Go Sober for October

Uh-oh.  Am I really ready to ‘Go Sober for October’?  It’s tough if I’m not because I’ve already signed up for it and got donations, so it’s a bit late to back out now.

Yep, that’s right folks, not a drop of wine (or any other alcohol for that matter) will pass my lips for the whole of the month of October.  I’ve timed it badly really because I’ve just had a tee-total weekend due to a kidney infection which means I’ll be doing five weekends rather than four.  Not that I’m counting or anything but that will be thirty-four days in all…and I usually only manage about three or four days (at the most).

I’m doing this challenge (because a challenge it will be, for me anyway) for a number of reasons:

First and foremost, I have a good friend who is absolutely kicking breast cancer’s BUTT.  Not only that but she’s doing it with a massive smile on her face, not a smidge of bitterness and lots of positive mental attitude.  She’s had a completely crappy time with chemotherapy and its side effects (not least losing her beautiful long hair) and she’s having her operation on the 8th October.

There’s nothing like that to put a month of not drinking into its pathetic little perspective, is there?

Secondly, I know I drink too much.  I’m sitting here, typing and then deleting how to put this so I’m being honest and not making excuses for myself without sounding like I’m an alcoholic.  I don’t drink every night.  I don’t drink to get drunk (although that is sometimes inevitably the result).  I can stop after a couple and sometimes do…I just often choose not to and it’s not something I’m proud of.

Thirdly, I don’t want my children to grow up thinking of me as a ‘drinker’; because whilst they’ve never seen me drunk, I figure it will do all of us some good for me to be seen with just water or tea in my hand instead of a glass of wine for a while.

I also don’t want them holding the unhealthy view that alcohol is an essential ingredient for a good night in/out (they may develop that opinion for themselves when they get older, I just don’t want to be the one to teach them) 😉

Fourthly, wine is full of empty calories, so by not drinking it, I can eat more cake and take-aways.  Bonus.

Fifthly, cancer is a horrible, evil, life-stealing bastard.  I know too many people who have been affected by it and I’m sure you do, too.

So if you’re going ‘Sober for October’ too, then good luck.  If you’re doing something else worthwhile to raise money for one of the cancer charities like Macmillan, then good on you.  Alternatively, if you’d like to donate a couple of quid to my appeal, I would be eternally grateful and here is the link to my sponsor page https://www.gosober.org.uk/profile/charlotteabrown

Thank you so much x