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OUT OF SIGHT,
OUT OF WILLPOWER |
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After celebrating on New Year's Eve, and showing our
newfound youth by staying up until 10:45 instead of our usual 10:00
bedtime, my wife and I woke up on New Year's day and made our customary
resolutions.
"I'm giving up COVID testing," I announced in as
dramatic a tone I could muster. "I want COVID out of my life, once
and for all, so I'm going to refuse to acknowledge it anymore."
"That's very noble of you," she replied, obviously
unimpressed. "And a bit selfish. How about joining me in a Dry
January instead?"
I knew she was going to drop that one on me, because she does
it every year. I thought my COVID resolution would distract her, but it
didn't work.
It's not like either one of us are big drinkers, but she
likes her wine and I certainly like my beer and wine, especially in social
situations. Giving it up for an entire month is not the easiest thing to
do.
"I'll do a dry first week, but I'm not doing the whole
month," I said. "I don't know how many Januarys I have left, and
I don't feel like wasting one."
That got an eye roll. She came back a little later with some
research to show me. It's estimated that 15% of adult Americans
participate in Dry January. The younger you are, the more likely you'll
take the plunge. Baby boomers like me were the least likely to abstain.
There goes the older but wiser slogan.
And there was more. A 2019 study of 6000 Dry January
participants found that 86% had saved money, 81% felt more in control of
their drinking, 70% were sleeping better, 67% had better concentration,
66% had more energy and 54% had lost weight.
Hard to argue with those statistics, but I managed to give it
a try. It didn't go well. Moving on, I said I would consider doing Sober
October. That would give me nine months to prepare.
"Besides," I added, "you're cheating." I
was referring to her impending trip on January 5th for two weeks in
Morocco with some girlfriends. The wine selection is pretty thin in that
Muslim country. No temptation, no problem.
"You should have come with me," she replied with a
shrug, knowing I wasn't invited. "Dry January is definitely a good
time to go to a place where alcohol is not in your face all the
time."
Brilliant. Meanwhile, I'd be left at home with the beer
commercials, the social dinners, the big football games and other
stimulants. I wasn't sure I could last a week, but I was going to give it
a try.
I dropped my wife off at the airport on Friday, January 5th
for her long-planned trip. I had miraculously completed four nights of Dry
January and I was very proud of myself. I gave her a big hug and told her
I was determined to make it for seven whole days.
Unfortunately, the weekend was coming up. Let's face
it, how many weekends do I have left? While she was flying over Greenland,
I was ordering a nice cold pint of draft beer with a couple of friends.
She was out of sight, and I was out of willpower.
Besides, it's not like she's the Queen of Discipline. While
she announces every year that she'll be doing Dry January, I would venture
to guess her success rate is about 32%. The difference between her and me
is that I give up after four days, and she usually lasts at least three
weeks.
There's no doubt she'll make it through Morocco, but as I
said, that's cheating. Her best chance is to not come home until February
1st, but that's not going to happen. Her second best chance is to not plan
any social engagements towards the end of January.
As for me, I'm content with my weak-minded, unhealthy,
pathetic lack of discipline. I greatly admire anyone who can refrain from
drinking alcohol, whether permanently or just for the month of January. It
takes a fortitude that I choose to ignore.
I'd rather just go the moderation route, generally limiting
my alcohol consumption to no more than two drinks per day. I could
probably cut it to one a day if I was in Morocco, but I wasn't invited. |
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