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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I feel proud of myself and my husband for doing dry January this year and for making it this far.  I have been disappointed in how hard it has felt at different times, but that has reinforced why this was important for us to do.  We are committed to making it through the end of the month - and it was huge to make it past the halfway point - but we're both ready for this month to be over!   We were in the habit of drinking too much, too many nights per week as an escape/reward from all the stress we've had over the last few months.  Work, kids, and extended family have all been stressful for a number of reasons, but unfortunately those stressors are not going away any time soon so we need better strategies.

It has been nice to reset, do more self-care, and find other ways to manage the stress.  I am more in tune with how I'm feeling so I can find ways to address it rather than mask it.  If I'm cranky and tired, I go to sleep early and feel refreshed in the morning.  If I'm bored, I think of something that would stimulate my mind and have tried some new things I might not have otherwise spent time on.  If I want something that tastes good, I drink a Crystal Light raspberry lemonade or a flavored seltzer.  I would like to go into February with better self-care habits, a decreased alcohol tolerance so I won't crave as many drinks, more alternatives to drinking, and a commitment to drinking fewer nights per week (maybe just weekends).[/quote]

I could have written this. Definitely proud of myself for making it this far, and fully committed to finishing the month. It was harder at first than I would have liked, but it has gotten easier. And I've gone through a couple of really crappy days where drinking a glass (bottle) of wine would have been my usual response. Instead, I pushed through and honestly, it made dealing with the difficulties easier. Mostly because I didn't whip myself up into a wine-fueled frenzy, but instead soberly focused on what I needed to do to address the problems.

Hoping February finds me drinking less every week and less every time I do drink. I plan to start each day by deciding if this is a drinking day BEFORE something happens that gives me an "excuse" to drink. I want to stay dry four days a week minimum, and drink because I choose to drink, not because I'm stressed or caving to peer pressure. And when I do drink, I'm hoping to keep my tolerance low so that first glass lasts a little longer. Fingers crossed.[/quote]

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