halfway to the moon

today marks a big milestone: I am halfway through my year of no drinking (re-visit my reasons for this here). For that matter, this whole "project" was one of my reasons for starting this little journal, which means this site is 6 months old as well (...a nervous cough is heard in the crowd...). So, other than a small hiccup in early December, for the past six months I have been as dry as a Puritan in Death Valley. No sips of friends' beer, no cooking with wine, no champagne at new years (other than the bit that got sprayed in my eye). Has it been easy? no. In fact, in some ways its been more challenging than I had imagined. But for the past couple of months it hasn't been too bad.

But has it been worth it? Absolutely. A hundred times more than I had thought. Thus far, my friend has stayed clean, which was my main goal, but I doubt very little of that has to do with my not drinking. Rather, the major outcome from all this is that I have had so many experiences I otherwise never would have had. I can't tell you how many new situations I've been put into simply by not drinking. I've never been a heavy drinker, but I never imagined how interweaved it was into my social life. Everything from holidays to birthday parties to meeting up with a friend to grab a beer. And what do you order to drink when you go to a bar to see a band? One welcome discovery is that many places will give you free non-alcoholic drinks when you're with drinking friends, as they (correctly) assume you're the D.D. For that matter, how much of a blessing is it to know your friends will get home safely when you're out with them? I'm not looking to be anyone's parent, and yeah they should all know better, but it happens.

For a while there I was thinking of cutting my pledge short--six months, maybe, or just four. But aside from the cop-out factor, the cool thing about doing an entire year is that it will encompass every aspect of my life and I will get to see how drinking affects it all. If I quit now I wouldn't see what it was like to have a non-drinking birthday in October. If I quit now I would be drinking at my cousin's wedding in August. But this way I can see what it's like for every activityin a given year, and that's where the value lies.

I can't tell you how many people have told me, "Well, just make an exception for X reason. I mean, your friend won't know." Seriously--this has happened DOZENS of times. Um, yeah, that's true. But then what's the point? It's easy to not drink most of the time, but then if you make an exception every time it's inconvenient it becomes a useless gesture. All talk and no walk. Screw that.

So, six months in and six to go. Wish me luck and pray for strength--I ain't out of the woods yet.