday 11th November 2011 (11 AM)
* I know, a claim like that might scream ‘YES you are then!’ but all I mean is I never used to pass out every night or need to steal to feed my habit. However, as recently as last week I was regularly drinking about two beers and a bottle of wine a night. Not including weddings.
Congratulations on your sobriety. I know you won’t fall off the wagon, but if you slip a little is there someone you can call to talk you down? I hear that helps tremendously. Good luck with the rest of the year!
Ta Neeks.
My grip is strong. But, my wife is patient too. Whenever I need to verbalise any physical/meta-physical questions/challenges she’s a great listener.
Plus I’ve got this blog to turn to too!
Thanks for your well wishes.
Who knows I might even ride the wagon beyond 365 days…?
What an adventure you must be having with your social experiment! Good on you.
Ta very much.
One great thing about experimenting on my self this way is I’m connecting with lots of cool folk around the globe.
I really appreciate your comment, Soundhippy!
I want to join you! I have had days/weeks of sobriety – just enough to know how good it feels. How much more productive I am. But there’s a voice that whispers to me in the early evening and suggesst that a drink would be a lovely thing. Sometimes I can say no. And sometimes I can’t.
Welcome! The more the merrier.
I know that voice you speak of. It’s the one that says to me at the end of the day “Come on, Ben. You’ve done a good days writing now you deserve ONE beer at least. Maybe six.”
“Nice try,” I reply to myself. “But you’re not even half way to your goal. You’ll just have to hang in there mate.”
P.S. If you’d like me to email you a free YOLS calendar (I use one as a little motivational helper by marking off each ‘booze-free’ day) just email me via the contact page
i’d like a calendar please.
Just emailed it then, Juliana. Hope you enjoy marking off each soberday!
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Good luck! When you realize at the one year mark that your alcoholism has been doing pushups while you tried this little experiment, AA will be waiting for you. I sincerely wish you luck!
Hi Jessi. Not sure I agree with you that my urge to drink will be stronger after a year of sobriety—though I understand for some people it would be. Thanks for wishing me luck.
Hey, I love your blog. I, too, am taking one year off (maybe more).
Thanks so much. I love doing it!
Good luck on your YOLS (or multiple YOLSs).
Cheers
[...] a year off is on HomeI’m not an alcoholic but…10 Reasons To Give Up Alcohol For 1 YearContact Dec 13 2011 10 Comments By B.G. Mitchell [...]
Mucho Respect Sir! Great site! I recommend everybody try this exercise. A sober Christmas, birthday and then on Hols…. an evening walk along the shore followed be a seaside drink of chamomile tea watching the sun go down really gives you a different perspective (not to mention waking the next morning with an option to go running or not:)). My year off alcohol ended 12th October 2012. Not taken another drink yet. I think I will use drinking as a special occasion thing…..or not
Love fine wine and champoo so now I have broken the back of the habit I will be more respectful of my body but not OCD. Chin Chin.. From one slightly smug voluntary non drinker (or not) to another 
Thanks heaps Mikee. Great hearing your story, and how you enjoyed the festive season without ‘gettin’ on the piss’ (as we sometimes say down under). Herbal teas are lovely and I haven’t drunk enough of them over this past year off booze. Funnily enough though, before my YOLS I used to drink them all the time. Maybe I’ll open our herbal-tea drawer (yes, we’ve got one almost exclusively for peppermint, lemon/ginger et al) more often in the near future.
Good luck as you approach the lucky 13th MOLS. Whatever your future brings, it sounds like your YOLS has, like mine, been a very positive experience.
Chin, chin indeed!
Today begins my YOLS (my OCD made me wait until January 1st!).
Reading your blog for support – wish me luck!
Congratulations on beginning your YOLS! I totally understand the OCD thing. I was lucky to begin my YOLS on 11/11/2011—so I’ll never forget it (not that I would have anyway).
I hope you enjoy some of my YOLS posts, from the early days to the later. One thing I did for the last 100 days, something which was a bit of fun, was take a photo everyday for my Twitter handle (@yearoffbooze). Doing stuff like that, as well as the blog (obviously) was a helpful distraction and positive use of my time and sober mind. I also ended up with The Little Booze Joke Book at the end of my YOLS.
Sure you’ll find your own way through it though.
Cheers,
Ben
PS. The Little Booze Joke Book is FREE for the next few days. Might give you a few laughs while standing at the bar drinking soda water