I’m sorry I’ve been remiss in updating this blog, but am happy to report (to my current lone reader, my best friend from high school!) that I’ve managed to stick with my no-drinking challenge for 11 days now. I’ve had two unexpectedly positive experiences in the past week that I’d like to share.
First, this past weekend, I was invited to a dinner party hosted by close friends from college. On the drive down, I found myself worrying that my friends would give me a hard time for not drinking – remarkably, this was not the case at all! When I arrived, I was asked what I wanted to drink, chose water, and wasn’t questioned. Later, when we sat down to dinner, I said “no thank you” when offered wine (something I rarely, if ever, have done), and again, no one said anything. Even more interesting, I noticed that one of the guests, a good friend (and drinking buddy), also did not have a drop of alcohol that evening. When we later spoke, he told me that he is trying to cut back on his drinking. This was truly an encouraging evening because I learned that 1) my friends don’t care about my drinking choices nearly as much as I thought they would, and 2) I’m not the only one who is trying to reduce their alcohol intake!
This Wednesday, I had an even more surprising experience! I went out to dinner with my co-workers in the Midwestern city we are staffed in at the moment. The evening began with drinks at the hotel bar, and I chose water instead of my usual cocktail. “You’re not having anything?” I was asked. I smiled, said I was good with water, and changed the topic. Then, at dinner, I again asked for water, and I was, in fact, given a hard time. I laughed and said my liver needed a vacation. One of my colleagues then asked me if I was not drinking that evening for caloric reasons or other ones…I responded with “oh, I guess it’s a mixture of both.” Interestingly, this co-worker, generally a big drinker, commented that he sometimes thinks he should take a few weeks or a month off from drinking. After dinner, the boys decided to go out drinking, and asked me if was going to call it a night. I (surprising myself!) said that I was up for going out. We went to a bar with live music, and I got water. My co-workers responded with “You’re kidding, right?” I smiled and said “no.” For the first time in my life, I stayed out late with friends who were pounding down the drinks and had a blast without drinking a drop. I was laughing, joking around, and generally having a good time…and totally sober! My co-workers asked me every so often if I really didn’t want a drink or a shot, but ultimately respected my decision to not drink. By the time last call came around at 2:00 am, my colleagues had each had about 8 drinks…8 drinks that I normally would have consumed as well. The next morning, I was tired, but so thrilled to not be hungover! 
It was a great feeling to know that I could go out without being in pain the next morning…And, most importantly, though I’m more or less an agnostic, this experience made me feel like I am somehow being encouraged from above to keep at this resolution… Anyway, it’s now Halloween weekend and I have 4 parties ahead of me. This will be a real test.
