‘No Alcohol November’ is a month-long challenge to abstain from alcohol, which resets your relationship with drinking in the run up to the Christmas holiday season. Your own Bylines Scotland correspondent takes up the gauntlet and puts the issue into the public domain. Thus my ‘No Alcohol November’ journey started.
Following this introduction to ‘No Alcohol November’ it is only right and proper to report back as to
how it went. Responses that I am aware of ranged from “Is that a thing?”, “Do people really do that?” to “I was going to do Dry November but since I was drinking on the 1st, I thought I’d leave it until next year”. Or the classic, “Will you have a drink at Christmas?”
These were all comments made to me either directly or on social media accounts. It certainly elicited a response from many people when I explained why I wanted an Americano or a glass of water in a pub.
The personal nature of the challenge – how did it go?
Fess up time: I enjoy drinking alcohol. I’ve been doing it for years. Like many Celts, I grew up in a culture where drinking alcohol was very much part of the fabric of life and was employed in a variety of workplaces with what is now described as a ‘big drinking culture’.
I have gone without alcohol before. I have strategies to go without. A ‘no alcohol’ month needs to be planned for. Get yourself a number of good books and a Netflix subscription. These went a long way to occupying my evenings. I avoided going to the pub wherever possible, although this time I had an invite to a bar/restaurant closing do in Spain where all sorts of booze was flowing freely all day. A real test of my resolve.
Cards on the table time: I survived without alcohol from Saturday 1 November until Saturday 29 November. Four full weeks alcohol-free. I have lost about half a stone in weight and feel better for having done it. I take great delight in the medical advice that it’s all good for my liver. I consider myself to have hit the crossbar, as they say in football punditry. Others may say that I fell at the last hurdle.
The future
I now look forward to an enjoyable festive season, and I have to report in all honesty that I have purchased my ticket to our local wine tasting evening (12 December) in support of our town’s twinning with a similar town in France. I’m glad to have had the four-week respite at this time of the year.
It’s too easy to think that Christmas, with the accompanying celebrations, starts sometime in November as the first Christmas lights go up with the first rendition of Fairytale of New York. It is timely to remind ourselves of the opening words that Shane sings,
“It was Christmas Eve babe, in the drunk tank
An old man said to me
Won’t see another one…”
Having a wee break from the booze comes with a health warning that it may help all participants see more Christmases. Take it easy and have yourselves a merry little Christmas. I know I will.
Cheers
Charlie
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