It wasn’t the first time, or the second or even the tenth. I’ve lost track of how many times over the last few years I have tried to kick the wine habit but it’s always managed to edge its way back. So in the interests of not doing the same thing continually and expecting a different result (definition of insanity anyone?), I thought I’d try this. Maybe actually writing it all down and putting it out there will make me more accountable, maybe it won’t, but it’s worth a shot.
I didn’t hit any kind of rock bottom three days ago, I had a nice afternoon with a friend. It was fairly standard for one of our Sunday afternoon get togethers – a boozy lunch, followed by a boozy comedy show followed by a bucketload of rose and a boozy uber ride home. I hadn’t intended to get drunk, I’d thought to have a couple of wines over the course of the afternoon then come home and do a few chores around the apartment, get an early night and be up and at the office at the crack of 8am on Monday. Needless to say none of that happened. I didn’t manage to drag myself in to the office or even pick up my laptop at all on Monday and all I could do was lie in bed under a cloud of self pity, thinking why? At 40, there are a number of people I admire and I suspect none of these people spend their Sunday afternoons getting trashed in rooftop bars and skipping work on Monday because they are too hungover to move.
However many good intentions I have, however many times I try to cut it back or cut it out, however many weeks I manage to actually stop drinking (5 weeks is my record), I always end up back here.
So here I am, day 3 and I feel like I have the flu. This might be because I am actually sick or it might be some kind of withdrawal. At this exact moment, not drinking is easy enough, I’ve never been an every night drinker anyway, especially not during the week. My first real test will be on the weekend. For now I’m just tired, spaced out and a bit foggy but that’s pretty normal for me – it can take me up to a week to feel human again after a big drinking session, but no more. Roll on day four.
No More Wineing 