30 Days Dry
I decided to quit alcohol after a life-changing hangover from two (yes, TWO) Long Islands.
With the exception of terrible hangovers, the decision to quit came from my need to say no to social influences. From my experience, I’ve mostly drunk to fit in due to peer pressure and to have a good time. (Dare I say, a good time can still be had while sober).
When I wasn’t drinking in social gatherings, I felt left out, boring, AND bored, I felt like I couldn’t sit with myself and find comfort in that- I was running from myself. I needed to have something, if it wasn’t alcohol, it was hookah (which I have also detached from for 27 days now). Hookah was a tough one to let go of because, unlike alcohol, hookah didn’t make me sick in the morning. However, my relationship with it was financially draining, to say the least. Paying $20 at least three times a week for hookah is wild.
That is beside the point, though; we’re talking about liquor. One thing they will not prepare you for is the amount of tea you’ll drink to pass time in social settings. I recently had to travel to Texas for my nephew’s birthday, and if you know anything about kids’ birthday parties, you know it’s really an excuse for the adults to have a good ole time. While we had an assortment of alcohol, the ones I love and the ones I have a love-hate relationship with, I had to remind myself of the importance of self-control and the promise I’d made to myself.
If you remember, in Part 2 of Project Rebirth, I wrote about how essential it is to keep the promises you make to yourself and how this practice helps improve your self-confidence since you are not lying to yourself anymore.
I am glad I have made it this far; I am so proud of myself, and I would like to extend my gratitude to my family for being mature adults who did not force the liquor down my throat. I hope that we all learn to respect people’s decisions and boundaries, especially regarding sobriety.
Stay tuned for Part 3 of Project Rebirth, where I will discuss how this journey affected my healing.
Love yaaa🫶🏾
