Over this past year, I’ve developed a bad habit of wanting/having a couple drinks every evening. Mostly beer. During the summer as we agonized over the decision about moving him to our home, I especially enjoyed relaxing with some new microbrew from Vermont or a surrounding state, trying to keep the tough options from my thoughts for a moment.
In August, we visited Tokyo and a jockey of Asahi Super Dry at an izakaya is about my favorite thing when there in the hot summer. So the trend continued.
In September, as I finalized preparations for my dad’s move here, the habit started to annoy me because I felt like I wasn’t in control. I would have silly debates in my head, telling myself things like, ‘I don’t need to have a beer every day, so I will stop tomorrow,’ followed by purchasing a new pack the next day when shopping for groceries. I’d rationalize the habit with irrational excuses. I would never get drunk and I wasn’t concerned about escalation in any way, but the daily habit was concerning to me.
Finally, I simply decided to stop last week on Thanksgiving. I’m not sure I will be a good caregiver to my dad if I’m making poor decisions about my own health, or letting the stress continue to build the bad habit into something worse.
I’m definitely not stopping forever, and I certainly am not criticizing/judging anyone else. I just wanted to take a stand for myself to not let it get in the way or add more worry to my head.
To make sure I made this decision more effective, I have given myself a finish line to look forward to. And what better moment of joy to celebrate with a beer than Trump being out of office? So that’s where this personal challenge ends: On the first day the racist idiot clown prez is no longer commander in chief, I will REALLY enjoy that next beer and celebrate with the world.