Made it.

Anticlimactic.  Too busy at work to even notice the last two weeks go by, and probably would have skipped right over today if not for the reminder from a couple of friends.

As I mentioned before, I plan to continue into this second year.  I also hope to focus on my heath even more this year.

Thanks again for watching.  This year was certainly one of growth and reflection.  I look forward to the next one.

Wes

Still going strong

It has been a while since I have posted, mostly since all my time in India was spent making videos and I have been up to so many other things.  I wanted to let any fans out there I had left know that I still have not had a drop to drink, and I have pretty much made up my mind that I will be staying sober for another year.

There is about one month to go before my year is up, and I can't really describe how it has affected my life.  I know it has made me give up things. Some outings are not really the same, and others are no fun at all.

I have yet to begin some of the goals I planned to do with my year off, so I will attempt to do them in year two.  I don't know where it will go from there.

I also don't know that I will write much more here either.  By now, not drinking has become a way of life and does not feel all that different than not doing drugs, or not eating olives, or not hurting squirrels.  Writing about it no longer feels interesting or novel, and I do not like rehashing the same topics.

Thanks for those who followed me for this year.  I am glad to have had your attention and it certainly gave me something to do while I got my start.  Best of luck to all in your futures.

Regards,
Wes

First close call...

This is the first week where I started going out with people to places like pubs and clubs, and I have finally found myself near alcohol.  For the most part it seems like drinking is rare, where a large number of citizens do not drink for personal reasons.  This makes it very easy to keep from drinking by saying nothing more than "I don't drink".  

That feeling changes a little when you go to a bar, where all people who enter seem to drink.  This is not surprising to me, since I imagine the same personal reasons that keep people from drinking also tend to keep them from going to clubs and bars.  That is a serious overgeneralization I know and I do not want to stereotype - and it has nothing to do with this situation.

What is widespread here is the love for cricket and when India won against Brazil this week a guy came out of nowhere when the crowd was going wild and tilted a champagne bottle over my head and yelled "Here Drink!"  he was celebrating with the crowd and I was the first person he came to so it was very unexpected.  I was almost unable to stop him mid-pour and knee-jerk reaction was to tilt my head back and take the drink.  I yelled that I don't drink and he yelled "come on!" as he was clearly excited and didn't want to be embarrassed.  I stepped out of the way and let others have at it.

It may sound lame, but it would have been sad to have the small blemish on my currently perfect streak.

Great experience out here, but I do miss home too.

Three months in India

I haven't been blogging about not drinking since I came out here because there is little to discuss.  Drinking here in Bangalore is far less prominent than drinking in the US.  There is liquor for sale at the stores, and they serve drinks at the bar, but so far almost everyone I have spoken to either drinks very rarely or not at all.

I can say that if I hadn't committed to staying sober, I would have bought a case of beer to have in my apartment just out of habit by now.  After working a long hard day I come home to movies and internet and really nobody to talk to, so I could see myself spending this time kicking my feet up and having a few, or going to the restaurant next door and ordering a rum and coke with dinner.  Instead I have been editing films and reading books.  Would I do this if I were drinking?  I guess I'll never know.

Expect to see more about India than drinking in the next several posts unless I think of any other drinking topics.  And by the way, tomorrow is 6 months sober.  Halfway home.

An interesting twist

I have not posted in a while.  I have not had a drink in case anyone was curious.  Next week I will be leaving the country for three months to travel to India.  I fully intend to continue my sobriety there.  My understanding is drinking is less prevalent there than here anyway.

I hope to continue to blog about not drinking, but it may turn out to be more interesting to blog about India, so any fans out there may be prepared for some additional exposition about that quest as well.

As for the drinking, I am at the five month point.  This is about the time in my previous attempts to quit drinking where I throw in the towel and begin thinking of an occasion or something to go back to drinking.  Of the three times I started drinking after quitting, one start day was on Valentines day, Audra and I went to see a show at the Guthrie, and my first drink back was a beer.  Another time was to celebrate my new job after getting my MBA.  That was to congratulate myself as I stated I wouldn't have another drink until I was securely employed.   The only time I can't remember was the first time I quit drinking then started again.  All I remember is that it was springtime.

Anyway, I'll be in touch.  My next post will be from 11.5 hours in the future and several thousand miles away.  And warm, I mustn't forget that:)

Coping With Negativity

No matter who you are or where you are from, it seems to me anyway, everyone has to experience negativity in this world.  I find it interesting so let us dissect it a moment, shall we?

People already seem to have a hard time understanding each other.  Ten people can see the same movie, read the same story, or hear the same song, and perceive completely different things.

Next, stress comes in a multitude of forms.  Think of the stress of not having any money compared to the stress of having too much money (winning the lottery, say).  Compare the stress of getting into a good college, or the stress of dating with the stress of your cat running away from home, or the stress of finding you have diabetes or losing your eye to a tragic rubber band incident.

It seems like we are all hurtling through space unable to escape what appears to be certain negativity.  Because the negativity comes in so many forms, we feel isolated by our personal negativity and unable to help others with theirs, which only causes more stress.  The internet and other technology has made it easier for others with similar types of stress to find each other, and they form groups and I'm told that this is a very useful way to cope.  If stress is everywhere in this world, and we are indeed finding ways to reduce it, much like finding a cure to a disease, can we say this is progress in society that we don't even realize we are making?  Is the technology breeding more stress with every bit it takes away.  Is there a fixed quantity of stress on Earth like energy that can neither be created or destroyed but only change forms?  Whoa.

I have been under different forms of stress lately, and I assume I am dealing with it well.  I do wonder sometimes how much stress I am under, on a stress scale.  I always assume others have more stress than I do: kids, car problems, relationship problems, I don't know, I guess I feel like I have little I should complain about.  But scratch the surface, I'm dealing with a major family loss, a major career change, dealing with mounting debt from college, all the while my wife is going through the same types of life changes too.

I bring this up because drinking is typically a universal constant for dealing with stress, at least stereotypically.  I think I blogged before about trying to find a different outlet - hopefully a healthy one, to let go of stress.  Sadly, exercise has not yet entered into the running.  I guess I have been keeping so busy at work and I do like my job, that working late actually feels rewarding, so, much like when I was a teenager, work is the cause of and solution to some of my stresses.

Anybody out there care to let me know a way of unwinding that doesn't involve drinking or exercise?

No messing around: A sober Vegas Trip

Audra and I decided we needed to get away for a weekend. We really have not had much chance to take a trip just the two of us. In fact, the last time we did that was almost 7 years ago, about the time I promised her I would take her to Vegas. We only stayed two nights and three days, but man did we make the most of it.

I will say that being sober made it a very different trip compared to my previous ones - of course so does being with your Wife, so it's hard to say. No drunken adventures or crazy tales like in the movies. It was okay for this purpose, which was to introduce Audra to the more wholesome side of the city. One thing I have noticed about staying sober is that it is much easier to do in a larger group. If you are with only one or two other people, and those people are drinking, time behaves differently. It makes sense, there seems to be so much more to talk about when there is alcohol involved.

Vegas removes barriers - you can drink on the street, you never have to drive, and sure the drinks are expensive, but so is the diet coke:) This post will contrast the last post by saying that this trip made the positive side of drinking very evident, but that didn't mean I was about to have one - even though what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas;)

She didn't mind either, she will come back later with her girlfriends and misbehave. At least she will know her way around now!