After drinking for 10 years, I saw an advert for Dry January. I thought, “I can do this!” so I put my determined face on. I knew I wouldn't be able to refuse a drink for Hogmanay, so I set myself a starting date of 28 December 2018 to give me a challenge and a head start.
So 28 December arrived. I woke up with a positive but nervous feeling – could I really do this? I wasn't sure, but I was going to try! Who was going to win: me, or alcohol?
Grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge, I sipped it throughout the day while people around me were drinking pints of cider. I didn't want to stop them drinking around me, but I also didn’t want to avoid people. Day one of my journey: I did it. I won’t say it was easy, but I managed it.
Day two: I woke up with a sick feeling. Was this my body starting to rebel? My body was craving alcohol. “Not today!” I thought, as I grabbed a bottle of water. Later that day I watched my husband pour himself a pint which was tough. I swear I might have been drooling watching the amber liquid filling his glass. But as I got into bed that night, not having had a single drop of alcohol, I felt a wee bit proud of myself.
Day three: I still felt rough, and even found it hard to get out of bed, but knew that if I caved and had a pint I would have failed my challenge - even though I hadn't even reached January yet. So, I carried on.
Day four: finally it felt like my mind and body were starting to be on same wavelength. I still had the sick feeling but this time, my stomach was rumbling! Because of my drinking I hadn’t been in touch with my body in a long time so hardly felt hungry - this was a strange but welcome surprise.
Day five: I started to tidy up my flat and found a whole lot of empty plastic cider bottles – I could start my own recycling plant! At £4.60 a bottle, now I know why I never had any money…
Day nine: it took me four days to tidy up my one-bedroom flat; amazing eh? When I was drinking the only thing I polished off was the bottle! Sitting bored in my clean flat I thought: “Is the month over yet?” and I decided to focus my mind somewhere else. “What did I used to do before I started drinking?” I thought. I can knit and crochet, though I’m not expert. I decided to give it a go to see if it took my mind off reaching for a drink.