Dry July is something I’ve always wanted to do, but can never really do because my birthday is in July and birthday beers are always in order. So, I decided to set myself a personal challenge. Not because I’m an alcoholic, though living on campus can definitely fuel that. But because I wanted to have a bit of a break from drinking and prove to myself that I can have fun and socialise without drinking. The whole experience turned out to be quite interesting and these are my main findings from my little personal/social experiment!
DAY 1 – What have I done?!
DAY 4 – Wednesday night = STUDENT NIGHT! Oh wow everyone is drunk. Not just drunk… ridiculously drunk. Woah! I’m still keen on a dance and a bit of socialising. We held pre’s and there were so many people in and around our house. Music blaring, King’s Cup kicking off and people dancing.
It’s quite a funny thing, to go clubbing sober. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I have these sort of life epiphanies. Where I come to a strange realisation about all the things I want in my life and the person I want to be. It’s weird I know but between all the sweaty bodies and awkward grinding, I figure out what I need to do to be happy.
DAY 7 – Mardi Gras, everyone’s so happy and I’m high on life. Definitely don’t need anything to lift my spirits.
DAY 11 – Wednesday night, Student Night, again… everyone’s so drunk and I just want to snuggle up in bed and watch Sex and the City.
DAY 14 – How can people go out on Wednesday, Thursday AND Saturday night?!
DAY 15 – Pub Crawl. People can’t seem to figure out if I’m sane or not for not going.
DAY 18 – Uni night, again… to be honest I’m actually quite impressed that people can go out week after week like they do.
One thing I have noticed is that if people are aware that you are sober and have no intention of drinking, they treat you differently. I guess it could always be that they’re pretty drunk and therefore have no control over what they say or do. However, my assumption is that they don’t fully engage with you because they might have a fear of being judged by someone who is sober and aware. Honestly, I’m always keen to socialise and have some fun, drunk or not. It was a little upsetting to feel un-welcomed in my own house but I just had to make my own fun elsewhere.
Day 24 – The house is a bloody mess and the recycling bin is full of bottles.
Day 26- Ed Sheeran concert. Could probably do with a beer but only a few days left!
Day 28- Another pub crawl. Better hit the library up!
Day 31- I DID IT! Better celebrate with a beer.
Despite the mess and slight exclusion, doing this challenge was so beneficial for me mentally and physically. Not only am I feeling healthier but I feel focused and clear. I’ve discovered to accept myself and my decisions, even if it might confuse or not be widely accepted by others. I know a month of being sober isn’t much, but when it’s the beginning of a university session, it might as well be New Years Eve in 1999.
xxx A
A Worldly Addiction 
I think you had more of an adventure in self discovery more than anything else! I’m actually not a regular drinking so I don’t really have any urge to drink on Friday nights. Unless, of course, it’s celebratory and it would be rude not to join in the drinks. And I think my alcohol tolerance isn’t too shabby and I can control myself quite well, bar a couple of times where I needed someone to support me out of the toilet haha. But it’s great that you did a mini journaling of your sober month because you saw the difference it made! As ironic as it is, celebrating with a pint isn’t all that bad. I would say that maybe twice a month I’ll do such pub outings but other than that, I don’t feel a real need to have alcohol in my life. Great post and I can see how that is similar to mine 😀
Thankyou so much. I agree, I don’t feel I need to have alcohol in my life but I guess these days it’s such a social/cultural thing. If someone gets a new job, you go out for drinks. If it’s someones birthday, you go out for drinks. If it’s Friday night, you go out for drinks. It’s quite a hard thing to avoid really but I believe as long as your happy and healthy with the decisions you make in your life then a few beers every now and again is alright 🙂