The Thirty Day Year

Lost In the Stacks, Issue 6

November 18th, 2007 | by Jeniffer |

Today’s Lost In The Stacks is a little different.

First of all, it’s about a new habit which I am adopting.

For thirty days (I expect longer) I have decided to give up alcohol altogether.

I have 7 reasons for doing so.

1) I don’t actually like alcohol in the first place.

I find if I have a cooler in the summertime, for instance, the initial flavor may be good, but there is this after taste which leaves my mouth feeling like I need to brush my teeth.

2) I know this one will sound odd, but it actually makes my body feel dirty.

Not dirty as in I need to have a shower dirty, either. It’s more a sense of there being something floating about inside of me which is not supposed to be there.  Told you this one would sound odd! But I don’t know how else to describe it.

It’s like there is something there which my body simply knows on some level does not belong there.

Weird, but true.

3) I have absolutely no tolerance for alcohol.

One glass of sipped on wine gets me giggly.

Anything beyond that and I lose I.Q. points by the minute, slur my words, and have no idea who I have offended when I wake up the next day.

4) Alcohol has lots of calories, and not a vitamin to speak of.

I do not need any extra calories.

Enough said on that point.

5) In every other area of my life, I do not allow the opinions and wishes of others to dictate the way that I live. I make choices based on what I feel is right for me, in my life, and for my family.

With alcohol, I am allowing other people to pressure me into taking a drink.

I will stop doing this.

Now.

6) I do not believe I am being a good example to my children, especially my daughter, who I have noticed watches me if I am having a glass of wine with my husband or with company.

How can I tell my children it is bad for you and not to do it, if I do it–even a little–myself?

7) Although red wine is touted as being good for your heart in small amounts, alcohol was one of the substances (along with processed meats) named in a recent study as being one of the causes of cancer.

Now, as to what this has to do with Lost In The Stacks.

I have been considering not drinking alcohol for some time now.

It has been there, in the back of my mind, like a suggestion. It was an idea, something which I might do. Someday.

Sometimes, the universe sends you signals that you are on the right track, and eventually you must listen.

For instance, since beginning to consider accepting this thirty day challenge, I have come across articles on various websites about people doing this same thing, as well as websites encouraging the reader to make a change now, and to give up bad habits for good ones.

Here, then, is this week’s issue of five websites, each of which I have chanced upon, since I began considering taking on this particular challenge.

One of the first ones I came across which got me seriously considering doing this thirty day challenge was on I Will Change Your Life. It was an article entitled A Weekend Without Alcohol, and because the thought of not drinking any alcohol as a challenge was a tiny spark in the back of my mind, I even left a comment about how difficult it would be to stop with the holiday season coming up and people therefore pressuring you more than ever. One of the other people who commented mentioned he had stopped for a month, which sort of nudged that back-of-the-mind, maybe-someday idea a lttle more forward.

Read the article at

http://www.iwillchangeyourlife.com/2007/10/24/a-weekend-without-alcohol/

More recently, I found an article on The Happiness Project. It is titled Why I stopped Drinking Alcohol (more or less). It gives a nice rundown of why Gretchen decided to not drink alcohol. Many of her reasons are similar to mine.

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2007/11/why-i-stopped-d.html

Because one of the reasons I want to not drink alcohol for thirty days is due to the excess calories it contains, I read Alcohol and Weight Loss–Your choice, on Former Fat Guy. Find it at

http://www.formerfatguy.com/weblog/2007/10/alcohol-and-weight-loss-your-choice.asp

Now, I still could not make up my mind about this. I kept thinking I would do it, some day, but we had friends coming over, or we had a nice bottle of wine as a gift, or…well, you get the idea. And no, in case you were wondering, I don’t have a drinking addiction. I just have a people-pleasing addiction. I tend to go out of my way to make others happy. If having a glass of wine or a cooler with a friend was what they wanted to do, then I was ok with it. And like I said, one just made me feel sort of giggly. It is that tendency to please others which makes this particular challenge, a challenge.

But I digress.

So, waffling about whether to start now, or later (there is always later, when we are not yet decided ), I chanced upon None of This is Permanent, Or, How to Stop WAFFLING at todayisthatday.com.

Check it out here

http://www.todayisthatday.com/blog/none-of-this-is-permanent-or-how-to-stop-waffling/

Lastly, I happened to find Start A New Habit Or Break A Bad One, Ten Steps To Guarantee Success For Anyone, at A Better You Blog.

Find it here

http://www.abetteryoublog.com/2006/12/28/start-a-new-habit-or-break-a-bad-one-ten-steps-to-guarantee-success-for-anyone

I don’t know if it was the universe sending me messages, my marvelous intuition zeroing in on appropriate articles, or a mental radar tuned up to full power, but I have decided that I am accepting this challenge.

For thirty days, starting today, I am not going to allow anyone to pressure me into taking a drink of alcohol.

I’ll feel better, have more energy, and perhaps even lose a pound or two.

Of course, I’ll post weekly updates regarding how I am doing.

That’s it for Lost In The Stacks, until next week.

Happy reading!