Sunday 18-01-21 I Dry January

I’ve not had a drink since the 6^th January. And that was only one glass of red wine. It was the remains of a bottle I opened the night before, on the 5^th. I didn’t drink from the 1^st to the 4^th before that.

I certainly could have done with a drink last night, but I didn’t succumb. It would have been so easy; TW was off in Brighton meeting some friends and although she’s “not doing Dry January”, she hasn’t been drinking either (except for the 5^th, the same as me). But she told friends that she was probably drinking last night, and so it turned out.

We’ve got beers and wine chilling (and freezing, on some nights!) in the back garden, and I could have easily opened the back door and cracked one of those bottles open, but I didn’t. I guess that I’ve got this far (20^th Jan) and I didn’t want to give in at this stage. TW & I are going out on the 1^st February to see a comedian – Ahir Shah, performing “Control”, and I am planning to have a drink then, but obviously I shall want to remember the show, so I’m not planning on getting hideously pissed. And, in addition, we are going to a rugby evening on the 2^nd, and I shall be driving, as TW is planning to be away that weekend.

What I’m trying to say, I guess, is that I’ve got a few things to look forward to, and so not drinking now is not (or at least it shouldn’t feel like) a hardship. Since it is the 21^st already, there are only ten days to go. I’m not trying to raise money for charity or push teetotalism, but it is good, from my personal perspective, to take some time away from alcohol. I balk at the phrase “evaluate my relationship with alcohol”, but taking a month off does go to show that if we (that’s the royal we, i.e. I) don’t think about it consciously, alcohol can easily start becoming a regular fixture in the evenings. On a couple of occasions (and probably more) TW has looked at me disapprovingly as I placed another four-pack of lagers in the fridge. It’s easy with the Co-Op and The Wine Centre standing between West Worthing train station and home… Anyway, the world probably won’t end if I have a few nights without a beer or two.

TTFN.