Dry January 2022
Shavise Glascoe
My go to non-alcoholic beer: Brooklyn Hoppy Amber
Oh the magic of a brand spanking new year! You know that time of year where you are hopeful, full of passion and even dare to have a goal or three (yes, three). Many of us look to the start of a new year as a means of hitting that invisible reset button or just starting “off fresh”. For me, I had an itch this year to challenge myself and decided bypassing alcohol for a full 31 days would be my obstacle course of choice.
I didn’t enter Dry January as a means to do anything profound like find my purpose or the meaning of life. In fact, to be completely honest, I just wanted clear skin and to sleep better. I went dry in February of 2021 and although I missed my evening glass of wine, I was….ok. In fact the sleep changes, energy level and glow I had was the motivator for giving it another shot this year.
But this time around, Dry January was harder than I could’ve ever imagined. I’m forever thankful to my ego for keeping me on track until the end, because this was a sure struggle.
Now before you get too concerned, no I’m not an alcoholic or have a major drinking problem. But the idea of practicing any form of restriction as I faced some challenging moments during this month, was frankly “batshit crazy” to many of my friends. It wasn’t until I listed all of the stuff I dealt with this month that I realized just how crazy it was to do it all fully sober (not complaining, just being honest here). See for yourself:
Work demands went from level 10 to 1000.
Legal stuff…..more emotionally draining than anything else (luckily).
COVID stress. No I didn’t get it, but OMICRON killed my social plans and sparked my anxiety.
More COVID stress. Yay to randomly homeschooling my kid for a week while trying to work from home.
Post holiday budget. You know that time of year when you look at your holiday spending and go “wtf”.
Mercury having a full on disco party in Retrograde (LOL).
Snow storms and bitter cold because that’s what happens in January.
Mood swings because that’s just how life can be sometimes.
I’m pretty sure January 2022 had a NY accent, sore a pair of Timberland boots and basically stomped me out (LOL).
Etc.
Needless to say, I had to face my stress, anxiety, low moods and feelings……head on. Although tough sometimes, I did walk away with some wins, lessons and a few drinking hacks.
The lessons and test of my own personal strength came in facing a number of challenges this month fully sober. So yes, all of the dramatic takeaways can be listed here and fully unpacked, but let’s save that for another time and blog post. I also had some pretty solid wins in this challenge:
My sleep improved. It took about two weeks, but ultimately my sleep has been deeper and more restful.
Energy levels. I’m not sure how or why, but I had an extra little pep in my step and it definitely helped me when the pressure was on.
My bank account was probably the most appreciative due to staying in and avoiding the booze.
I discovered some pretty awesome non-alcoholic beers and spirits (as displayed beautifully in the pic above). I definitely am a super fan of Seedlip and the Brooklyn Hoppy Amber!! Also, my mocktail game has gone up a few notches.
In the moments of sober solitude, I got to tackle some much needed inner work which would’ve missed if I was drinking.
So, all in all, I survived and in the end gained a lot during this past month. Will I do it again? I’m not sure as of yet. I might test it (not a whole month honey….lol) out here and there throughout the year or further down the road. I do however, recommend giving something like a Dry January a try. It comes with a load of insights, lessons, a little growth and more. And if that’s something you want, I say give it a go.